The nSider – 2022 Q3 Newsletter
School Violence Aversion, Pt. 2
Adolescence is a time that most of us would rather not relive. It is a time of awkwardness and insecurity, and rarely a time of roaring courage. It is difficult to get through this time in life under normal circumstances, but these days, the threat of school violence can make the life of a teenager even more stressful.
The two stories we share today show the immense courage it takes for a student to report their peers and our responsibility, as the adults in the room, to listen and take action.
Overheard on the Bus
(Uniontown, Pennsylvania – 2018)
Imagine being 14 years old, sitting quietly on a bus, and overhearing a classmate bragging about his plans to carry out a shooting at your school. People laugh nervously or brush him off, but part of you knows there is truth behind what he is saying. You’ve seen him get angry. You’ve heard him talk about his weapons before. You’ve seen the news about shootings at other schools, and deep down, you know there’s always a possibility it could happen to your school. To your friends. To you. You also know that if you were to tell anyone, you could become the number one target if you are not taken seriously.
This is the pressure facing kids today, and this is exactly what happened in Uniontown, Pennsylvania in 2018.
One brave student told his parents and later authorities what he heard on the school bus that day. Police carried out a search warrant on the classmate’s home and found one semi-automatic rifle, one shotgun, two lever-action rifles, one revolver, one crossbow and bulk ammunition for all weapons in the 14 year-old’s bedroom. They also found throwing knives and two machetes.
In their investigation, police learned that the student was planning to target four individuals at his school and open fire on the rest of the school. He had a specific plan for targeting the individuals with a sniper rifle, as well as a plan for causing mass casualties with other weapons. He also told police how easy it would be to get his guns inside the school.
The student was arrested and charged with terroristic threats, possession of firearms by a minor, and criminal attempt to commit catastrophe.
The reporting student was hailed by parents and school faculty as a hero. His courage was not lost on those who would have been directly affected by these horrific plans.
A Haunting Online Conversation
(Arlington, Vermont – 2018)
When Angela McDevitt reconnected with an old friend on Facebook, she noticed immediately that something was wrong. The Jack Sawyer she had known before was “a very kind person,” but months after they had last seen each other, he had grown despondent. Their conversation took a turn when he started talking about his desire to carry out a shooting at his old high school in Vermont, the same school that Angela still attended.
It was February 2018, and the day after their conversation, the Parkland shooting in Florida happened. Seventeen people were killed by a former student.
Angela knew she needed to talk to Jack again. Not only was their previous conversation haunting her, she knew they had a mutual friend who had attended the school in Florida.
She got on Facebook and brought up the shooting to Jack, mentioning their mutual friend. She expressed how horrified she was by the events, and asked him what he thought. His response? “That’s fantastic.”
At that point, she knew she had to tell someone about their conversation. Unsure of who to contact, she first sent an email to her school’s guidance counselor saying she needed to speak to her in the morning about something urgent. After a sleepless night, she spoke to the school social worker the next morning and showed him the messages from Jack. The social worker then shared the information with the SRO (School Resource Officer) and Sheriff’s Deputy. The message was then distributed to police.
As it turned out, she was not the only one who had noticed a change in Jack. Another friend had reported that his demeanor had changed dramatically, and he was already on the authorities’ radar.
Once Angela submitted her report, police learned that Jack had made a series of threats against his former school, and he had recently purchased a shotgun and four boxes of ammunition from a local sporting goods store.
Jack Sawyer was arrested the same day that Angela reported.
There are two important takeaways from these stories: 1. Students must feel empowered to report suspicious behavior from their peers; and 2. Adults must take them seriously when they do report. It is crucial for schools and communities to create an environment where students feel safe coming forward with information. These stories could have ended very differently if the adults had not taken these students seriously and acted quickly.
One important thing a school can do is make sure there is an anonymous reporting system in place that is being monitored daily. When students have information to share, they need to know where and how to report. If your school is already set up with the nSide platform, you can spread awareness about our anonymous TIPs page at tips.nside.io.
If you would like to learn more about how to improve your school’s safety plans, please contact us today. Our support team is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by emailing help@nside.io, calling 1.800.604.1822, or by using our live chat function available on our website and on the platform.
