Michael Furlong of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School will give the invited talk “Addressing the Problem of School Violence in California: From Schoolyard Bullying to Mass Shootings” at the UC Center Sacramento at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, May 30. Registration is open online until May 28.
The talk will discuss the tragic events in Parkland, Florida which are among the most recent in a long and troubling series of mass school shootings. While these events rightly receive national attention, there are many other unseen forms of violence occurring in schools every day, creating a spectrum of school violence that will require action on multiple fronts. UC Santa Barbara Professor Michael Furlong will explore the link between school safety and students’ social emotional health, drawing from an ongoing school-based wellness survey of California high school students. UC Davis Professor and Psychiatrist Amy Barnhorst will discuss perceptions and misperceptions of the relationship between gun violence and serious mental illness in schools.
Michael Furlong is a Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the Gervitz School of Education. He is past Editor of the Journal of School Violence (2008- 2015), and a co-editor of the Handbook of School Violence and Safety (2006, 2012), and a co -author of the original California Department of Education school safety planning guide (Safe School: A Planning Guide for Action, 1989).