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

  Last month, A 17-year-old Texas student committed suicide in a high school courtyard.  The student posted two Facebook updates that morning–one saying he was planning on committing suicide, and another with him pointing a gun at his head. In his message, he said, “I don’t know if this is going to affect people or if ya’ll are even going to care but I just want to say I’m taking my life away…” A quote from another student after the shooting  – “He said he was going through a lot of stuff. He put pictures up before he did it. Nobody believed him until heRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Headlines from the first month of school are troubling with stabbings, suicides, murder, bullying, cyberbullying and numerous other incidents. Even more troubling is that most of the incidents look like they were PREVENTABLE had the schools had the right tools to get the right information (concerning behaviors, threats, escalations, etc.) to the right people in the right places at the right time so the right people could do the right things…right away. For example, the following messages were released on social media days/weeks BEFORE this student committed suicide on the first day of school: “I have chosen to go with 3 peoples advice andRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Any good Coach will tell you a well-placed time out can be a game changer. Clearly now is the time to call a time out for ALL School Administrators, ALL Coaches and ALL Student Athletes!  (actually all students) This tragic incident involving a female student who was raped by multiple student athletes is yet another example of how a lack of awareness and a lack of accountability at the individual-level is going to have life-long effects on multiple students, multiple families, multiple School Administrators and many others. Innovators like Athletic Directors Gil Cloud and Mick Wilson at Tulsa Public Schools have taken the lead.  TheyRead 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*, 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: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Risk Management, School Safety

  As a follow-up to our previous blog, I wanted to share some real-world solutions that are helping schools proactively PREVENT. Proactive prevention starts with empowering and equipping students, families, teachers, churches and other community members [like all the people coming forward now who observed “concerning behaviors” with this disconnected young man in Newtown, CT] with the right tools to anonymously or non-anonymously report incidents, concerning behaviors and signs of evil before the evil builds and escalates into a tragedy.  Prevention is possible and prevention is very affordable. A lot of time, money and resources are spent on reactive security equipment, plans and training, yetRead More →

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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*, Risk Management

  Everyone has seen a picture of an iceberg showing only the tip of the iceberg actually visible above water and the majority underwater.                           Prevention is sort of like an iceberg because the majority of actions that must be taken with regard to preventing incidents are not visible to most people. For example, if you work at a financial organization and you are striving to prevent fraud and the expensive consequences of fraud, or if you work for an educational institution and you are striving to prevent bullying and the expensive consequences ofRead More →