Sources:
- https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/uniontown-high-school-shooting-threat-arrest/
- https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2018/02/22/vermont-shooting-arlington-student/358888002/
Bonus: Do you know the warning signs of violence?
School Violence Aversion, Pt. 1
School shootings. School violence. These terms are enough to stir fear in even the most stoic of school leaders. It is the most dreaded topic of conversation, and yet the constant barrage of media coverage on the latest violent incident makes it impossible to avoid. Even violence prevention training can be a grim affair when details of what has happened and what could happen are discussed.
Of course, we must address these topics when we work in schools, no matter how scary and uncomfortable it may be. However, what we sometimes forget is that for every violent incident that makes the news, there are countless other incidents that are successfully averted.
A History of Red Flags
One such incident happened in Malcolm, Nebraska in 2004, just five years after the Columbine shooting in Colorado. Josh Magee, a 17 year-old student at Malcolm High School, was arrested in the school parking lot on March 16, 2004 after a staff member saw him drinking liquor from a flask and putting on a black overcoat. While this may not seem to be an obvious clue to his violent plans, the behavior was suspicious enough that the staff member contacted police.
When police arrived, they searched Josh Magee’s car and found a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, and twenty rigged homemade bombs. With the weapons, police also found a handwritten note from Magee saying that he wanted to kill everyone in the school except for three of his friends.
The car was parked less than 100 feet from a school building with over 400 students. Josh Magee was charged with attempted first-degree murder.
The trouble had not just begun that day, however. The actions of Josh Magee in the parking lot that Tuesday followed a long history of red-flag behavior at the school. Having shown an interest in violence and weapons from a young age, he had been on the district’s radar since elementary school.
According to teachers and classmates, he talked frequently about the 1999 Columbine shootings, in which Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves. He even expressed his admiration of Harris and Klebold to classmates in private conversations. When classmates reported to faculty that Magee was bragging about building and testing explosives at home, faculty and staff members started paying close attention to Magee’s movements and behaviors.
When Magee was seen swigging liquor from a flask and donning a black overcoat similar to those worn by the Columbine killers, a staff member wasted no time reporting another suspicious behavior from the teen.
There is no doubt that the staff member’s judgment call saved lives that day.
A Friend Speaks Up
Another incident of averted violence comes from Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 2008. It started with a teenager who stole three handguns from his father after expressing a plan to kill classmates and himself. His father reported the stolen handguns, not knowing then that his report would play a key role in stopping his own son’s violent plans.
Richard Yanis was in the ninth grade at Pottstown High School in December of 2008. He was planning to smuggle his father’s guns into school shortly after Winter Break, shoot other students, and then turn a gun on himself.
One day, he handed a bag to a friend, asking him to hold onto it for him. The friend took the bag home and opened it. Inside he found three handguns and ammunition. The friend reported this to his stepmother, and the two of them took the bag to a nearby creek and dumped the weapons there.
Later at school, the friend told a teacher about the guns, and police were contacted. The police were able to talk to the friend and get the details they needed to recover the weapons and learn of Yanis’s plans. When police found the weapons, they discovered that they were the same weapons reported stolen by Yanis’s father a few weeks before.
Richard Yanis was taken into custody before any part of his plan could be implemented.
A tragedy was avoided because a friend spoke up. Yanis had no history of aggressive behaviors at school, and family friends were shocked by his plans, saying it seemed out of character for the teen. It was later revealed in court that Yanis had been a victim of severe bullying at school, but he had never told anyone what he was going through.
These stories show a few key elements of school violence prevention: awareness, threat assessment, and reporting. Josh Magee had a history of fascination with violence and weapons. Faculty and staff paid attention to his behavior, and when he began acting suspiciously, they did not hesitate to call the authorities. Richard Yanis had no history of aggression. However, his friend recognized suspicious behavior and reported it. His actions most likely saved lives.
nSide is first and foremost about preventing school violence by emphasizing safety measures that build awareness, make threat assessment easier and more accessible, and increase response time when a report is made. If you are already an nSide user, be sure to tell your faculty and students about our Tips page. Tips about suspicious behavior or known plans can be reported anonymously at tips.nside.io. If you would like to learn more about how to improve your school’s safety plans, please contact us today. Our support team is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by emailing help@nside.io, calling 1.800.604.1822, or by using our live chat function available on our website and in the platform.
Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/19/us/nebraska-student-found-with-bombs-outside-his-school.html
- https://www.upi.com/Judge-Student-insane-when-he-tried-attack/86041132731863/?spt=su
- https://www.pottsmerc.com/2009/01/08/thwarted-school-shooter-admits-guilt-to-judge/
- http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/09/school.plot/index.html
Back-to-School Safety Series, Pt. 4
The sun is setting behind the bleachers, and Friday night lights beckon football fans from around the community to come relive the beat of the band, the chants and cheers, and the buzzing energy from the sidelines of their high school days. There is a certain comfort in a Friday night game and the traditions that have survived for decades and created a culture of community pride and camaraderie.
When you walk through those gates and feel the energy of game day, does it feel safe? In the midst of the excitement, has the school prioritized a safe environment for community members?
School safety does not end when school is dismissed. School safety is a culture that must extend to school sporting events and extracurricular activities where the general public is as much a part of the school community as students and staff.
Planning Ahead
Planning is one of the most critical aspects of school safety. When it comes to extracurricular activities, there are few restrictions as to who can be involved. Therefore, it is important to have an effective method of communicating emergency procedures to staff and volunteers. Plan to share information with the appropriate people before, during, and after an event. This may include parents, coaches, law enforcement, students, administrators, etc. If handheld two-way radios are available, distribute those in a way that communication can reach all areas of the event location. However, these events can be loud and distractions are inevitable. It is a good idea to make sure that staff and volunteers have their personal cellular devices with them, and that a mass communication app is being used.
It is also extremely important to include sporting events and extracurriculars in your Emergency Operations Plans. All faculty and staff should be trained in emergency plans for sports and extracurricular activities in case they are needed for these events. In addition, even when not working or volunteering, many faculty and staff simply attend these events in support of students. When trained to handle emergency situations, their presence adds to event security, since they know what to look for and how to respond.
Another important way to plan ahead is to familiarize yourself with the emergency procedures of the away venue. While most schools plan for the same things, that does not mean they plan the same way. You should also consider establishing a direct line of communication with the contact person and security team at the away location.
Severe Weather
Luckily, severe weather is a type of emergency that can usually be planned for well in advance. However, it can sometimes sneak up unexpectedly. In this case, make sure you have a clear protocol for weather delays and how they are to be communicated. Have a readily available and easily accessible shelter-in-place location in the event that there is an extreme emergency. Make sure your coaches, teams, and parents are familiar with the procedures as well. When traveling, it is always a good idea to also be familiar with the emergency protocols of the away venue.
Fire
Unlike severe weather, it is nearly impossible to know when a fire will occur. In the event of a fire, no matter how big or small, it is important to have evacuation plans. When outlining your evacuation plans, make sure that you are not overlapping with emergency responders. For example, once they exit the building, you do not want people to be standing where a fire truck will be parked, or possibly blocking a fire hydrant. Having plans in place that take these types of precautions into account saves time when an emergency occurs.
Bomb Threat
Similar to fire procedures, a bomb threat requires an evacuation plan. It is important to note that not just anyone can recognize a bomb threat. With today’s technology, these threats can present themselves in many different ways. It is critical to have members of your safety team that are able to identify any suspicious activity or suspicious items at an event.
Another important thing to note is that many students make these threats with no intention of ever actually carrying them out. In this age of social media, these rumors and threats can spread like wildfire. However, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Have a designated person or persons that can communicate and intervene in the appropriate way when this occurs.
When we attend sports and extracurricular activities, we often take safety for granted. These events are designed to be fun and exciting for both students and the community. Taking a few extra steps before these events to ensure safety precautions are in place can help everyone feel more safe. Make sure your staff and volunteers are trained in emergency response procedures, and most importantly, make sure communication stays open and clear.
The nSide platform is a valuable resource for your safety plans, including plans for sports and extracurricular activities. Contact us today to see how we can help you make your extracurricular events as safe as possible. Our support team is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by emailing help@nside.io, calling 1.800.604.1822, or by using our live chat function available on our website and in the platform.
