When “Safety” Is Being Used As Control

If a rule claims to protect people but actually restricts them, it isn’t safety — it’s surveillance.

“Safety” is one of the most misused words in institutional life. It’s often used to justify harmful policies, restrictive discipline, or silencing certain voices. But real safety is about trust, dignity, and community well-being — not policing.

This tool helps families and educators distinguish protective safety from controlling safety — and challenge policies that claim to care while actually causing harm.

What It Does

Gives communities the language and framework to examine rules, policies, and systems through a justice lens — exposing when safety rhetoric is covering up control.

Use It To:

• Evaluate School Policies: Ask whether a rule protects the vulnerable or protects the institution.

• Teach Children to Question Fear Narratives: “Who says this is dangerous — and why?”

• Identify Harmful Safety Theater: Zero-tolerance policies, unnecessary surveillance, punitive discipline.

• Build Actual Safety: Trust-building, community agreements, restorative processes.

Why It Matters

When “safety” becomes synonymous with control, marginalized students and families become targets rather than community members.

Real safety requires liberation — not restriction.Real safety centers belonging — not punishment.

Core Message

We can protect each other without policing each other.