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https://www.forbes.com/sites/afdhelaziz/2019/04/30/the-power-of-purpose-how-jonathan-rose-is-creating-communities-of-opportunity/#703f3e333c32

The power of purpose. Jonathan Rose is the founder of the Jonathan Rose Companies. The article notes how “his companies work has touched many aspects of community health; working with cities and not-for-profits to build affordable and mixed-income housing, cultural, health and educational infrastructure, and advocates for neighborhoods to be enriched with parks and open space, mass transit, jobs, and healthy food.” Jonathan rose said, “"Lower-income neighborhoods statistically are more likely to be closer to highways, bus depots, ports, industrial areas, wastewater treatment plants, chemical plants, garbage processing facilities, etc. And we know that the pollution that comes from these has negative health effects, as well as impacting cognitive development. We also know that the experience of trauma, stress, and the constant fear of crime also have negative life-long health and cognitive effects. Both these environmental and physical impacts lower immune systems strength, and so there is an emerging theory that each negatively impacts the other. Recent data further supports the idea that psychosocial stress increases cardiovascular vulnerability to the adverse effects of air pollution in particular, adding to our understanding of the ways in which the social and physical environments may jointly contribute to poor health and health disparities." Rose is aiming to build communities of opportunity where “every resident and employee has equal access to opportunity, environmental quality, health, and well-being.”

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This article talks about Youth violence prevention. Youth violence is a leading cause of death for young people and results in more than 500,000 nonfatal injuries each year. Iris WagmanBorowsky, M.D., Ph.D. answers questions about the prevalence of youth violence. She talks about the magnitude of the problem, factors that influence it, and factors that prevent it.

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April 8-12 is National Youth Violence Prevention Week. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , youth violence is a leading cause of death for young people and results in more than 500,000 nonfatal injuries each year.

Iris Wagman Borowsky, M.D., Ph.D., with the University of Minnesota Medical School, answers questions on the prevalence of youth violence in the United States and options for intervention to reduce and prevent violence among young people.

Q: What is the magnitude of the problem of youth violence?
Dr. Borowsky: Youth violence, firearm violence in particular, is a public health emergency. It is a familiar refrain when we hear the trinity of mortality sources for adolescents and young adults in America: unintentional injury, suicide and homicide. The most recent mortality data in 2017 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Vital Statistics Report shows that each day in the U.S. an average of 16 children, ages 19 and younger, die from intentional injuries. This number represents eight homicides and eight suicides. That's a whole classroom full of children lost every couple of days in this country to violence. Most of these deaths involve firearms.

We also know that the overall rates don't tell the whole story, because - when we look at the data on violence-related injury - there are wide gender and racial/ethnic variations for youth. Rates of homicide, suicide and firearm-related deaths are many fold greater in male as compared to female adolescents. African American youth are most affected by homicides and firearm-related deaths, and rates of suicide are highest among American Indian youth.

Q: What increases the likelihood of youth involvement in violence?
Dr. Borowsky: There are many factors associated with youth violence involvement, including at the individual level and within the multiple contexts in which young people live - their families, peers, schools and communities. Some of the risk factors include previous violent behaviors, violence victimization, substance use, depression, school failure, family violence, overly harsh and inconsistent discipline, poverty, involvement in antisocial groups like gangs, exposure to neighborhood violence, availability and legal access to firearms, our societal culture and history of violence, and media violence. Bottom line - violence is a preventable problem, because injuries, including violent ones, do not occur randomly, but rather in predictable patterns determined by recognizable risk factors and buffered by protective factors that can be strengthened.

Q: What are some of the factors that protect youth from involvement in violence?
Dr. Borowsky: Fortunately, we have identified many factors that buffer and protect young people against adverse health outcomes, including violence. Some of those protective factors are high academic achievement and educational aspirations, emotional health, parent and family caring and connectedness, parental monitoring and supervision, positive discipline methods, and connectedness to school and to adults in the community.

Across cultures and economic circumstances, research shows that children and teens raised in homes characterized by authoritative parenting fare the best in terms of psychosocial development, mental health, social competence, academic performance and avoidance of problem behaviors. Authoritative parents are warm and involved, and also firm and consistent, in establishing and enforcing limits, guidelines and appropriate expectations. School connectedness means perceived closeness to people at school, perceived teacher caring, feeling part of your school, feeling happy at school, believing that teachers treat students fairly, and feeling safe at school. School connectedness, like family connectedness, has been found to be protective against almost every health-risk behavior among youth.

