Defensible Schools: investigating alternative methods of achieving a secure environment in schools

摘要

WHEN NEW SCHOOLS were built in the 60s and 70s to accommodate children from the baby boom, educational facility planners didn't have to consider safety as much as they do today. Faced with the perception that society is becoming increasingly disordered, by posing high-security metal fences we are creating schools as privatised public spaces that insulate children from being involved with people. As a result, the new generation of children is very unskilled in human relationships because so much of what needs to be learnt cannot be learnt only within the family or school context. They need to observe and learn about the varieties of human relatedness - about the nuances of social relationships, such as how people who know each other relate and how people relate when they do not know each other but share a neighbourhood, a street or a public place.