Alarming Start to 2014 As United States is Rocked by 9 School Shootings in January (so far)
The first four weeks of 2014 were rocked by nine school shootings in just 18 school days across the United States (Peck, 2014). Shootings occurred at elementary, middle, high and post-secondary school levels. Schools that experienced mass casualty intended shootings, in order: Liberty Technology Magnet High School Berrendo Middle School Albany High School…
Read MoreIt’s Time for High Schools to Consider Text-Based Incident Management Systems for Large-Attendance Athletic Events
I recently met with Mr. Ben Fraser, UW-Madison Director of Guest Services, to discuss access and security considerations for large-scale events. Mr. Fraser shared a few pieces of the puzzle that comprise the vast security network for UW-Madison athletics. First, allow me to praise the outstanding security processes of UW-Athletics. As a fan and also someone with…
Read MoreCODE OF SILENCE: Assess Bystander Behavior in the School Setting
Schools embrace a range of student discipline measures including zero tolerance and restorative practices. In addition, schools are becoming increasingly efficient with threat reporting (input) systems, such as anonymous text numbers and online submission software. However, the piece often not studied is what student bystanders do when they are aware of a potential act of…
Read MoreThe Revolving Door of the Principalship – and what it means for crisis preparedness in a school
School safety is receiving more attention today than any previous time in history. Yet, implementation of school crisis preparedness measures is largely dependent upon school leadership – which is possibly in the most perilous condition in the history of contemporary American K-12 education. As principal turnover rates accelerate, vision and implementation are strained, halted or…
Read MoreA Historical Reflection of Public Policy and School Safety
Public policy’s greatest impacts on school safety have been more rigorous building codes, abolishing grandfather clauses, and mandated drills. Sadly, those actions have been largely responsive and not proactive, as was the situation in the 1958 Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago, Illinois that killed 92 pupils and 3 nuns. “Allowing for…
Read MoreJohns Hopkins Medicine Residency Requires 20 Hours of Emergency Preparedness Curriculum, But K-12 School Leader Licensure Mandates Zero Hours of Emergency Preparedness Curriculum
It’s time that licensure requirements for K-12 leaders include a 1 credit course (15 hours) of crisis preparedness and response training. While this topic might be grazed upon within some post-secondary school leader (principal) coursework, it’s certainly not provided the depth of dedicated focus warranted in consideration of the evolution of school crisis needs over the…
Read MorePerspectives on Violence and Public Health – Injury Prevention, Violence Prevention, and Trauma Care: Building the Scientific Base
I anticipated focusing on the Haddon Matrix for this week’s BLOG post. However, I felt that this week’s entry was better suited to build the foundation for the Haddon Matrix. Developed by William Haddon in 1970, the matrix looks at factors related to personal attributes, vector or agent attributes, and environmental attributes before, during and after…
Read MoreWhy We Should Consider the Hawthorne Effect Before We Decide to Fortify the Physical School Environment
What is often overlooked, or greatly under-estimated, when planning to fortify the physical environment of a school is the impact those changes will have upon students – and ultimately student learning and student performance. As communities demand steel doors and fewer windows in schools it is important to weigh those changes against the potential impact on students.…
Read MoreTactical Communications: The Blunder in Telling Someone to “Calm Down” and Verbal Judo Instruction for School Front Office Personnel
32% of school-based attacks were stopped through physical or verbal intervention by school administrators, educators or students. Knowing this, should schools teach tactical communications (verbal judo) to staff and students? (Data provided by United States Secret Service, 2002, in a study of school attacks between 1974-2000) “Please, calm down!” Consider this verbal blunder. A school principal, front office…
Read MoreLogistical Barriers, Incomplete Approaches and How Black Box Labels Impact the Ability to Address Mental Health Needs of Children
Depending upon the research you cite, between 10-15% of children in the United States have a mental health need. One of the areas that is sharply rising is anxiety disorder, but the overall trend line is also ascending year after year. In an attempt to better address the mental health needs of students, some Wisconsin…
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