Back-to-School Safety Series, Pt. 3
As we start the new school year, the atmosphere is energized and focused. The teachers have finished back-to-school training, students have been reviewing rules and drills, and safety procedures are fresh in everyone’s minds. What we know from years past is that this energy will eventually wane, and routine will override awareness. So how do we overcome complacency and maintain an environment of safety around our schools?
One common mistake school districts make is putting too much emphasis on response to, rather than prevention of crisis situations. Lockdown drills, fire drills, tornado drills- all of these are excellent practice for response to crises, but what does our practice for prevention look like?
In their article “School Safety: What Really Works,” school psychology experts Katherine Cowan and Cathy Paine suggest that the key to reinforcing school safety is a balance of emphasis on physical safety and psychological safety. Psychological safety is a vital component to crisis prevention – an element often overlooked in emergency planning in schools. “Reasonable physical security—such as locked doors; lighted and monitored hallways; and visitor check-in, checkout systems—must be combined with violence prevention and positive behavior supports,” says Cowan and Paine.
A few of their recommendations for creating this balance are listed below:
- Create a safe, supportive school climate (e.g., school-wide behavioral expectations, caring school climate programs, positive interventions and supports, and psychological and counseling services).
- School climate is a complicated concept that goes beyond staying positive and encouraging teachers to be warm and nurturing. Remember that teachers also need to feel safe and supported in order to do their jobs effectively.
- This means staying consistent with school-wide expectations and consequences, providing quick and efficient response to escalation in the classroom, and encouraging mental healthcare for all involved in the educational environment.
- De-stigmatizing mental health issues and counseling may also be a way to help boost school climate. Have counselors visit classrooms for mental health awareness activities. Make counselors and psychologists visible and approachable for all students. A big part of school climate is not just making mental healthcare available, but encouraging all students to take part and find ways to cope with the stress of everyday life.
- Put violence prevention programs (e.g., bully-proofing, social skill development, conflict mediation) in place.
- This can be done at the classroom level and as a school-wide initiative. Allowing teachers time to address social skills and helping students understand the causes and consequences of bullying is essential to violence prevention.
- Addressing conflict at its roots instead of simply disciplining students in the aftermath is also vital. Involving school counselors in disciplinary issues, rather than just issuing punishment, can be extremely helpful in preventing future violence.
- Encourage students to take responsibility for their part in maintaining safe school environments, including student participation in safety planning.
- Insisting that students take ownership of their safety and providing a way for students to report on suspicious activities are essential parts of a safe environment that can be reinforced universally. Students must be involved in their own safety, as highlighted in our previous blog.
- Reiterate school rules and request that students report potential problems to school officials.
- Again, trust is crucial to student reporting. Explaining the reasoning behind school rules and helping students take ownership of the rules can help with building trust and accountability.
- Dictating rules and demanding compliance is not the way to build trust or promote a positive school climate. Get students involved in making rules and setting boundaries within the classroom. The more ownership they take, the more likely they will be to hold their peers to those standards.
- Create anonymous reporting systems (e.g., student hot lines, suggestion boxes, and “tell an adult” campaigns).
- Remember, however, that the foundation of an anonymous reporting system is an environment of trust between students and adults in the school. If students do not trust the adults in charge, they will not report, regardless of anonymity.
- It takes a tremendous amount of courage for students to report their peers or even adults who are engaging in suspicious or dangerous behavior. Taking students seriously when they report is crucial to building trust and ensuring that students know action will be taken if they take the risk to report.
- Develop threat assessment and risk-assessment procedures and teams for conducting the assessments.
- Many schools have threat assessment procedures, but the process is often long and cumbersome, and can cause confusion if not well-organized.
- Organize the threat assessment process and train those involved thoroughly. These procedures should never be treated as mere formalities. Threat assessment is a foundational element of preventing violence in schools.
The nSide platform was designed to make maintaining an environment of safety easier and more practical for teachers, administration, and districts. From anonymous tip submission to online behavioral assessment, the nSide platform digitally integrates multiple tools for maintaining an environment of safety in your school or district. Contact us today at help@nside.io so that we can help you make your school as safe as possible.