Q: What is effective in preventing youth violence?
Dr. Borowsky: Violent injuries result from a chain of circumstances and therefore present multiple opportunities for prevention along that chain. A combination of strategies used together, addressing both risk and protective factors, is likely to be most successful in preventing youth violence. I will highlight two key prevention strategies that we know are effective. First, family-level interventions are among the most promising youth violence prevention approaches known to date. Many randomized controlled studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of parenting education programs in improving parenting skills and family cohesion, and reducing behavioral problems, violent behavior, and substance use among children and adolescents.

Second, studies comparing rates of violence in cities with different firearm legislation have identified gun availability as a critical factor associated with firearm-related violence. Guns are more likely to kill than any other weapon used in an assault. When we prevent firearm injuries with stronger gun laws to keep children safe, violent events will still occur, but the severity of the injuries will be greatly reduced.

Q: How are you working to reduce and prevent youth violence?
Dr. Borowsky: Our research in the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health focuses on improving health outcomes and reducing health-risk behaviors, including violence and bullying, among youth, particularly those from underserved and vulnerable communities. My academic focus in the area of youth violence prevention stems from the public health significance of the problem as well as the patients and families for whom I care. Our work developing, implementing, and evaluating violence prevention strategies in the health care setting and disseminating youth violence prevention best practices includes what I call "Minnesota Best Bets." It is a handful of practices that are both feasible in the clinical setting and worth health care professionals' time because they are each supported by evidence that they can make a difference in reducing violence involvement among youth. The five recommendations with a locally inspired mnemonic, LAKES, are to:

Dr. Iris Wagman Borowsky is a professor of pediatrics and director of the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School . As a clinician, educator, and researcher, she studies risk and protective factors for involvement in self-directed and interpersonal violence among youth and development of effective violence prevention strategies.

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Talking youth violence prevention awareness with UMN

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April 8-12 is National Youth Violence Prevention Week. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , youth violence is a leading cause of death for young people and results in more than 500,000 nonfatal injuries each year.

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For the Health topicPrevent Violence/Intentional Injury,I found an article written by the CDC Newsthat covers how to prevent violence within a school setting. The article goes on to explain how youth violence can leave life long effects that not only affect the child but friends, families, and communities as well. The important aspect of preventing youth violence is to stop the act from happening at all. To help make sure this happens, students must be educated on the effects/influences of Violence/Intentional Injury and go further to understand the social ecology which is in a separate section of this article. Social ecology  helps us "understand the range of factors that put people at risk for violence or protect them from experiencing or perpetrating violence." The article then goes on to list some useful prevention strategies like promoting family environments that support healthy development, mentoring programs, after school programs and many more. A great idea that could be used in a classroom-based off this article is to create a universal school-based program that the whole school is familiar with and follows. This can be helpful with prevent youth violence and having set rules students must follow that they were taught about. Some rules can consist of no bullying, no weapon use, no gang violence and no cyberbullying.

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Youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. CDC's goal is to stop youth violence from happening in the first place.

In order to prevent youth violence, we must understand and address risk and protective factors at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.

CDC developed a resource, Youth Violence Prevention Resource for Action [4 MB, 64 Pages] , to help communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent youth violence. This resource is available in English and Spanish [3.89 MB, 68 Pages] and can impact individual behaviors and the relationship, family, school, community, and societal factors that influence the risk and protective factors for violence. Strategies and their corresponding approaches are listed in the table below.

Promote family environments that support healthy development

Early childhood home visitation

Parenting skill and family relationship programs

Provide quality education early in life

Preschool enrichment with family engagement

Strengthen youth's skills

Universal school-based programs

Connect youth to caring adults and activities

Mentoring programs

After-school programs

Create protective community environments

Modify the physical and social environment

Reduce exposure to community-level risks

Street outreach and community norm change

Intervene to lessen harms and prevent future risk

Treatment to lessen the harms of violence exposures

Treatment to prevent problem behavior and further involvement in violence

Hospital-community partnerships

Everyone can help support teens and prevent violence
Parents and Families Can:

Learn about links between teens' experiences with violence and their health.

Talk with teens about violence and ask how you can support them.

Reach out to local programs to learn effective parenting practices.

Communities Can:

Make teen mentoring, apprenticeship, and leadership programs more available.

Collaborate with health departments and other partners to promote healthy and safe neighborhoods.

