A group of gunmen attacked a school bus killing seventeen and taking three women hostage before opening fire on responding police officers according to Ethiopian news sources. Early news accounts assert that the students were forced to lie on the ground before being methodically executed by the gunmen. Though no group has been identified as carrying out the attack at this point, terrorists have attacked school buses on numerous occasions outside of the United States. School buses are typically soft targets and are difficult to protect from carefully planned attacks as we have seen since the first reported attack on a school bus by the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the state of Israel more than fifty years ago.
Student Abducted from School in the United Kingdom
March 14, 2012 by
British news services are reporting that a female student was forcibly dragged from her school by her ex-boyfriend. Police are searching for both teens and fear for her safety. It is fairly standard for schools in England to be fenced and gated with access control systems due to concerns for school security. This incident demonstrates how easy it can be for students to be abducted from their schools. Fortunately, such incidents are still relatively rare.
Disturbance in New York City High School Shows How Serious Student Disruptions can be
March 14, 2012 by
There was a major disturbance at a New York City public high school recently that shows just how out of control students can become. Videos taken during the incident have been posted on the web and viewed by thousands of people.
The situation occurred at Murry Bergtram High School and graphic video of the disturbance demonstrate a high level of chaos. Viewing these video clips remind me of an even more violent student disturbance at Ballard Hudson Middle school when I was a student there. In that instance, local law enforcement officers wearing riot gear broke up the melee with riot batons after a school district police officer was severely beaten.
Situations of group student violence this severe are fortunately relatively rare in most parts of the country. These situations demonstrate how important school climate and culture are and how important it is for school security and law enforcement officials to establish solid rapport with the students they serve. This can be accomplished in any school, including schools serving high-risk student populations.