How to Boost School Safety
How to boost school safety? It is a very important question. Parents entrust schools to both teach and keep their children safe during the day. School safety concerns intensified in the 1990s after shootings such as those at Jonesboro and Columbine. Administrators and teachers made school safety a priority and looked for ways to improve it. By taking several steps, schools can secure the property and keep children safe.
So it is important that all schools should look for ways and double up their efforts on how to boost school safety for the safety of its students.
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| How to Boost School Safety |
The followings are some of the measures that can be taken on how to boost school safety
1. Assess the current safety level of the school so you know how to improve. Critical areas to examine include overall safety of facilities and transportation equipment, existing school safety plans, crisis response, school discipline policies, bullying and harassment issues and cooperation with local law enforcement.
2. Prioritize each area. For example, administration may want to address school discipline policies now and address terrorist measures at a later date
Develop a just and fair school discipline policy. Stick with the policy and enforce discipline as needed. Students respond to fair treatment when they know administrators and teachers care about their well-being. A consistent discipline policy can stop some safety issues before they run out of control.
4. Train employees on safety considerations, at least yearly. Staff cannot keep students secure or emphasize safety policies to children if they do not have the overall awareness of safety they need for themselves. Office staff should get to know parents. Visitors need to check in at the office and wear badges for identification when on campus.
5. Educate students regarding bullying, gangs, weapons and substance abuse, along with standard safety measures, such as responses to fire drills and emergency procedures. Both inside and outside speakers, such as fire department officials and police officers, can teach students safety related to their specific fields.
6. Encourage parental involvement. When parents and schools work together, students know they present a united front and are working for the best interests of the young people. School communication with parents, regarding both positive behavior and student discipline issues, addresses problems before they can escalate.
7. Hire security guards. Additional eyes and ears can enhance overall school safety and stay attentive to the pulse of the school. This tactic works especially well for schools with serious student discipline problems or drug problems. Security guards know who troubled students are and can recommend intervention before a problem escalates into a school safety issue, such as that at Columbine.
8. Install classroom cameras. When students know they are being filmed, they are less likely to misbehave, as they know a record is on tape. Filming students documents actions, and the students cannot deny their behavior.
9. Install metal detectors. For schools with students who regularly bring weapons to school, this will cut down on contraband.
10. Invite an outside agency to come in and assess school safety and recommend improvements.
Hopefully those tips above can be your good guidelines on how to boost school safety in your area.
Source: Elizabeth Thompson, eHow