Sources:
Back-to-School Safety Series, Pt. 2
Back-to-School Safety Series, Part 2: Helping Students Feel Safe at School
When it comes to school safety planning, the responsibility is usually placed solely in the hands of the adults. Re-evaluation of safety protocols and retraining of faculty and staff in emergency operations plans is standard practice at the beginning of a school year. Most schools even review emergency procedures with their students at the beginning of each semester. However, this transfer of knowledge is often one-way, and rarely are students asked how they feel about their own safety. In order to raise safety awareness among students, we first need to get them involved in their own safety.
A recent survey completed by Safe and Sound Schools showed that there is a significant gap between what adults and students perceive as safety concerns. For example, most students surveyed expressed a greater concern for emotional health. Students also reported having lower confidence than their parents and teachers in the way their schools handle bullying and cyberbullying.1
Findings from the survey include:
- All groups are extremely concerned about mental health crises, bullying/peer- on-peer abuse, substance abuse as well as neglect/abuse at home and even basic needs.
- Only 60% of students felt their school or district was prepared to support students who are being bullied at school or online.
- 79% of students perceived an increase in depression, compared to parents at 60%.2
This survey illustrates an important point about school safety awareness: What adults are emphasizing and what students are most concerned about simply do not match up.
When raising awareness of school safety, crisis response training is vital; thorough evaluation of emergency operations plans is the bare minimum. While there are certain things that adults must emphasize, regardless of how students feel, it is important to open up the conversation about student concerns. If students do not feel safe, whether physically or emotionally, it is the adults’ responsibility to find the gaps and assess ways to fill them.
In her article, “The Safety and Security Side of Teacher Preparation,” Emily Sallee (Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at the University of Montana and the Executive Director of the Montana Safe Schools Center) says the following:
“When students feel safer, when they perceive their environment to be secure, they are neurologically more readily able to learn and retain new information. This phenomenon applies to their educators as well; when teachers feel safer, they are more readily able to teach and support their students’ learning. The key component of this is not the actual safety, whether or not related to acts of school violence. Rather, it is the perception of safety in the school environment that must be addressed and prioritized.”3
In other words, no matter how many physical security measures are taken by teachers and administration, if students do not perceive their school as a safe place, their learning will inevitably be negatively affected. The abstract feeling of safety is sometimes more difficult to address than something as concrete as gates and locks.
“When students feel safer, when they perceive their environment to be secure, they are neurologically more readily able to learn and retain new information. This phenomenon applies to their educators as well; when teachers feel safer, they are more readily able to teach and support their students’ learning. The key component of this is not the actual safety, whether or not related to acts of school violence. Rather, it is the perception of safety in the school environment that must be addressed and prioritized.”3
-Emily Sallee, Inside Higher Ed (July 2022)
So how do we help students feel safe?
1. LISTEN.
The first step must be to make sure students feel heard. They have their own valid concerns about safety, and not being able to express those concerns can increase anxiety. Find a way to involve students in the discussion about safety. Send out anonymous surveys and leave some questions open-ended to allow students to express concerns in their own words. Have open discussions in the classroom about safety issues and ask students for their input on ways to increase awareness of safety in their school.
2. SHOW, DON’T TELL.
Go beyond reviewing the handbook with students on the first day. Show students that your faculty and staff are serious about their safety. Post safety awareness reminders around the school. Allow students to create safety awareness posters about issues that matter to them, and then display them in the hallways. Encourage students to visit the counselor by providing them with passes or implementing a no-questions-asked policy when they express a need to visit a counselor or nurse.
3. ACTIVELY PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTHCARE AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING.
Incorporate social and emotional learning activities in classes. Allow students to take mental breaks in class. When students are feeling overwhelmed, take a few minutes to address coping mechanisms for stress and confusion before launching into a re-teaching of material.
4. PRIORITIZE EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OVER BELL-TO-BELL INSTRUCTION.
This one may sting for educational leaders. Bell-to-bell instruction has often been touted as both an academic and a disciplinary measure to help students stay focused and minimize disciplinary problems within the class period. However, it can also be a way for students struggling with mental health to feel more overwhelmed and less able to cope with the unrelenting pressure to perform. Taking 5-10 minutes at the beginning or end of class to provide students time to relax and relieve stress may actually increase their productivity – and more importantly, their mental well-being – in the long run.
