Emails exposed by IPVM, the world’s leading authority on physical security technology, shows AI weapons detection systems missed their own test gun “a few times with the cameras rolling” in a media demo for a Virginia school district that reportedly signed an $11 million contract for the units. And the school district’s communications director wanted […]
Blog Archives
Cell phones and school safety: They are often disruptive to the educational process and can create unsafe conditions in an emergency. Yet many students and parents want them. Now, some politicians want to ban their use in schools.
Teachers find that cell phones create classroom distractions. School administrators find they accelerate bullying and conflicts. However, many students — and some very vocal parents — often feel they are essential to school safety. But are the cell phones an emotional security blanket for parents even more than a security tool for students? Some now […]
Are parents a growing school security threat? Parents threatening, attacking students and teachers at schools
The headlines include parents dressing down to bypass security and watch their kid attack another student, parents attacking a classroom teacher, and parents going after other students having conflicts with their kids. Principals and their school school safety teams prepare for many potential school security and emergency situations from school shootings to natural disasters and […]
Mother of Oxford school shooter found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Landmark? Yes. Precedent for all future school shootings? Probably not.
A jury found Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of shooter in the Oxford (MI) High School school shooting case, guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the loss of lives in the attack. See https://apnews.com/article/oxford-high-school-mother-charged-01f336607a496c5f9ff0cb3a7434d073 A landmark case This is a landmark case in being the first we can recall where a parent has been […]
How good customer service by school staff sets the tone for safer schools
Starting with a student’s first interaction with their school bus driver in the morning to the parent’s first interaction at the front door buzzer and main office at the school, customer service sets the tone for safer schools. First impressions set the tone — and tone matters My wife and I recently visited an Apple […]
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 […]
Pop Quiz on School Safety: Could Your School Leaders Pass The Test?
If a parent unexpectedly asked your school’s principal, superintendent, or school board member the following two questions, could they immediately answer each one with specific responses? Will you name 10 specific strategies your schools are using to prevent crime and violence in your schools? Will you list 10 specific measures your schools have taken to prepare for, […]
Managing Media and Parent School Safety and Crisis Communications
You’ll take a hit if you effectively manage an overall school crisis response, but drop the ball in communicating with parents and the media. That was one of my main messages to school communications and public relations directors when I spoke last week at the annual conference of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). As […]
Bullying: Parent or School Responsibility?
Who is ultimately responsible for school bullying – parents, schools, the victims? CNN’s Rick Sanchez and I had a lengthy on-air discussion yesterday afternoon on bullying, the roles of teachers and parents, who is responsible when a bullied teen commits suicide, and what parents can do to support their children who may be bullied or […]
School Anti-Bullying Laws Are The Wrong Approach
School anti-bullying laws ‘sound good and feel good, but they provide little-to-no new resources to educators. High-profile bullying incidents, including a number resulting in victim suicides, have fueled calls for more state and federal anti-bullying laws. The latest school bullying case in Massachusetts resulted in the death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince and criminal charges against nine teens. […]