TECHNOS

August 29, 2008

SPECIAL REPORT

Recent Violence in U.S. Schools Calls for Professional Development Assistance; Series Available Now from AIT

Recent shocking violent events taking place in American schools have put a spotlight on the vulnerability of students, teachers, and staff there. The fact that these incidents occurred in suburban and rural settings, where we often think “it couldn’t happen here,” underscores the need for preparedness and vigilance.

Every teacher, school administrator, staff member, and student’s parent must be concerned about violence occurring in schools. While some is caused by students, and some is caused by outsiders breaching the boundaries of a school, the people involved in keeping students safe must be prepared to handle emergency situations and their aftermath—but better yet, to diffuse a potentially violent situation.

This week, a national summit on how to address school violence, called for by President Bush, is taking place in Chevy Chase, MD. One report from the series of three panel discussions already held identifies three actions school administrators can take immediately to keep their schools safer: 1) take bullying seriously, 2) practice their crisis plans, and 3) talk to parents about what’s happening.

These actions, plus others designed to prevent and deal with violence affecting school-aged children, are outlined in our Youth Crises series, Youth Crises: Planning the Response for Hostage Taking, Shootings, and Suicides and Youth Crises II: Play It Safe—Plan for Crises.

Youth Crises I is a complete video-based workshop that helps school administrators and concerned members of the school community begin the process of creating a crisis intervention and response plan. It is a practical and useful resource, providing the framework for writing and establishing your crisis intervention and follow-up plan. One 40-minute program, an 86-page facilitator’s guide, and a 44-page implementation plan are included; a DVD with all of these elements is also available.

The following program segments are included in the first Youth Crises professional development workshop.

Youth Crises: An Introduction—Presents three key components of a complete crisis-preparedness plan: prevention, intervention, and education; encourages attendees to consider whether their schools have taken measures to address these components.
Hostage Crisis: The Police Response—Shows a possible hostage situation demonstrating appropriate intervention and communications priorities; this dramatization stimulates discussion about the details of a complete plan.
Surviving and Healing—Conveys key points, including the need to keep calm, why you should not try to disarm or negotiate with the hostage taker, and the necessity of trusting hostage negotiators; further demonstrates the responsibilities of school officials in speaking to media and families.
A Student Suicide—Sketches the announcement of a student suicide and provides subsequent support to those affected; provides guidance for identifying those at risk from the announcement and for presenting continuing information, support, and counseling.
Shooting in the School—Reviews such immediate and long-term actions as cooperation with law enforcement authorities, dealing with consequences similar to those of a student suicide, and delivering carefully planned communications to the community and media.
Responding to the Media—Prepares teachers and administrators for the arrival of media covering the crisis; details how to present information in a timely and accurate manner, and shows how appropriate communications can help contain the crisis.
Conclusion—Reviews the essentials of creating a complete and collaborative plan that can be revised regularly. This final segment offers suggestions for communicating and distributing the plan, with procedures and guidelines targeted to specific groups: teachers, office workers, bus drivers, counselors, and others.

Youth Crises I was produced by the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township (IN), the Indiana State Police, the Marion County (IN) Sheriff’s Department, the Indianapolis Police Department, Indianapolis Public Schools, the Marion County (IN) School Violence Prevention Consortium, and AIT.

Youth Crises II provides materials for introducing district personnel to the features of local plans and/or for providing them with guidelines for reviewing and evaluating these. It suggests models for fleshing out draft or incomplete plans; for training school staff as well as district personnel in their responsibilities during crises; and for adding guidelines for handling specific emergencies in addition to those discussed in Youth Crises I. One 30-minute program and a facilitator’s guide; program and guide are also available on DVD.

The following program segments are included in the second Youth Crises professional development workshop.

Bomb Threat—After an introduction by Dr. Suellen Reed, Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Indiana, the video presents the first potential crisis situation: a bomb threat phoned in to the school office. The video demonstrates how the call is handled, the steps leading to a decision to evacuate the school, and the proper techniques for first scanning and then searching the building for a suspicious device.
School Shooting—Dramatizes an incident involving an apparent shooting and suicide in a school building; shows how a school lockdown is imposed, and illustrates the actions of the school nurse and security officer in aiding the victims and securing the site.
School Fight—Portrays a fight between two students in a middle school and demonstrates the techniques used by staff members to disperse the crowd, break up the fight, and discipline the two students afterwards.
Education and Prevention—Provides glimpses of various aspects of one school district’s program for creating safe schools through education and prevention. Viewers observe first graders being introduced to basic safety issues and fifth graders learning about sexual harassment. Discusses the importance of prevention programs in the lower grades.

Youth Crises II was produced by AIT with the support of the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy.

NOTE TO TEACHERS & ADMINISTRATORS: Both Youth Crises programs and supplement materials are available as a School Safety package for $249.00. Save $50 if you purchase both as a package now.

More information about the prevention of violence in schools can be accessed at the following Web sites:

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (School Violence Prevention and Intervention)

National Center for Disaster Preparedness (School Preparedness)

National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (School Violence, SafeYouthNow)

From the National School Safety Center

America’s Safe Schools Week 2006 proclaimed by 32 Governors

This year, 32 governors join the National School Safety Center (MSSC) in proclaiming October 15-21 as America’s Safe Schools Week. In doing so, they encourage the citizens of their states and commonwealths to join the effort to provide safe and peaceful schools that promote the development of knowledgeable, responsible and productive citizens. NSSC wishes to acknowledge and applaud the following governors who formally adopted resolutions and proclamations to promote America‚s Safe Schools Week 2006 within their states:

Bob Riley, Governor of Alabama
Frank H. Murkowski, Governor of Alaska
Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California
Bill Owens, Governor of Colorado
J. Jodi Rell, Govenor of Connecticut
Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida
Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii
James E. Risch, Governor of Idaho
Rod R. Blogojevich, Governor of Illinois
Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr, Governor of Indiana
Ernie Fletcher, Governor of Kentucky
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Governor of Louisiana
John E. Baldacci, Governor of Maine
Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., Governor of Maryland
Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts
Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of Michigan
Matt Blount, Governor of Missouri
Dave Heineman, Governor of Nebraska
Kenny C. Guinn, Governor of Nevada
John Lynch, Governor of New Hampshire
Jon S. Corzine, Governor of New Jersey
Kenny C. Guinn, Governor of Nevada
Mike Easley, Governor of North Carolina
Theodore R. Kulongoski, Governor of Oregon
Edward G. Rendell, Goverhor of Pennsylvania
Donald L. Carcieri, Governor of Rhode Island
Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina
James H. Douglas, Governor of Vermont
Timothy M. Kaine, Governor of Virginia
Christine O. Gregoire, Governor of Washington
Jim Doyle, Governor of Wisconsin