Education leaders are beginning to move on from COVID-related safety measures, and are instead focusing on managing mental health and violence on campus, according to a new report from Rave Mobile Safety.
Rave’s report, 2022 Crisis Communication and Safety in Education Survey, surveyed more than 400 K-12 employees and more than 380 higher education staffers.
The past two years of COVID-19 restrictions have been a challenging time for students, staff, faculty and parents/guardians. Campus leaders are concerned about how the lingering effects of the pandemic will impact school communities going forward, especially if the right resources and safety measures are not put in place.
Key findings include:
- Student mental health is the second-highest safety concern for the 2022-2023 school year for higher education respondents (59%).
- Faculty and staff mental health is the third-highest safety concern for respondents from higher education institutions (44%).
- Concerns about active assailants on campus rose dramatically year-over-year for higher education respondents (+15%).
- Higher education administrators expressed increased anxiety regarding crime (+20%) and severe weather events (+19%).
- To address these concerns, respondents on the higher education (39%) front are investing more heavily in mental health resources.
Higher Education
More so than K-12 schools, institutions of higher education still list COVID-19-related safety measures as the top concern for next year (71%), followed by student mental health (59%) and faculty/staff mental health (44%). Additionally, concerns over crime increased by 20% year-over-year, and concerns over active assailants increased by 15%, both of which are likely related to the anticipated uptick in mental health needs next year.
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