Make use of effective social and economic policies that reduce violence.

Schools Can:

Adopt policies and practices that create safe and supportive environments.

Teach teens skills to navigate social and emotional challenges.

Connect students to health and mental health services.

Build strong bonds between staff and students to improve connectedness to school.

Empower teens to be part of the solution. Directly engaging teens in preventing violence helps them:

Make healthy choices.

Be a leader and voice for change for healthier communities and schools.

Advise community and school decision-makers.

Promote respect and empathy with family, friends, and peers.

SeeYouth Violence Resources for publications, data sources, and prevention resources for youth violence.

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Strategies and Approaches to Prevent Youth Violence

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Youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. CDC's goal is to stop youth violence from happening in the first place. In order to prevent youth violence, we must understand and address risk and protective factors at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.

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D.C. Students Wrote Essays About Their Fear of Violence
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dc-students-wrote-essays-about-their-fear-of-violence-everyone-should-read-them/2019/04/26/6e71304a-679e-11e9-82ba-fcfeff232e8f_story.html?utm_term=.6e70a24e2436

In this article, from The Washington Post, middle-school students wrote about their experiences about not feeling safe in their community and about their fear of violence. So far there have been 52 homicides in the District, an increase of 30 percent over the last year. Not only are young people the victim of violences, but are often its perpetrators. The students' insights about bullying, social media, family trauma, guns, etc, give shape to city policies and programs. This article would be used for in the teaching of intentional injury and violence in classrooms. Having students read what other students are going through, would give them an inside look on intentional violence.

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Article Title: The Empty Promise of Suicide Prevention
Link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/opinion/sunday/suicide-prevention.html
This article is on suicide from The New York Times. Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, but the rates are still on the rise. Doctors want to do their best to help people, but sometimes there is only so much they can do. Only 40% to 60% of patients who take antidepressants actually feel better. Antidepressants can only do so much. They can’t fix a relationship, bring sobriety, get you a job, and help you to be able to afford a house. It is hard for family and friends to know when one decides they want to take their own life, especially because half of them people who try to take their own lives do it impulsively. The only thing we can do is try to patch up the root causes of our nation's suicide problem which includes poverty, homelessness, trauma, crime, and drugs. We need better facilities for counseling, therapy, job raining, drug and alcohol treatment, and low-income housing resources. In the PK-4th grade classroom teachers can tell students that they are always available to talk if you are going through anything. Students need to know the number to call if they feel like committing suicide. Teachers need to make sure all students are loved and cared for within the classroom because that alone can save someone's life.

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Preventing Violence and Intentional Injury

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Preventing Violence and Intentional Injury

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This website provides tips on how to prevent violence amongst youth.

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Youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. CDC's goal is to stop youth violence from happening in the first place.

In order to prevent youth violence, we must understand and address risk and protective factors at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.

CDC developed a resource, Youth Violence Prevention Resource for Action [4 MB, 64 Pages] , to help communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent youth violence. This resource is available in English and Spanish [3.89 MB, 68 Pages] and can impact individual behaviors and the relationship, family, school, community, and societal factors that influence the risk and protective factors for violence. Strategies and their corresponding approaches are listed in the table below.

Promote family environments that support healthy development

Early childhood home visitation

Parenting skill and family relationship programs

Provide quality education early in life

Preschool enrichment with family engagement

Strengthen youth's skills

Universal school-based programs

Connect youth to caring adults and activities

Mentoring programs

After-school programs

Create protective community environments

Modify the physical and social environment

Reduce exposure to community-level risks

Street outreach and community norm change

Intervene to lessen harms and prevent future risk

Treatment to lessen the harms of violence exposures

Treatment to prevent problem behavior and further involvement in violence

Hospital-community partnerships

Everyone can help support teens and prevent violence
Parents and Families Can:

Learn about links between teens' experiences with violence and their health.

Talk with teens about violence and ask how you can support them.

Reach out to local programs to learn effective parenting practices.

Communities Can:

Make teen mentoring, apprenticeship, and leadership programs more available.

Collaborate with health departments and other partners to promote healthy and safe neighborhoods.

Make use of effective social and economic policies that reduce violence.

Schools Can:

Adopt policies and practices that create safe and supportive environments.

Teach teens skills to navigate social and emotional challenges.

Connect students to health and mental health services.

Build strong bonds between staff and students to improve connectedness to school.

Empower teens to be part of the solution. Directly engaging teens in preventing violence helps them:

Make healthy choices.