5. PRIORITIZE TEACHER MENTAL HEALTH AS MUCH AS STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH.
Teachers have one of the most difficult jobs there is, and it can take a serious mental toll. From Day One, teachers have it drilled into their heads that everything they do should be for students. However, no one can pour from an empty cup, and teachers need just as much help sometimes taking care of their own mental health. Keep planning periods sacred; Allow teachers that full time to make plans and decompress. This is not free time which can be commandeered by meetings and training sessions; it is a vital part of a teacher’s work day and crucial to their mental wellbeing and effectiveness as a professional educator. Not only is it important to help teachers feel mentally and emotionally safe, it is also a good example to set for students. When teachers and other leaders are allowed (and encouraged) to take time to decompress and have breaks within their day, it can create a ripple effect of calm across campus.
There are many ways to enhance student mental well-being, but a good place to start is to simply open up the conversation. Students can be very insightful about where safety issues lie, especially when it comes to conflict and emotional wellness. Safety awareness begins with open, honest, and often difficult conversations about what is really going on with our students and how we can make them feel as safe as possible.
The nSide platform is here to help schools organize their emergency operations plans, monitor physical safety, as well as provide a more efficient way to conduct behavioral assessments that evaluate students’ circumstances, well-being, and get them the adequate care they require. Contact us today at help@nside.io and let us help you get started with an evaluation of your school’s safety needs.
Sources:
Back-to-School Safety Series, Pt. 1
Part 1: Infrastructure
Back-to-school preparations have begun, and as we decorate classrooms and organize planning meetings and orientations, it’s important to make sure that safety remains our number one priority. School safety is complex, so it is helpful to break down the different components of a safe school environment. The first topic we are going to discuss is infrastructure safety.
It is no secret that children need to feel safe in order to learn effectively. Not only is reviewing the infrastructure of a school important for the physical safety of students and staff, it is also important for creating an environment that provides a consistent feeling of security and peace of mind. One thing is clear: Environment is crucial to student mental health and academic performance. Here are some questions to consider when reviewing the infrastructure of your school:
1. Have you mitigated classroom overcrowding?
This question is two-fold:
- Are classrooms arranged in a way that students can safely move around and evacuate in case of an emergency?
- Are classrooms spaced out in a way that helps students feel relaxed and not physically constrained and therefore stressed? Do students have enough space to prevent conflict? Does the arrangement of the classroom help or hurt student productivity and peace?
2. Are buildings sufficiently ventilated?
- Check that vents are clear in all rooms, especially restrooms and classrooms.
- Have HVAC units tested and maintained regularly.
- Check windows to make sure they can both open and lock properly.
3. Are bathrooms well-maintained and free of plumbing issues?
It is vital for students to feel like they can use a clean restroom that is well-maintained. Not knowing if the restroom is going to be usable or safe can cause anxiety and affect students’ mental well-being, especially students with health issues. Plumbing issues can become dangerous quickly, so maintaining plumbing regularly is extremely important.
4. Is playground equipment structurally sound and free of potential hazards?
This may be an obvious one, but do a thorough inspection. Do not wait until a problem emerges to notice that there are issues. Have someone with structural knowledge evaluate the safety of any play equipment regularly so that accidents can be prevented as much as possible.
5. Are evacuation routes free of obstructions?
Most back-to-school training includes a review of safety procedures and evacuation plans. However, these plans can be recycled without much reevaluation some years, and that can be a grave mistake. Review evacuation routes with staff and ensure that these routes are kept free of any debris, obstructive vehicles, etc.
6. Are parking lots and car lines unobstructed and free of damage?
Again, maybe this one is obvious. However, take extra time to check for potholes, dips, debris, and other problems that may escalate if not remedied early.
7. Are cafeterias and other common gathering areas arranged to prevent overcrowding and conflict?
Evaluate the layout of these areas, as well as entrances and exits. Can students easily enter and exit the area? Can people easily walk between tables and cross to the exit quickly if needed?
