Back in the good old days, when I had to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways, misunderstandings between students at school were usually handled with a good old fashioned fist fight.
O.K. since I grew up in a West Texas border town, fist fights sometimes escalated into knife fights or even gang fights, but no one ever brought a gun to school to indiscriminately shoot faculty or students.
What is happening in the world today? Perhaps it is the prevalence of violence on Television or Video Games. Maybe it is the escalating use of Psychotropic Medications to treat so-called Mental Illness or could it possibly have to do with the fact that you can't beat the crap out of your kids when they get out of line. Whatever the reason, it is getting downright scary for some people to send their kids off to school these days without fear that some nutcase is going to do them some harm.
So what can Schools do to protect our children, while still providing a friendly environment that fosters open communication and learning?
Obviously the addition of armed security officers that patrol the hallways could go a long way to providing safety and security to students. In fact, many Inner City Schools already employee "school resource officers", many of whom are real Police Officers.
Some Police Departments have recently taken it upon themselves to provide certified law enforcement officers who are permanently assigned to a school or a set of schools.
These officers act as comprehensive resources for his/her school and they will typically be enlisted to perform quite a few vital functions in the school including law enforcement, teaching law enforcement courses and even counseling troubled students.
If you would like more information on School Resource Officers, check out the National Association of School Resource Officers. They are a not for profit organization for school based law enforcement officers. [http://www.nasro.org/home.asp]
Even if they already have a School Resource Officer, every school should have a comprehensive Safety and Security Plan.
Every school safety and security plan should include Access Control policies and procedures. Each entrance to the school should be constantly monitored and, when possible the doors and windows should remain locked.
Without exception, every Visitor should be required to check in with the Central Office and show proper identification before they are issued a visitors badge. They should wear the visitors badge at all times.
School personnel should be knowledgeable and well trained in the Schools Access Control Policies and should not be afraid to confront an unknown person to ask for identification. Any strangers should be reported to the proper authorities immediately.
Depending on the size of the school, consideration should be given to the installation of an electronic access control system. This type of system can allow a large school to limit access to authorized personnel only, while ensuring that all visitors enter through the main office corridor.
In many school districts, Closed Circuit Television Systems (CCTV) are being deployed with great success. With some large urban high schools having upwards of 4,000 students, it would prove very difficult even for a full time School Resource Officer to monitor the school grounds or enforce the school policies without a little bit of electronic help.
A properly installed and configured CCTV system can allow a School Resource Officer to have his eyes on many parts of the campus simultaneously. In addition, a CCTV system can prove invaluable in the investigations of any crimes or infractions of school policy that have occurred.
Schools in very high risk areas have even gone as far as installing walk-through Metal Detectors at every public entrance. Others choose to deploy them only at special functions or sporting events. At a minimum, schools should have access to at least one hand held metal detector for emergency situations.
Regardless of their size or location, each and every school should have a well prepared emergency crisis plan in place. Key staff members should be thoroughly trained in emergency preparedness and crisis management.
Crisis drills should be performed with all staff, students and emergency management personnel. One of the key benefits of having emergency drills is that Police, Fire and Emergency Responders get to meet key staff members of the school and they can become familiar with the school grounds before having to respond to an actual emergency situation.
Above all else, communication may hold the key to preventing school violence. Parents should get involved in safety planning at their local schools. Open forums should be formed to discuss security. Ask students and parents to share any concerns they have about school safety. Encourage staff and students to report suspicious activity or people to the appropriate authorities.
Beyond anything that happens at school, the best advice to possibly preventing a tragedy is simply to talk to your children and get involved in their lives. Make them put away that Play Station and ask them how their day went. Don't just ask, but actually sit down and listen. Getting caught up in your child's life may sound torturous, but it can actually be very fun and interesting and is quite possibly the best way to prevent a crisis before it happens.
Roy Stephenson is a Security Consultant with over 21 Years Experience Designing and Installing High End Integrated Security Systems. He is currently the VP of Marketing at http://www.Security-Kits.com
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