Woman Charged with School Assault Sentenced

August 21, 2014 by

School Assault

A mother of a student at Grover Elementary School in Akron was sentenced for a school assault.  Last February, the mom reportedly got into an argument with a teacher and the principal.  She reportedly began cursing at them, pushed the teacher, then knocked the principal to the ground.  The principal allegedly hit her head in the fall. When a cafeteria worker attempted to intervene, the mother was alleged to have punched her.  The school was placed in a lockdown, and the police were called.

The mother has been sentenced to fourteen months in jail for fifth-degree felony assault, and misdemeanor assault.

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School Assault Analysis

A quick look on the Internet did not find definitive statistics on the number of teachers assaulted by parents.  There are statistics for school assaults against teachers by students.  The U.S. Department of Education reported that in the 2007-2008 school year, 127,120 (4 percent) public school teachers (K-12) were assaulted at school—hit, kicked, bitten, slapped, stabbed or shot.  In the same school year, 222,460 teachers (7 percent) were threatened by students.

Suffice to say, teachers are a target for those upset with the educational system.  What has been lost is the ability to discuss issues without resorting to physical or verbal violence.  Since teachers are authority figures, it is easier for them to become the focal point of frustration for both students and parents.

So what do schools do?

Like everything else related to school safety, school assault prevention requires planning and follow through.  What training have your teachers been given in de-escalation techniques?  What training have they been given to identify when a person is building up to an outburst?  Schools should identify appropriate places for people to meet with parents, places with safe areas to retreat to should an outburst occur.

Of course, the best technique is one that should be used with the children, building a relationship with the parents of trust and open communication.  Knowing the parent can help identify points of contention, and can provide a baseline of trust with which to address conflict.  It is not a cure all, but it can curtail the incidents of school assaults.

Schools should be safe for everyone.

Filed Under: Ask Safe Havens, Stephen Satterly Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

School Safety Perceptions Returning to Normal?

August 17, 2014 by

School Safety Perceptions

A recent Gallup Poll showed that parent’s fear for their children’s safety at school is returning to what it was before the Sandy Hook massacre.  Gallup has asked the question, “Thinking about your oldest child, when he or she is at school, do you fear for his or her physical safety?”  From 2009 until right before the Sandy Hook Massacre, 25% responded with YES.  Shortly after Sandy Hook, that percentage rose to 33%.  The latest poll shows that response has dropped to 27%

Trend: Thinking about your oldest child, when he or she is at school, do you fear for his or her physical safety?

The percentage reached a high of 55% after Columbine.  Gallup notes that parent’s fears for their children’s safety spike after tragic events in schools, but the short-term increases appear to get smaller each time.

Analysis of School Safety Perceptions

What does this mean for school safety practitioners?  Gallup said that Americans overall have shown increasing resilience in their reactions to school shootings since Columbine, becoming less likely to have greater fear about their own child’s safety.  This is, in part, due to the efforts of many dedicated school safety professionals.  For all they do to make our children safer, we thank them.

A lesson to learn from this is that after every incident, fears increase.  In the face of this fear it is not an easy thing to make decisions in a rational manner.  Decisions based upon emotions are not often good ones.  Major changes in approaches to school safety should not be made lightly, but with great thought and care.  Schools, school districts and school boards should not bow to fear, or make decisions on the basis of emotions.

It is natural to feel fear after an attack on a school.  However, do not let fear drive your decisions.  Sound school safety decisions require much thought and consideration.

 

Filed Under: Ask Safe Havens, Stephen Satterly Tagged With: , , ,

School Bus Driver Ambushed and Hijacked

August 11, 2014 by

School Bus Driver Ambushed

In Baltimore, a group of teens, all under the age of 16, boarded a school bus and allegedly began throwing things at the school bus driver.  When he said he was going to call 911, they reportedly began assaulting him.  They then drove off in the bus.  The teens allegedly drove around the block and then parked it.

The school bus driver reportedly received minor injuries, and the police have three of the suspects in custody.  Fortunately, there was no one else on the bus at the time of the hijacking.

A Type D school bus.

Analysis

School bus safety should be a primary concern of schools.  In a recently released study, school transportation-related deaths are the leading cause of death in K-12 schools.  To keep things in perspective, however, school transportation-related crashes account for less than one-half of one percent of all crashes in the US.  However, during a fifteen-year period from 1998 through 2012, the number of people who died in school transportation-related crashes are more than eight times the number of people killed in Active Shooter Incidents in the same period.

Apart from the bus crashes, school buses are soft targets.  Buses are difficult to secure, and there have been numerous instances in which unwanted people have boarded the bus, the most noteworthy being the fatal incident in Alabama.  So what are school bus drivers to do?

The primary weapon the school bus driver has is awareness, which can lead to avoidance.  When driving a route you have driven numerous times before, it is easy to become complacent, and not pay attention to what is going on at and around bus stops, and along the route.  School bus drivers can overcome this by reminding themselves everyday of the preciousness of their cargo. School bus drivers are in a unique position to notice something out of the ordinary.

Practicing the tenets of Permission to Live, if a driver feels that something is wrong at a bus stop, they should kick up their perceptions, and decide whether to stop, or drive by and continue to monitor.  At this point the school bus driver has to weigh the safety of the children at the stop with the safety of the children already on the bus.  This decision is best thought out ahead of time, even set into policy.

For a look at how school buses have ben used in terror attacks around the world, read Innocent Targets.

Filed Under: Ask Safe Havens, Safe Havens Blog, Stephen Satterly Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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