Integrating Student Wellness With Technology and Training to Stop School Violence
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 15, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In the wake of yet another school shooting in Colorado, just less than 9 miles from Columbine, the debate over whether progressive changes still need to be made to school emergency management has been reignited. Differing viewpoints can be found in every school district and school administrators are not the only ones weighing in on the topic. "The only thing that our kids should need to fear in school is calculus," said one parent.
When children are dropped off at school in the morning, the expectation is that the school is doing everything in its power to keep their children safe. But every school is bound by its own safety and emergency preparedness policies. Teachers are trained and required to follow those policies. But who is writing them? It isn't uncommon in school districts to find safety and emergency management positions filled by certificated staff with no real public safety or emergency management training. When one considers that on any given weekday, more than one-fifth of the US population can be found in schools, it stands to reason that we ought to have qualified staff leading our school safety efforts.
Schools are arguably the safest place for a child to be during an emergency incident. That is of course if the school is well trained in emergency response procedures. In the State of California for example, where school employees are mandated to serve as Disaster Service Workers (DSW) during a local or state emergency, new laws are helping to at least lead districts in the right direction. California Assembly Bill 1747 requires that schools conduct annual active shooter drills. The activities conducted in those drills however, differ from district to district. California Assembly Bill 3205 requires that any new school construction or upgrade include classroom doors that allow teachers to lock the door from the inside as part of their training. These new laws are helping to develop preventative defense measures that will hopefully save lives during an active shooting.
Some safety experts believe that districts need to better prepare their schools by going beyond just conducting the conventional and mandatory lockdown drill. "Without reliving tragic events, we need to consider the fact that teachers haven't always been able to lock their classroom doors in time," said Mike Jacobs, Founder and CEO of SafeGuard School Systems, Inc. Jacobs, who majors in emergency management and who has worked in public schools for nearly 20 years, founded his company based in Palo Alto, CA shortly after the Sandy Hook incident in 2012. He recalls the incident hitting very close to home for him as his first child had just started kindergarten. "It's important to teach students and staff about the things that can be done if a shooter actually gains access into their classrooms, libraries, multi-purpose rooms, etc. It's not hard to throw off the focus of even a trained gunman if there are 30 books flying in his/her direction. By creating a dynamic environment, and by taking away a gunman's focus, we can save lives."
Safety experts say that the more confusion we can eliminate in a school shooting, the less people are going to get hurt. It's for that reason that SafeGuard School Systems developed SafeGuard OES, a mobile application that can be downloaded onto any smart phone or mobile device. It bridges the gap of communication from the classroom to first responders and is able to communicate conditions as well as specific locations. "We're arming teachers with the ability to communicate effectively with first responders, because no one knows the condition of a classroom better than the teachers who are in them," said Jacobs. The application does not rely solely upon GPS, as it's able to triangulate the specific location of its users when notifications are sent. It is designed to perform effectively, even if used inside buildings with little to no cellular signal.
Schools have changed their views on how electronic security systems should work. They're no longer viewed as forensic tools that provide evidence after something has happened, but as security systems to help detect and mitigate problems as they occur. "Video surveillance and security systems that can reduce the possibility, or that provide quicker response times to incidents as they are occurring have an advantage over those that cannot," said Jacobs. More focus is now being placed on video surveillance. What's next however, are integrated and protected systems that proactively harden a school site and provide information to first responders in real-time.
Jacobs decided to take it even further by integrating 24hr-counseling resources into the SafeGuard OES student interface. "The best way to mitigate an emergency is by preventing it from happening altogether. We need to know that there is a critical connection between school safety and student wellness. I sincerely hope that we can help stop these school shootings before they happen, but if we can't, I feel good knowing that we've at least provided a truly effective means of communication for teachers and law enforcement during that emergency. SafeGuard OES is more than just an app, it's a well-designed tool that can improve any emergency management program," said Jacobs. His company is hoping that by providing the mental wellness help that some of our students need, tragedies like another UNC-Charlotte or Highlands Ranch, CO shooting can be avoided.
SOURCE SafeGuard School Systems, Inc.