Be a leader and voice for change for healthier communities and schools.

Advise community and school decision-makers.

Promote respect and empathy with family, friends, and peers.

SeeYouth Violence Resources for publications, data sources, and prevention resources for youth violence.

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Strategies and Approaches to Prevent Youth Violence

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Youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. CDC's goal is to stop youth violence from happening in the first place. In order to prevent youth violence, we must understand and address risk and protective factors at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.

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In this article, author Karen Kane explains that as self-harm in students becomes more prevalent, teachers must educate themselves on how to handle students who may be facing this difficult struggle. She explains that teachers can play a critical role in the wellbeing of students struggling with self-harm, and details 12 steps teachers can take to intervene. These 12 steps are as follows:

1. Take action (immediately-- once a self-harm habit has formed, it is difficult to break)
2. Know the signs (cuts in lines on arms or inside of legs, picking at scabs, hair-pulling, head banging, and burns)
3. Trust your instincts
4. Get the facts
5. Rely on professionals (school counselor, social worker, admin)
6. Show you care
7. Create a safe space for all
8. Just be there
9. Give yourself a break (don't blame yourself)
10. Limit access to sharp objects
11. Teach healthy coping strategies
12. Review and revise school policies

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Recently in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook, a fifth grade teacher wrote: "Help! My principal told me that one of my girls is cutting herself. It turns out she cut herself once in my classroom and I missed it. Her mother is being told today. Any advice? I know nothing about how to support a student who self-harms."

Educators often face situations that fall well outside of the scope of teaching and are beyond the training they received in school. Knowing how to support a student who self harms can be a daunting responsibility for anyone.

The reality, though, is that more and more teachers are getting that on the job training in real-time as the instances of self-harm increase. According to Screening for Mental Health, Inc., self-injury is one of the least understood risky adolescent behaviors and is growing at an alarming rate. An estimated 12 to 37 percent of adolescents engage in self-harming behavior.

Several WeAreTeachers HELPLINE members with first-hand experience chimed in to offer advice on what to do.

1. Take action.

"As an educator, and mother of a daughter who has extensively self-harmed," HELPLINE member Jenn M. says to "take action immediately. Once a cutting habit has been formed, it is extremely difficult to break. If you suspect your student is self harming, please take a special interest because you absolutely can make a tremendous difference."

2. Know the signs.

Students who self-harm are good at hiding it. You can keep your radar tuned for signs of the most common forms of self-injury, which include cuts that are in lines on arms or legs, repeatedly picking at scabs, eraser burns, using matches or cigarettes to burn the body, hair-pulling, head banging, and punching walls or self.

HELPLINE member Ruth F.C. says, "I watch closely for those types of behaviors and report them immediately."

3. Trust your instincts.

According to Educators and Self Injury, which is an excellent resource for teachers with questions about self-harm, "The number one thing to remember is that you should not ignore anything suspicious. If your gut instinct tells you that something is going wrong with a particular student, follow up on it."

4. Get the facts.

Cutting, also know as non-suicidal self-injury, can be difficult to understand. The Savvy Psychologist offers 4 Surprising Facts about Cutting and Self-Harm to help you come to terms with the student's behavior.

5. Rely on the professionals.

Several teachers responded with the same well-informed advice to "let the counselor, social worker, and/or admin handle all the professional stuff."

One teacher added, "She just needs you to be there and be the constant. I had a cutter when I taught fifth grade. She told me it was happening. To let the admin and core team know, I walked her myself to the office and gave her a hug on the way. When she came back I told her that if she ever wanted to talk I would be there for her, and I wouldn't push her to talk if she wasn't ready. But I did move her desk so I could see her at all times."

6. Show you care.

Amy L.B. suggests, "There is most likely nothing you can do directly. Instead be a consistent and supportive teacher for her, and listen to her when she wants to talk or vent. She just needs to know that there are adults out there who care and support her. The direct help should be done by professionals trained for that sort of thing."

7. Create a safe space for all.

School Counselor and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Lauren Frankenbach echoes the importance of making students in your class feel cared about and safe. "Teachers can have a huge impact on the well-being of their students by creating an environment that makes them feel emotionally, physically, and psychologically safe. Every day."

She adds, "That means offering support and help when students need it, but also setting clear boundaries about not tolerating name calling or any unkind behavior."

