Communicating Safety Article

I just wanted to share an article from the American School Board Journal that I found interesting.  It was written by Kenneth Trump entitled “Communicating Safety”.  It can be accessed at the following web address: http://www.schoolsecurity.org/training/Communicating-Safety.pdf.  Here are a few interesting excerpts from the article:

 “Parents send their children  to school under the impression that all possible steps-from prevention to security to preparedness-have been taken.  When an incident occurs, many parents then question whether the trust they have placed in school leaders has been violated.               Effective school-community relations can be defined as “good behavior, well communicated.” To effectively communicate about safety issues, you must make sure your schools have well-developed and exercised safety  and crisis plans and your staff is trained to implement the plans.”

   “Parents basically want to know the answers to two different broad questions:

1)      What measures are in place in my child’s school to prevent or reduce the risk of crime, violence, and other safety hazards?

2)      Are school officials prepared to respond and manage incidents that can’t be prevented?”

“Preparedness measures include crisis plans that are well developed and exercised, staff members trained on these plans, strong partnerships with first responders and community agencies, and related efforts.”

“Board members, superintendents, principals, and other representatives should be able to articulate district and building-level measures that are in place at any time-before, during, or after a crisis.  Telling parents and the media that school safety is “our top priority” is not enough. Parents and reporters are much more educated consumers of best practices, and generalities will not suffice.”  

“The time to prepare for the future is now. School safety is a leadership issue. By making prevention, security, and preparedness an ongoing district priority, boards and administrators can protect children and staff, the district’s reputation, and the credibility of the district’s leaders.”

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

2014 TAASRO 15th Annual "Safe Schools" Conference

TAASRO is once again gearing up for our annual conference. Potential education slated for this year involves: juvenile emotional and physical responses to stressful environments explained through psychological and biological means, new trends in music, clothing and behavior that effects the school environment, adaptive mindset concerning personal safety (self-defense), new active shooter response techniques, information on human trafficking, school massacre in Beslan, Russia (blueprint for American school attack), understanding and interacting with special education students. Given these topics, I am soliciting suggestions for a conference theme that would integrate each into a single purpose of education.

Anna Watts Professional Learning : School Bullies Often Popular, Survey Finds

Anna Watts Professional Learning : School Bullies Often Popular, Survey Finds: School Bullies Often Popular, Survey Finds

Bullying and Cyber-bullying: A New Compounding Dynamic in our Public Schools that Can No Longer be Ignored

Bullying has become a rampant plague, to the detriment of education, because of the effects on the safe and learning school environment.  The once common statement “that’s just kids being kids,” has begun to be retracted as we have seen a dramatic influx of violence directly related to bullying within the school walls.  Bullying in the form of simple verbal and physical harassment, along with modern technology in the form of cyber bullying, has quickly caught the nation’s attention.  An in-depth look into the effects that bullying within our schools has revealed youth depression, increased truancy rates, decreased academic performance, “bullycide” or suicide driven by bullying, and sudden acts of serious or deadly violence.  Recognizing such issues, a massive push to reestablish the safe and learning school environment is in the forefront of many school systems across the nation.  Although a bullying situation might be dealt with at school, the offender is likely to continue the attacks through email, text messaging, or social websites away from school.  This bleeds back over into the school setting, causing anxiety, fear, and duress of the victim, leading to an inability to concentrate on the learning aspect of the school environment.  The latest phenomena to the detriment of a safe and learning school environment is the compounding dynamic of bullying in school and cyber-bullying away from campus, which can no longer be ignored.

TAASRO's New School Safety Blog

In light of the new technology resources, the Alabama Association of School Resource Officers will offer this new blog for all its members and for those who will add significant information in the quest to maintain the integrity of a safe school enviroment.