Safe Havens makes the school safety e-book Let None Learn in Fear available at no cost via our website. This 205 page book is a compilation of my columns for School Planning and Management Magazine for more than a decade. I decided to revise and update the columns and make them into a book at the urging of Les Nichols who is the Vice President for Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Parental Involvement and School Safety
October 9, 2012 by
Did you know that being actively involved in your child’s educational process can affect school safety? Children of involved parents typically have higher self-esteem and have fewer behavior problems in school. And students’ grades usually improve when their parents become involved. So keeping an open line of communication with teachers about your child’s progress will not only improve learning but it will also help maintain a safe school environment.
The teacher can be your best ally in an array of areas such as letting you know whether or not your child is giving his/her best effort in class and whether he/she has noticed any significant changes in your child’s behavior or attitude towards learning. It’s also a good idea to find out whether the teacher has concerns about the friends your child has chosen. All of which is paramount to your child’s safety in school as well as academic success.
Jerry L. Parks, author of Help! My Child Is Starting Middle Schoo!l A Survival Handbook for Parents outlined the following tips to help parents become more involved in their child’s school:
Top 5 Ways Parents Can Help Their Children Succeed in School
- Make sure your child is at school every day possible. “Missed work is generally more of a loss than made-up work is a gain,” Parks says. “There is no substitute for attendance.”
- Designate a time and place for your child to do homework. If he does not have homework, have him use the time to read. “Routine is the essence of a child’s life,” he says.
- Keep in touch with teachers, but don’t overdo it. “Most teachers appreciate parents caring enough to keep in touch a few times a term but do not appreciate parents expecting contact on a regular basis.”
- Teach your child character—it “will improve social and academic skills more than anything else,” Parks says. “Some things are simply wrong, and the world your child will grow up in will punish crimes, so give your child a head start.”
- Make time every day to talk with your child about the day’s activities. “Let them know you care, and really listen to what they have to say.”
Parents who take the time to engage and support their children’s education not only help their children succeed, but can reduce danger for their children as well.
Dr. Sonayia Shepherd (Sony) is the Chief Operating Officer of Safe Havens International. The author of 16 books on school safety and emergency management, Sony’s work has taken her to many countries including Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia, Haiti, Guatemala, Angola, South Africa and India. A popular keynote speaker, Dr. Shepherd has presented at numerous state, national and international professional conferences and many individual school districts across the nation. Sony welcomes reader feedback and questions at sony@weakfish.org
Abductions of Students from Schools are a Rare but Very Real School Safety Risk
October 8, 2012 by
Twenty-five-year-old Bradley Mrazek was arrested after he abducted a nine-year-old student from Parkside Elementary School in San Mateo, California last week. Mrazek is being held on eight criminal counts after he allegedly entered the school and abducted the girl who was able to escape from the man. Police report that Mrazek had actually trespassed at three different schools that day. Police also believe that Mrazek was the same man who entered a stall in a girl’s restroom at George Washington Elementary School in Daly City last March. The suspect in that case fled after he tried to take photographs of children in the restroom.
These and other cases demonstrate that there are instances where individuals enter school facilities undetected in order to harm students and staff. As we have mentioned previously, Safe Havens International Analysts have typically been able to conduct successful passive, simulated abductions of students for more than 90% of attempts during assessment projects where our clients request we do so. Passive simulated abductions involve attempts by our analysts to breach the security of a school facility and to persuade students to take us on a tour of their school using a ruse. These simulations are carefully planned, conducted and coordinated so they do not cause alarm. Our analysts use similar approaches to those that have been utilized by actual aggressors but we never use any form of threats, coercion or touch a child.
These simulations have proven to be extremely effective at helping to determine how real offenders have been able to breach access control systems, sign in policies and other preventive measures so gaps can be closed to reduce risk
Often, seemingly effective school security measures fail to stop an aggressor because staff are not properly trained on why specific aspects of visitor screening and access control measures are important. For example, we have found in our school safety assessments that we can typically carry out a simulation successfully when even 10-20% of school staff members are not wearing photo identification cards. This is because staff are often reluctant to challenge a visitor without a visitor badge when they are used to seeing people in the building without an identification card.
Unfortunately, these types of school safety incidents can take place in the best of schools in the nicest communities because aggressors will seek victims where they feel security measures are lax. Improving school access control, student supervision, visitor screening and other prevention measures can reduce the risks of danger to students and staff from intruders at schools.
Amish Grace – How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy is a Powerful Read on the Deadly Nichol Mines School Shooting
October 6, 2012 by
While presenting for a college in Pennsylvania a couple of years back, I was given a copy of the book Amish Grace – How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald, b. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver – Zercher. This excellent book explains why and how the Amish community moved quickly to forgive the killer after one of our nation’s most horrific school shootings.
The authors provide a powerful insight into Amish culture and how central the theme of forgiveness is to it. This well-written book helps the reader understand how people could be so quick to not only forgive the killer of innocent school children but to reach out and provide comfort to his widow as well. This is an excellent read for the school safety professional.
Frederick Flowers, 66-year-old School bus Driver Arrested for Driving While Intoxicated after Crashing Bus into Residence in Long Island
October 4, 2012 by
Police have charged a 66 year-old school bus driver in New York with aggravated driving while intoxicated after he crashed his school bus into a house while he was driving his route in Long Island. According to police, Frederick Flowers was injured and had to be transported by medical evacuation helicopter to the Nassau University Medical Center.
Police report that there were five students on the bus at the time of the crash but that none of the children were injured.
Flowers faces numerous additional charges.