8. Just be there.

One university student who is studying to become a teacher shared, "I was a child who self harmed and honestly the last thing I ever wanted was to be cornered about it by adults. I had one teacher who let me know she knew in a very subtle way and was just a constant support for me. She always had an open door policy, was always open to chat even about nothing, which is what I needed a lot."

"That teacher was the best thing that ever happened to me and probably the only reason I got through school. Next year I will graduate university as a teacher and she is and always will be a shinning example to me of the importance of teachers. Just be there for support. That's the most important thing you could ever do."

Another HELPLINE responder put that recommendation to work recently with a student who was cutting. "This literally just happened to a child in my class, so I invited her to sit in a nice spot on campus and told her that I think she is a beautiful, talented, and intelligent girl. I wanted her to know she has someone on her side and if she wants to talk, I'm here for her."

"We also discussed some ideas for things she could get involved in after school. Thankfully we have a fantastic school psychologist who already assessed her. We are referring her for a special service where she can learn some coping strategies. I'm just thankful to be able to let her know I'm here to talk anytime she wants. That's the biggest thing we can do for our students when they are hurting and need someone."

9. Give yourself a break.

"Don't blame yourself if you miss the signs of a student cutting in your classroom," says teacher Nicole B. "There is no way to see everything that happens all of the time."

Nicole also suggests that having a place where any student can go if they need a break (office, counselor, another teacher's room) can help diffuse overwhelming stress or anxiety. "Encouraging students to write or draw about their feelings in a notebook can also help."

10. Limit access to sharp objects.

Abigail D. shared a reminder to "make sure the student doesn't have access to sharp objects in class." This advice is prudent for all students. Keep close tabs on scissors, pencil sharpeners, and tools used in art classes and maker spaces. While students may have legitimate reasons to use them in class, they should be well supervised, and the supplies should be counted and secured when not in use.

Alison S. adds, "Be aware that those small pencil sharpeners break apart and there is a razor blade inside that self harmers use to cut."

11. Teach healthy coping strategies.

Teacher Eli says, "Keep an eye on her. Try to get her to hang out with positive influences. Teach her how to cope. Teach her how to ask for help and talk out her problems."

Teaching your whole class healthy ways to deal with stress can benefit struggling students without addressing them directly. However, experts advise not to speak about cutting or other self-harming behavior in a group or class setting. "Exposing kids to the knowledge can be a trigger," says Frankenbach.

12. Review and revise your school policies.

The Educators and Self-Injury author Dr. Laura Mueller offers a free e-book download on the website that includes a template for school protocol, forms for notifying parents, and more. Also consider sharing this SOS Self-Injury Packet with your school administrators and healthcare professionals.

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What to Do When a Student Self-Harms - WeAreTeachers Advice

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Recently in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook, a fifth grade teacher wrote: "Help! My principal told me that one of my girls is cutting herself. It turns out she cut herself once in my classroom and I missed it. Her mother is being told today. Any advice?

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Online News article
O'Donnell, J. (2019, February 01). The startling toll on children who witness domestic violence is just now being understood. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/01/29/domestic-violence-research-children-abuse-mental-health-learning-aces/2227218002/

This article is an online news article that discusses the startling toll on children who witness domestic violence. The article discusses how a mother with two twins received and watched domestic violence causing them to have health issues. Witnessing abuse carries the same risk of harm to children's mental health and learning as being abused directly. If a mother is beaten while pregnant, there is a chance the baby will be injured, delivered prematurely, and there is a stack of other things that can happen. Your brains and bodies are changed due to family violence. There are many resources out there that are trying to help people who have become effected by this. This article is excellent for a teacher to have better insight on violence in the home and to be able to discuss it with children. Some children do not know this is a thing, while others are going through it at home. As a teacher you want to shed light on this subject for all students to have an understanding and maybe allowing some students to come to you for help.

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Injury and Violence Prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/injury-and-violence-prevention

This very current article highlights some of the astounding statistics of intentional injury and violence. It also addresses the behaviors, environments, and services regarding this type of injury.

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How Effective Are School Lockdown Drills?

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How Effective Are School Lockdown Drills?

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This article from NPR tells the story of a lockdown drill. In the story it explains how in a school they had a lockdown drill without warning. A student explains how she was terrified thinking there was an active shooter in the school. All the students where scared for their lives because of the lack of warning. The student highlighted in the article explains how after getting home from school she had a break down. The article explains how when lockdown drills are completed effectively they can slow down potential shooters. It's important to teach students the importance of doing drills like lockdowns. However, I think it is important that students have some warning before they happen. Not warning students causes students to experience unwarranted trauma. Teaching students how to be safe during lockdowns is critical to keeping all students safe.

