On several occasions, people have asked me what a safe school looks like. While the standard reply is that no school anywhere can assure its clientele that it is 100% safe, there are some common elements that make some schools safer than others. In most instances, the picture that comes to mind of a safe school is one that deters a school shooting. That is an important facet of school safety but there is so much more.
- Active, involved, engaged student supervision – The single most effective strategy for making a school safe is the physical presence of a responsible adult in the immediate vicinity. The human element is better, cheaper, and more efficient than metal detectors, surveillance cameras, or other high tech means of keeping kids safe. However, the key is active supervision-being in the hallway at class change time, being in the parking lot prior to and at the end of school, patrolling the playground during recess time, being at the school entrance to observe adults and students entering the building, being in those locations where kids seem to make it a habit of getting in trouble. It also helps to have a backup plan in case the person assigned to supervise is absent for whatever reason.
- Locked doors and access control – Chances are that most school employees would not leave their homes unlocked for strangers to enter. Common sense says that schools shouldn’t either. Locked exterior and classroom doors provide a layer of security that “buys time” in case of emergencies. Students should be taught not to open exterior doors for anyone complete with signs on the inside of the doors with those exact instructions. And what about those “universal keys?” What is a universal key, you ask? “Universal keys” are rocks, blocks, door wedges and other primitive devices used to keep the locking mechanism on the door from operating properly, all for the sake of convenience. What is the purpose of constructing a secure “sally port” entrance to the school complete with cameras and buzzer entry if we are going to prop open a door on the perimeter of the building? Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?
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Trusted adults – A positive relationship between staff and students is a cornerstone of school safety. A school with this attribute will have students willingly going to a trusted adult if they know of a safety problem or if they need to discuss a personal issue. Every student should have at least one of these “trusted adults” working in the school. Maybe principals or counselors should survey kids to see if this is actually occurring in their schools. If more than ten percent of the students say they have no trusted adult in the building, you may have some work to do.
- Emergency coaching – No successful athletic coach enters a game without multiple practice sessions with various scenarios. The team needs to be prepared for whatever situation that the opposition poses. The same is for emergency drill practices. Students and staff should practice tornado, earthquake, fire, and lockdown drills enough times that they feel comfortable in execution. The drills should be scheduled at various times during the day, in multiple locations, with contingency responses. The safety focused schools even carry this mindset to a higher level by practicing reverse evacuations, student sign-out procedures during emergencies, and involving first responders in realistic crisis simulations.
There are many more aspects of school safety that will be addressed in later blogs.