Facing increased need and a “patchwork” funding system, school nurses are critical to school safety and emergency preparedness. But are they an endangered species? We know children cannot learn at their maximum capabilities if they are pre-occupied with their physical health, mental health, and personal safety concerns. Add to this the number of kids on […]
Blog Archives
3 Simple Tips for Parents on Keeping Your Kids Safe
Parents: Talk with, not at, your kids. Give them, not your smart phone, your full attention. Work to live, don’t live to work. Build a relationship with your kids today! Ken Trump Visit School Security Blog at: http://www.schoolsecurityblog.com
Bullying Label Understates Crimes, Suicides, & Deeper Issues
A 13-year-old is assaulted and his arms are broken because he wants to be a cheerleader. Numerous teens commit suicide. What are these incidents called? Today, the media, special interest advocates, and others call them “bullying.” A few years ago, when kids were assaulted and had their arms broken, it was called “assault.” And when […]
Why One Victim Believes Bullying Starts at Home
An adult male caller had frustration, and later anger, in his voice. He described on my voicemail how he was “bullied” from grades 3 through 10. He went on to note he had been beaten repeatedly by this bully until 10th grade, at which time he (the caller/victim) left home. A Caller’s Personal Story The bully the […]
How to Teach Kids to be Safe to and from School
A parent’s worst nightmare: A 17-year-old girl is abducted and raped on the way to school. What advice should parents give their children? A brutal sexual assault on a Cleveland girl last week captured media attention. Our local ABC affiliate, WEWS, asked me to provide safety tips for children to and from school. My primary […]
My Congressional Testimony vs. Stephen Colbert’s Performance
Legislation, sausage, and the news are three things you never want to see being made. Of the three, I think legislation is the ugliest with the least predictable (and sometimes least meaningful) outcome. I have had the opportunity to testify on school safety issues four times before our nation’s Congress: House Education and Labor Committee […]
Bullying: Rarely the only cause of a young person’s suicide
The media, educational, and political craze around “bullying” focuses on the symptom, not the underlying problem, in teen suicide cases. In today’s opinion section of Cleveland’s Plain Dealer newspaper, I responded to a recent story on teen suicides in a neighboring county in a letter to the editor entitled, “Bullying: Rarely is it the only […]
What Parents Expect After a Shooting & Pipe Bombs at School
A 14-year-old South Carolina high school student shoots at a school resource officer (SRO). He has two pipe bombs in his backpack. A search of the student’s home finds a wide array of items including shotgun and handgun shells, multiple cigarette lighters, exploded bomb pieces, 14 carbon dioxide cartridges, and the list goes on. Authorities later find […]
School Safety Challenged by Volunteer Criminal Backgrounds
Is the parent volunteer in your child’s school a convicted sex offender or drug dealer? School officials struggle balancing parental involvement and protecting students from adults with criminal backgrounds who want to volunteer at their child’s school. The tension was highlighted in Wednesday’s Associated Press article entitled Would-be School Volunteers Thwarted By Their Past. Parent […]
Why Florida Father of Bus Bullying Victim Was Wrong
The frustrated father whose daughter was bullied on a Florida school bus was justifiably upset, but wrong in how he approached the issue. Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right James Willie Jones made national news this past week when a school bus video captured him yelling at students and the bus driver, and gesturing in anger […]