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On the morning of her 16th birthday, in her AP music class, Megan Storm thought she was going to die.

The sophomore at Lake Brantley High School in suburban Orlando, Fla., said she heard an announcement over the intercom that the school was in a code red lockdown - it was a drill, but Storm said students were not told that. She and her classmates hid in the dark, behind an instrument locker.

"It was just really quiet. And we all sort of huddled together," Storm said.

In the 20 years since the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999, a generation of American children have learned not just how to prepare for a fire or tornado or earthquake - but also how to hide from a potential shooter. Some drills are sedate, where teachers lock doors, turn out lights and tell kids to hide in a corner. Others are hyper-realistic, with plastic pellets and fake blood.
Locks, lights, out of sight
There's little academic, peer-reviewed research that can answer a big question for school administrators: What types of school security systems, including these drills, actually work?

At Lake Brantley High, Megan and her classmates heard loud noises that sounded like gunshots and door knocks. Other students were crying and texting their family and friends.

"I wish I had brought my phone," she said. "I thought I was going to die."

And then, a second announcement: The lockdown was just a drill. The loud noises turned out to be nearby construction crews. Megan resumed classes and went home at the end of the day. She then "got off the bus and just immediately broke down," said Megan's father, David Storm.

He and other parents were highly critical of school officials after that botched drill in December 2018. In response, district officials said future drills would be announced before they actually start.
Helping schools make informed choices
It's generally up to state or local governments to decide how, or if, to drill their students. But they have little hard data to base their decision on.

"Research on security measures is in a very sad state," said Jeremy Finn, a professor of education at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Just a three-hour drive east from Finn's office in western New York, a researcher is trying to change that. Jaclyn Schildkraut, an associate professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Oswego, is helping the Syracuse City School District implement lockdown drills, and collecting data on how effective they are.

She decided to tackle the question, in part, because of the lack of research into school security overall. The relative rarity of school shootings makes it difficult work, and Finn added that it's difficult to measure a security program's effect on a negative - a shooting that didn't happen. Schildkraut also said that too many schools have gravitated toward unproven yet tangible measures, like metal detectors and bulletproof backpacks.

"As a nation, we're throwing a lot of money at problems and we don't know if those things are going to work," she said. "But they make us feel better because we can see them."
Lockdowns, when well executed, can slow a gunman
If lights go out and doors are locked, Schildkraut said, the perpetrator will have fewer opportunities to kill students before police arrive.

So since last fall, Schildkraut and a team of undergraduate assistants have run drills at some 30 schools in Syracuse. They arrive, unannounced, at a school and ask the principal to read an announcement to inform students that a lockdown drill is about to start. Then Schildkraut's team fans out and checks every classroom in the school.

"We look at the proportion of the rooms that are secured properly, the proportion that have their door locked, the proportion that have their lights off, etcetera," she said.

Schildkraut keeps data for every classroom and then drills the same school again months later to check for improvements. She also surveyed more than 10,000 Syracuse students on how safe they feel at school, both before and after the drills.

She hopes to present some of her findings at the upcoming American Society of Criminology conference. Eventually, she'll submit it to peer-reviewed journals. It would then be accessible to any school district in the country trying to make the tough decision of how to keep their students safe.

Schildkraut is understanding of parents who worry about lockdown drills and said they are clear examples of them getting out of hand. But she said they are as necessary now as fire drills, or duck-and-cover nuclear bomb drills 50 years ago.

"You have to give kids tools to keep themselves safe," she said.

Her own motivations are deeply personal. Schildkraut grew up near Parkland, Fla., and her brother went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which experienced a deadly shooting last year. The Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 pushed her to get back into school and pursue criminology. She has a newly published book about Columbine's legacy.

"While I may only be one person, I really believe that I can make a difference," she said. "And if it takes tough love, or it takes teaching moments, or it takes coming down on administrators, or whatever needs to be done, like they have to understand the seriousness of this. That 'not one more' really means, 'not one more.' And maybe that doesn't mean not one more to everybody, but it does to me."

Jahira Edwards, a sophomore at Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central, has been through a handful of Schildkraut's drills. For one of them, she said she was momentarily confused as to whether it was just a drill. Then she figured it out.