8. Are all buildings free of leaks and structural damage?
Building maintenance in schools is a huge issue across the United States, especially with budget constraints and staffing shortages. However, it is literally the foundation of school safety. Classrooms that are structurally unsound, leaking or have a smell from plumbing issues can be distracting, uncomfortable, and even unsafe when students are trying to learn. Physical security should be the bare minimal expectation when students enter your institution.
9. Are doors and gates secure?
Even if you don’t have a technologically-advanced security system, think of the basics: Can teachers easily lock their doors quickly? Are gates locked during school hours? Is entrance to facilities restricted and controlled? Review these issues thoroughly before students return to school.
10. Does your school have a reporting system in place for maintenance issues?
Make sure there is a plan in place for when infrastructure issues arise. When a staff member notices a leak or damage to a building, where do they report it so that immediate action can be taken? If no system is in place, create a simple way to report, and then train your staff to use it. Calls can get lost in the mix, and repeated, unaddressed reports can cause frustration and may result in the problem getting worse. Assign a staff member to organize reports and prioritize resolution of the problem.
Infrastructure is about more than brick and mortar building maintenance; it is about providing reassurance and an environment of safety that enhances learning and lets students and faculty know that nothing is more important than their wellbeing.
This list is just a starting point. Other factors to consider include making sure the main water shut-off is easily accessible, testing and inspecting electrical systems, as well as raising awareness among your faculty and staff so that they know what to look out for in these areas.
nSide is here to help make infrastructure safety monitoring easier for your school or district. Through the nSide platform, campuses can monitor locations of important infrastructure assets, so that when an issue arises, the situation can be mitigated as quickly and as efficiently as possible. HVAC and other infrastructure maintenance can also be logged and monitored directly on the platform, and nSide Maps makes it easy to plan detailed layouts of classrooms and common areas to prevent overcrowding.
Contact us today at help@nside.io and let us help you review your infrastructure safety plan and learn how to use the nSide platform most effectively to plan for the 2022-2023 school year!
Resources:
https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/seasonal-safety/back-to-school
The nSider – 2022 Q2 Newsletter
Questions Parents Need to Ask about School Safety
Planning for the coming school year is in full swing in administration offices across the country. Do you know what plans are in place for your child’s safety?
Helping your child with their homework and making sure they have the necessary tools that they need to succeed can go a long way toward supporting their education. However, it is also important to have a seat at the table when it comes to decision-making that will directly affect their safety. As a parent, knowing exactly what questions to ask when it comes to school safety is crucial. As a starting point, here are 5 questions to consider asking your local administrators:
- Does my school have a current and up-to-date school safety policy?
Your school’s safety and security policy should involve an emergency operations plan (EOP) and a general security plan. Unless you have proper policies and procedures in place, it is impossible to implement security technology and other security measures effectively. Effective policies and procedures alone can help mitigate risks. Reach out to your school principal or district administration to learn more about your school’s safety policies.
- Is my school investing in additional physical security measures?
When it comes to safety, preparedness is key. Ideally, every school should implement a visitor check-in/out system and secure all points of access to the campus, including parking lots, playgrounds, and field areas around the school. In addition, all schools should have some kind of visual surveillance system in place. Whether this is cameras on the outside of the buildings to see who is entering and exiting or cameras in every classroom, that will depend on the size of the school and the specific security concerns at each school. Another question to ask is whether classrooms are easily and quickly secured so that there are as few obstacles as possible to ensure classroom security in the event of a lockdown.
- How will I be notified in case of an emergency?
In any emergency situation, clear and timely communication is crucial. Many schools have a notification system in place that sends out text messages, emails, and phone calls to parents in an emergency. If you are unclear about how your child’s school will notify you in the event of an emergency, contact your school principal or administration office for clarification.
- What type of student mental health support services are available?
Undoubtedly, students suffering from mental health issues can pose a danger to themselves and others, making it vital for schools to provide counseling services to students in need. School, second only to family, is the most important developmental environment in the lives of young people. Reach out to your local school counselor to discuss available mental health resources and how your student can access them when necessary.
- How can I help?
You are the best advocate for your child! Find out what plans the school has in place for emergencies. You can also request that information and training sessions be offered. Volunteer to help organize a safety forum or open meeting for parents onsite. This would give parents and guardians the opportunity to learn from and speak with administrators, local law enforcement, and mental health professionals.
