Maryam Ahranjani, a professor at University of New Mexico School of Law, recently authored ground-breaking research published in the Nevada Law Journal. Her work underscores the vital, transformative role psychologists can play in improving school safety. Her work resonates all the more, of course, in light of her own history. Almost 40 years ago, Ahranjani experienced a horrifying mass shooting at her elementary school in a suburb north of Chicago. She was just 11 years old at the time. Her understanding has been deeply influenced by this traumatic event. It fuels her mission to ensure that her story drives a new, balanced approach to school safety, one where mental health interventions come before punishment.
As Ahranjani’s research demonstrates, this can lead to the harmful impacts of over policing in schools. It calls for a transition to a culture of prevention, with the trained psychologist at the forefront. She hopes to build on those discoveries by authoring a book on the topic of school policing. Beyond this work, she hopes to show the powerful and necessary role of psychological expertise within these settings.
The Costs of Policing in Schools
Since 1999, schools nationwide have spent $2 billion on police presence and security infrastructure. This spending includes everything from video surveillance, including cameras and metal detectors, to security threat assessments. Ahranjani’s findings call into question whether these approaches are truly making our students safer. This is so, even considering the substantial monetary investment made.
Her research illustrates how early and ongoing contact with law enforcement is damaging to young people. That damning experience can drive them into a criminal lifestyle as adults. This dangerous trend raises important questions about how our nation’s schools should prioritize safety and how they should discipline students. Ahranjani is a major proponent of getting police out of schools entirely. They resist harmful, exclusionary policing practices that can make schools feel like a jailhouse under siege for students.
Instead, she suggests that schools focus on building mental health support systems directed by school psychologists. Ahranjani explains that these professionals have unique training and experience. This prepares them to identify signs of danger and de-escalate conflicts between students. By shifting the focus from policing to psychological support, schools can foster a more nurturing environment conducive to student growth and resilience.
The Role of Psychologists in School Safety
Ahranjani’s research highlights the important role that school psychologists can and should play in ensuring safety and well-being for all students. School psychologists are often experts at addressing mental health and social-emotional concerns. Resources like them, which get to the bottom of students’ challenges, are priceless. They help kids develop the resilience to confront challenges and adversity while plugging them into the services they need to truly excel both in school and beyond.
School psychologists support in times of crisis, but they are key players in the everyday life of schools. Their consistent presence can help create an atmosphere where students feel safe to express their concerns and need help. In particular, Ahranjani foregrounds the unique talents that these artists possess. Counselors are uniquely equipped to identify at-risk students and take proactive measures to prevent violence before it occurs.
Following the public outcry after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Ahranjani created a team to audit school resource officers. Ultimately, they want to assess the impact that policing has on student communities. This successful initiative is a testament to her dedication to unpacking the complicated issues of race, policing, and education. It underscores the need for schools to adopt new strategies that engage students instead of excluding them.
Future Directions for Research and Advocacy
Maryam Ahranjani’s research and scholarship, which is ongoing, have led to a national discussion on the future of school safety. She aims to give a well-rounded perspective on gun violence. Along the way, she calls for better targeted, proven interventions grounded in mental health care.
She imagines producing a documentary or writing a book that dives deeper into how school policing affects children. She feels psychologists should lead efforts to re-center priorities on improving student health and happiness. As she collaborates with professionals in the field, her voice has gained traction at conferences, where she shares her insights and advocates for change.
Ahranjani’s personal experience with gun violence informs her work, driving her commitment to finding solutions that can prevent similar tragedies from affecting future generations. In particular, she works passionately to improve the role of psychologists within schools. Her mission is to ensure that students are nurtured in body and mind—not monitored and criminalized.