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The independent student newspaper of Iowa State and Ames since 1890

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ADAMS - All American children deserve a safe place to learn, and all American parents deserve to know that their children spend each day in a safe, caring environment.

Tragically, mass shootings and other threats in our schools in recent years have left many parents worrying that is not the case. Too often, schools have not had the resources or the know-how to prevent these tragedies by building a positive climate within their walls.

But solutions are at hand. As part of President Donald Trump's Federal Commission on School Safety, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and I heard about some tangible solutions on a recent visit to Adams-Friendship Middle School in Adams.

Wisconsin has taken the lead on integrating mental health services into its schools, ensuring students have access to the services they need for healthy social and emotional development. On our visit, we were joined by Wisconsin's first lady, Tonette Walker, who has played a key role in the state's efforts, including a statewide program known as the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework.

The results of Adams-Friendship's efforts were truly impressive. One way the federal government supports mental health programs is through providing best practices, and we saw firsthand how some best practices have been implemented in Adams. Services are provided right on the school premises, integrating them into an environment where children feel safe. The services are designed to complement the school's education mission, rather than get in the way, and the school's leadership made it clear how actively involved they are in mental health efforts.

Healthy school environments are about more than just services. Adams-Friendship also has implemented a program to build a positive atmosphere within the school, where teachers and other staffers pay close attention to children's emotional needs, helping them feel safe, secure and cared for.

In addition to hearing from teachers, administrators, mental health professionals and law enforcement, we listened to students share how having mental health services right on campus had changed life at school. Other students shared how much healthier and more positive they felt the environment is at Adams-Friendship than at other schools they'd attended. We also heard from parents, who should always have a say in programming for their children.

The Trump administration is interested in mental health services not just to improve school safety, but also because mental health generally is a focus for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Our Wisconsin visit included HHS' Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Elinore McCance-Katz, a psychiatrist who is leading our mental health efforts. Across the administration, we are especially focused on Americans with the most severe mental health challenges, known in children as "serious emotional disturbance."

Over 7 million American children suffer from serious emotional disturbance, which can impede key life activities like being able to learn in school. We need to be identifying signs of these conditions not only to help these children, but also because early identification and treatment can make these conditions much less severe down the road. Given the amount of time children spend in school, as many teachers and school personnel as possible should be trained in identifying warning signs and symptoms.

We at HHS want to help extend efforts like Wisconsin's to more schools and more communities. In addition to grants that support school mental health programs, HHS runs regional centers to provide mental health technical assistance and training for state and local governments and community-based clinicians. At a recent meeting of the school safety commission in Washington, we announced these centers will now include additional resources focused on children's mental health.

Providing sophisticated, comprehensive services like those we heard about in Wisconsin, especially in rural communities such as Adams, may seem like an ambitious goal. But we know it's possible because we saw it firsthand, and we heard how positive the results have been.

The Trump administration looks forward to supporting state, local and community leaders in learning from successes and implementing ambitious visions like we saw in Wisconsin. Together, we can build the kind of safe, healthy environments that all of our children deserve.

Azar is secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Alex Azar: Put mental health services in schools

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ADAMS - All American children deserve a safe place to learn, and all American parents deserve to know that their children spend each day in a safe, caring environment. Tragically, mass shootings and other threats in our schools in recent years have left many parents worrying that is not the case.

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Here's an idea: Instead of turning our schools into fortresses to try to prevent the next school shooting, how about we do more? As we contemplate adding metal detectors and bulletproof safe rooms to schools, how about we try an additional approach?

How about setting up dedicated lines of communication within schools so students, teachers and staff can confidently share what they know about troubled kids and get them the attention they need?

In most cases, school shootings are carried out by angry current or former students. And who is in the best position to observe these disturbed kids? Other kids, of course! If Sebastian overhears his classmate Luke incessantly talking about guns, or if Ruby knows Owen is talking about his romantic heartbreak and suicide, shouldn't we give these kids a fast and safe way to relay that information?

This common-sense concept is at the center of a new plan from the National Threat Assessment Center at the U.S. Secret Service, which recently issued an eight-step guide for safer schools. The plan has been described as "one of the most explicit pieces of literature to come out of the Trump administration on how to prevent targeted attacks."

The guidelines encourage administrators to establish an atmosphere in which students can make reports about the disturbing behavior of their classmates without feeling like a "snitch." The incoming reports would be assessed by a specially trained "threat assessment team" of adults that includes education, mental health and law enforcement professionals. This team would be dedicated to talking with - and seriously listening to - students. The goal: to build trust and break down the "codes of silence" so many teens follow. Suggestions in the federal plan include setting up an online tip form and a dedicated telephone hotline, and/or designing a smartphone app to accept reports about worrisome behaviors.

There's no magic wand that will unmask potential school shooters, of course, but if a student sees that a classmate has posted a disturbing message on social media or a teacher suddenly notices a student isn't completing homework and has withdrawn, they can use one of these new lines of communication to instantly alert the threat assessment team.

If the reported threat is found to be a one-time occurrence, light disciplinary action and a note home to parents might suffice. But if the threat is more serious or a repeat of past bad behavior, then the threat assessment team might direct the student to therapy or special tutoring. If the team decides the threat is a real and credible danger to the school, it will call in law enforcement.

This kind of system has been in effect in Los Angeles County since 2009. Dr. Tony Beliz set the program in motion and stresses that it is not just about confronting high-risk kids. It also has to be about really engaging with them and staying in touch well after the first contact.

"When we focus on the fact that we're trying to help them get on with their life versus drilling them every day about whether you have a weapon, are you going to shoot somebody today, and we talk about the issues beneath that, they get better, they see some hope," Dr. Beliz said.

School shooter Nikolas Cruz, who attended Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High but was involuntarily transferred to an alternative school for students with special needs, was well-known as a kid with severe emotional and anger issues. He had been diagnosed as disruptive, explosive and impulsive at the age of 5. Somehow, Cruz's long-standing behavior intervention plan was discontinued as he approached his high school graduation. On Valentine's Day 2018, he returned to Stoneman Douglas High and shot dead 17 students and teachers in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Cruz's classmates said they were not surprised when he was identified as the killer.

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Diane Diamond is a Nationally Syndicated Columnist

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safer schools through better communication

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Safer schools through better communication

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here's an idea: Instead of turning our schools into fortresses to try to prevent the next school shooting, how about we do more? As we contemplate adding metal detectors and bulletproof safe rooms to schools, how about we try an additional approach?