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

  The evil that showed up at the front door of Sandy Hook Elementary School was horrible, morally unbelievable and extremely scary. Most everyone is wondering how this could happen? How could this 20 year old kid be so full of evil that he would murder young innocent children, innocent adults and his own mother? We are hearing and seeing a lot of reactions – emotional reactions mostly – to this evil and horrible incident. Emotional reactions are clearly justified as we are all human, especially when young innocent children are murdered and threatened. We are hearing emotional reactions focused at guns. We are hearingRead More →

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

  Bullying.  Cyberbullying.  Harassment.  Violence.  Weapons. Truancy.  Student Achievement.  While most school leaders want to focus their attention on the last item mentioned in that list, student achievement, school districts are finding themselves overwhelmed with school safety issues and constantly working to investigate and respond to situations, leaving fewer and fewer resources to improve learning and achievement. So, what can be done to improve student safety and prevention efforts, and in turn, provide students with an environment they feel secure in to excel and expand their learning objectives? In many situations, gaps exist between school administrators and policy, and what is actually happening on buses,Read More →

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

  Business Insurance reported that Penn State University’s expenses in response to the alleged child abuse by former assistant football coach Gerald Sandusky are mounting.  A Penn State statement said they are paying nearly $2.5 million for the services of two public relations firms. The communication firms aim to work with Penn State’s public information officers to provide broad and transparent communications to key stakeholders and support the university through upcoming litigation, according to the statement. “Retaining these communications firms puts us more firmly on the path toward accountability, openness and preserving our reputation as one of the world’s leading research universities,” Penn State PresidentRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, School Safety

  A special thanks to Sarah Fudin for the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic below raising awareness and providing facts about bullying methods, bullying consequences and preventative measures.  Once you have reviewed this educational graphic, please scroll down to see our “Next Steps” for bullying prevention.  Via MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching   Like Sarah points out in her blog, we all believe schools should be a safe place for students where they can learn without fear or apprehension. Yet the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic reveals bullying problems and alarming personal consequences are creating lots of fear and challenges for students, schools, parents and communities too. AndRead More →

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

  With the recent passing of football coach, Joe Paterno, Joe he can now rest in peace knowing he touched the lives of many as a coach at Penn State for 62 of his 85 years on this planet. The horrific scandal at Penn State University will no doubt have an effect on the legacy of JoePa (his nickname suggesting his fatherly quality to his players and students too), some will judge JoePa based on what they know and others will judge JoePa based on what they don’t know. For me, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Joe Paterno for his foresightRead More →

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

  Two high profile incidents this week revealed that despite updates to the Clery Act and Title IX requirements, campuses continue to struggle to proactively identify warning signs and red flags and gather information and reports from their people (students, staff, faculty, law enforcement, counselors, etc.). Penn State – Lawmakers are investigating whether Penn State violated the Clery Act when it did not report child sexual abuse allegations regarding a former football coach to the proper authorities.  Several coaches were aware of the allegations, but did not report to the police. University of Idaho – University of Idaho officials say at least one police officerRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  When it comes to bully prevention, connecting the dots is one of the best ways to achieve better results and to achieve “well done”. Too many times after a bullying incident or targeted violence incident or a suicide, we hear school leadership, government leaders and expert review panels say the incident was not prevented because we didn’t connect the dots. Which dots?  And what dots are not getting connected? Take a moment and think about all the dots in your organization. Think about all the People Dots (boards, administrators, principals, student affairs, threat teams, counselors, staff, teachers, first responders, law enforcement,) you need toRead More →

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

  Anderson Cooper hosted a Town Hall Meeting on Sunday with the theme of ‘Bullying: It Stops Here’. I watched the town hall meeting and I listened to the experts and took notes. I listened to the kids and took even more notes.  I listened to Anderson Cooper say this about the kids: “We owe them more than talk”.   I agree! Benjamin Franklin nailed this a long time ago saying: Well Done is Always Better Than Well Said. The Town Hall Meeting revealed: Statistics from the survey at Wheatley High School were similar to most other surveys Kids are still not sure how to interveneRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Education, Incident Reporting, School Safety

Is your school prepared to respond accordingly to reports of bullying and harassment? Are you prepared to investigate, stop, prevent, eliminate hostile environments, take appropriate actions and document your actions? Are your school leaders aware of the different types of bullying that may be creating hostile learning environments in your school? Studies show for students to achieve academically, they must feel secure and comfortable in their learning environment. A recent study from the University of Virginia revealed the academic performance of students in schools with persistent bullying may suffer because students are less engaged in learning due to fears about bullying or a greater levelRead More →

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

  A recent investigation of anti-bullying efforts in Minnesota schools revealed a major weakness across local school districts.  Most schools are not tracking bullying incidents…which makes it almost impossible to gauge the effectiveness of their bullying prevention and intervention efforts. So just how important (and expensive) is it when schools do not track and document bullying incidents? One of the major gaps we have seen when incidents are not documented is a failure to connect the dots and allow at-risk students and individuals to fall through the cracks. For example, Let’s take a look at the following scenario…student Bobby Jones is bullying other students inRead More →