Here at nSide, we understand how overwhelming this topic of discussion can be. As a company, we take a personal approach to creating safer learning environments for all students and teachers. We offer a variety of options for security and prevention to make planning easier for schools and districts. For more information on how we can help keep your schools safe, explore our website at nside.io or contact us today at help@nside.io.
When They Know But Don’t Tell
In 4 out of 5 school shootings, at least one other person knew about the shooter’s plans but failed to report it.* That statistic is staggering, and it begs the question: Why are we not reporting suspicious activity?
One issue is that those who know these plans are often children, and they are simply scared to come forward. This is understandable, as the burden of this knowledge can be too unimaginable or too heavy for an innocent child. Another issue is that we often miss the signs associated with potential violence, so when a child comes forward with information, the seeming absurdity of the information gets brushed aside.
In the aftermath of an event as violent as a school shooting, we are left stunned, heartbroken, and shaking our heads with the weight of our own feeling of helplessness. In our desperation, we spend a lot of our energy pointing the finger of blame, trying to find ground under our feet in the midst of a scary situation that, in truth, could happen to any of us.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make in the aftermath of a school shooting or other violent event is to assume that this is a school problem, and that we are outside the realm of control. However, few of us are truly isolated from our local schools and the communities that surround them. We all share a connection and a responsibility to look for signs of trouble.
In 4 out of 5 cases, someone knew.
So how do we make sure that we are recognizing the signs, and how do we make sure that children feel comfortable enough to report what they know?
- KNOW THE SIGNS
One of the first things we can do is make sure that we recognize the signs of potential violence. In the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, a group of parents and relatives of the victims created a nonprofit called Sandy Hook Promise, whose goal is to educate children and community members about the signs of violence and prevent future events like the one that took their children’s lives. Through extensive research, they discovered the following signs of potential violence:
- Sudden withdrawal from family and friends
- Bullying; especially if targeted toward a particular race, gender, etc.
- Excessive irritability or anger
- Chronic loneliness or social isolation
- Expressing persistent thoughts of harming themselves or others
- Bragging about access to guns or weapons
- Making direct threats toward a place, themselves, or other person
- Recruiting accomplices or audiences for an attack
- Directly expressing a threat as a plan
- KNOW HOW TO REPORT
Once we know the signs, the next question is: What do we do with this information? The answer will vary depending on where you are and what is available in your community. One thing is clear, however: If this is an immediate concern or emergency situation, do not wait; Call 911.
For other situations, most schools or districts have a reporting system in place where you can fill out relevant information and it will be directed toward the appropriate party. Check your district’s website to see where to report or simply call the school so that they can direct you to the appropriate place. If your school has the nSide platform, you can also report via our TIPS page at tips.nside.io.
- LISTEN AND ACT
We know to act when we witness problematic behavior ourselves, but a lot of times, children are the ones who witness red flags in their peers. Sometimes children have a hard time processing what they know, and they do not report for a variety of reasons. One reason they don’t report is fear of retaliation or fear of being labeled a tattler or a snitch.
One way to combat this fear is by making sure we maintain an environment of trust in our classrooms, our schools, and even our households. Having honest, open conversations about hard topics can help students feel more comfortable coming forward later when they learn something troubling.
Another way to help students feel more comfortable reporting is to create or promote an existing anonymous reporting system. Reporting can actually put a child at risk, so having the option to report anonymously is extremely important.
Regardless of how students choose to report, the most important thing for adults to know is how to respond when we have that information. Understand and respect the fact that the student took a big risk in reporting and make every effort to act right away. It is vital not to waste time doubting or downplaying the situation. Every report must be taken seriously.
CONCLUSION
Expecting children to report what they know without guidance is a dangerous and all too common mistake to make. We must build trust with students by opening communication, allowing them to remain anonymous and, perhaps most importantly, taking them seriously when they do come forward.
One tool that can make reporting easier is nSide’s Tips page. Anyone using our platform can go to nside.io and click on Submit a Tip or go directly to tips.nside.io. For more information or for help getting started with Tips, please email us at help@nside.io.