Violence Prevention in Georgia\u27s Rural Public Schools: Perceptions of School Superintendents

A survey of school superintendents in 81 public school systems in rural Georgia was conducted to describe strategies being pursued to prevent school violence and promote a safe and disciplined learning environment. Among the surveyed superintendents, there was widespread recognition of school safety as a high priority item and evidence of use of law enforcement and technology to deter violence in schools. Descriptive data analysis suggests that school size and county economic conditions relate to school superintendents’ assessment of school safety and potential for violence. This research addresses a void in the literature on violence in rural schools and provides descriptive information of interest to educators, rural sociologists, community leaders, and parents

A Longitudinal Study of Violence Prevention by Georgia’s Rural Public School Superintendents: Three Decades of Changes and Continuities

There is widespread concern about the possibility of school violence and rarely a week goes by without media reports about an active shooter at a school, with perpetrators as young as 15 years old. However, schools remain the safest haven in society for children given the scourge of domestic violence which victimizes children when at home. Expectations are very high on school superintendents, teachers and staff to maintain a safe and secure environment for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and visitors. Our longitudinal survey measuring how superintendents in rural public school districts in Georgia go about preventing violence was conducted in 1996, 2006, and 2016. The longitudinal design of this research provides a rare opportunity to compare and contrast superintendent’s school safety strategies, policies, and technologies across three decades. We observe that violent crimes such as shootings, knifings, bombings and arson are indeed rare events. More common are garden variety fistfights and bullying, (physically and in cyberspace), but overall, Georgia’s rural school systems are successful at preventing episodes of violence

Flexible Feeding Strategies of Juvenile Gray Triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) and Planehead Filefish (Stephanolepis hispidus) Within Sargassum Habitat

Sargassum-associated juvenile gray triggerfish and planehead filefish exhibited flexible feeding strategies in terms of their use of epifauna or pelagic zooplankton. Four diet samples represented instances of co-occurrence and segregated occurrence. Co-occurring gray triggerfish had the most specialized diets consisting mainly of pelagic copepods and hyperiid amphipods. Conversely, segregated triggerfish as well as both co-occurring and segregated filefish had broader diets mainly consisting of Sargassum epifauna, such as bryozoans, portunid crabs, and hippolytid shrimp. Still, co-occurring planehead filefish also consumed somewhat more zooplankton than segregated planehead filefish. Ontogenetic diet transitions were not as distinct for gray triggerfish as for planehead filefish. Our study demonstrates that juvenile tetradonts can be flexible in their use of benthic versus pelagic feeding strategies. Consequently, the influence of these key consumers on Sargassum food webs may vary spatiotemporally