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In: Success

As part of a new state contract, Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries recently implemented Awareity’s web‐based MOAT platform to improve security awareness and risk management ongoing. MOAT is a comprehensive platform of proven and award winning policy and procedure management and training tools designed to replace expensive and ineffective status quo methodologies. The MOAT platform equips DGIF with administrative tools for:  Annual Security Awareness Training (SEC‐501 and PCI‐DSS)  Management of role‐based training, organization‐specific policies, procedures, etc. Real‐time documentation for organization‐wide compliance and regulatory requirementsRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  Co-Authored by Keira Olvey and Rick Shaw of Awareity   Adolescence can be a terrifying time for children. Harassment, assault, bullying, cyber bullying, weapon threats, stabbings, shootings, bombings, gangs, child abuse, human trafficking, drugs, alcohol and more – have all become potential risks that children face in their community and their school. These terrifying risks can cause children to: Experience anxiety and depression, Fear for one’s safety at school or to and from school, Lose focus on school work, Withdraw from friends and family, Blame themselves and others for troubles, Lose self-esteem and self-respect, Withdraw from school and social activities once enjoyed, Retaliate withRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Rick recently sat down with Homer Public School’s Secondary Principal Randy Pirner to learn more about their school safety efforts and use of TIPS.  As a small rural school in Nebraska, we are definitely impressed with Homer’s leadership and their innovative efforts to keep their students safe! Below is a quick excerpt from the interview.  Click here to listen to the rest of Principal Pirner’s Lessons Learned!   Why did your school see the need for a proactive prevention program like TIPS? Principal Pirner: We found that we had an issue with bullying; not a significant number, but we had a total disconnect fromRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Emergency Management, School Safety

    The title of a recent article caught my attention – “Last Line of Defense” http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/19/universitys-new-whiteboards-double-bulletproof-shields   The article talks about how a higher education institution has spent $60,000 on whiteboards that can be utilized by teachers as bulletproof shields. The president of the institution said: “We are not really doing this in response to a specific event; I see it more as an opportunity to be prepared and to be proactive in our approach to safety on campus,” Bell said. “We think that it’s worthwhile.” This comment highlights a very serious and very dangerous awareness gap with many school and college administrators.  REACTINGRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Risk Management, School Safety

  Unfortunately, many people do not know the differences between security and safety because so many security solutions have been misrepresented or misunderstood. For over 30 years, I have had the privilege to assist thousands of organizations with multiple security related technologies, services, vendors and solutions.  For the most part, Security related efforts are understood by most people because security efforts are focused primarily at REACTING to a risk or threat at your front door and/or REACTING to an incident or tragedy in progress.  For example, security related efforts include, but are not limited to, doors/locks (to keep people/threats out), cameras (to record threats atRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  Baking a cake and preventing bullying have more in common than you may think.   If you were going to bake a cake, you would start by finding your favorite cake recipe (and there are hundreds of them to choose from).  Based on how serious you are about making a great cake, you can choose a simple recipe or a more complex recipe.   Similarly, if you were going to prevent bullying, most schools start by finding their favorite bully prevention “recipe /program” (and there are hundreds of them to choose from).  Based on how serious you are about preventing bullying, you can chooseRead More →

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In: Success

Germanna Community College has launched an online incident reporting platform called TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services) from Awareity, making it easy for students, faculty, staff and others on campus to confidentially report concerning behaviors or incidents. Bullying, threats to harm, verbal abuse, harassment, assault and battery, domestic violence, weapons, harassment, suicide risks, stalking, hazing, alcohol or drug possession, theft, vandalism and suspicious activity may be reported anonymously. “TIPS allows anyone within the college community to come forward and anonymously share information regarding concerning behaviors with us,” said Germanna Dean of Student Development Pam Frederick. “The information is immediately communicated to our threatRead More →

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In: Research

Your child is being bullied or threatened by other students at school, but you can’t allow your child to stay home day after day. Something has to be done, but how exactly do you take appropriate action? How to respond (and get actual results) can be confusing. What are the REAL steps and actions parents can take? How should I approach the school and get them to listen and react to my concerns? Am I making the situation worse for my child? The comprehensive guide you have been searching for. Parents everywhere have been begging for help to save their children. It is here. WrittenRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  The discussion on school safety is being held at every school and community across the Nation.  The end goal is the same, ensuring the safety of every young child and staff member within the school.  But, how we get there is up for debate. One of the most common solutions being offered by many is to implement armed security guards or provide weapons to teachers/staff – after all as the NRA said, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. However, even good guys with guns can sometimes inadvertently lead to dangerous situations asRead More →

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In: Success

The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (VWC) recently implemented a comprehensive web‐based risk platform from Awareity called MOAT (Managed Ongoing Awareness and Trust). Available on a Virginia State Contract, Awareity’s award‐winning MOAT services help organizations manage escalating costs and obligations associated with information security awareness, privacy, compliance, risk management, public safety/security, internal controls, incident reporting and more. Along with comprehensive security awareness training for personnel, MOAT enables VWC to easily upload organization specific training presentations, case studies, policies, procedures, plans, guidance, maps, etc. into a secure Awareness Vault and securely share documents with all appropriate personnel on an ongoing basis as updates and changes are needed.Read More →