"I knew it was a drill because somebody knocked at the door, and like everybody was scared. I'm like, 'No, if he actually wanted to shoot us, he would come in, not just knock at the door.' So I was like, 'It's a drill,'" she said.

Edwards is the type of prepared student Schildkraut wants. All the drills have had another impact on Edwards: They make her think about how vulnerable she is at school.

"I try not to think, 'Oh, it couldn't happen at my school,'" she said. "But I know it could."

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How Effective Are School Lockdown Drills?

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On the morning of her 16th birthday, in her AP music class, Megan Storm thought she was going to die. The sophomore at Lake Brantley High School in suburban Orlando, Fla., said she heard an announcement over the intercom that the school was in a code red lockdown - it was a drill, but Storm said students were not told that.

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In an article by Healthy People about Injury and Violence, indicates that it is one of the leading disabilities for all ages regardless of age, gender, or socioeconomic status. The social environment plays a huge role in injuries in violence because of different experiences and relationships. Since social environment is a leading role it is important to know how within the social environment injury and violence can be avoided. Different ways to do that include changing social norms and fostering safe relationships for children and families. This is specifically important for elementary level students as they begin to develop relationships and have more meaningful opinions of the world. If students are learning how to have a safe relationship and follow positive social norms it will lead them to a more successful injury and violence free life.

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Goal

Prevent unintentional injuries and violence, and reduce their consequences.

Overview

Injuries and violence are widespread in society. Both unintentional injuries and those caused by acts of violence are among the top 15 killers for Americans of all ages. Many people accept them as "accidents," "acts of fate," or as "part of life." However, most events resulting in injury, disability, or death are predictable and preventable. The Injury and Violence Prevention objectives for 2020 represent a broad range of issues which, if adequately addressed, will improve the health of the Nation.

Why Is Injury and Violence Prevention Important?

Injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44, and a leading cause of disability for all ages, regardless of sex, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. More than 180,000 people die from injuries each year, and approximately 1 in 10 sustains a nonfatal injury serious enough to be treated in a hospital emergency department.

Beyond their immediate health consequences, injuries and violence have a significant impact on the well-being of Americans by contributing to:

The effects of injuries and violence extend beyond the injured person or victim of violence to family members, friends, coworkers, employers, and communities.

Understanding Injury and Violence Prevention

Numerous determinants (factors) can affect the risk of unintentional injury and violence.

Individual behaviors

The choices people make about individual behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use, or risk-taking, are often connected with factors in the social and physical environment and can increase injuries.

Physical environment

The physical environment, both in the home and community, can affect the rate of injuries related to falls, fires and burns, road traffic injuries, drowning, and violence.

Access to Services

Access to health services, such as systems created for injury-related care, ranging from prehospital and acute care to rehabilitation, can reduce the consequences of injuries, including death and long-term disability.

Social Environment

The social environment has a notable influence on the risk for injury and violence through:

Individual social experiences (for example, social norms, education, victimization history)

Social relationships (for example, parental monitoring and supervision of youth, peer group associations, family interactions)

Community environment (for example, cohesion in schools, neighborhoods, and communities)

Societal-level factors (for example, cultural beliefs, attitudes, incentives and disincentives, laws and regulations)

Interventions that address these social and physical factors have the potential to prevent unintentional injuries and violence. Efforts to prevent unintentional injury may focus on:

Efforts to prevent violence may focus on:

Changing social norms about the acceptability of violence and the willingness to intervene

Improving skills and competencies (for example, communication, impulse control, parenting, conflict resolution, coping)

Fostering safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children and families

Changing policies to address the social and economic conditions that often give rise to violence

Emerging Issues in Injury and Violence Prevention

While not included as objectives in Healthy People 2020, there are several emerging issues in injury and violence prevention that need further research, analysis, and monitoring.

For unintentional injuries, there is a need to better understand the trends, causes, and prevention strategies for:

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Prevent unintentional injuries and violence, and reduce their consequences. Injuries and violence are widespread in society. Both unintentional injuries and those caused by acts of violence are among the top 15 killers for Americans of all ages. Many people accept them as "accidents," "acts of fate," or as "part of life."

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New York and New Jersey Boy Scout leaders accused of sexual abuse (2019, April 23). CBS News. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/boy-scouts-of-america-sexual-abuse-cases-in-new-york-and-new-jersey-press-conferences-live-stream/

This article on sexual assault (intentional injury and violence) from CBS News talks about the recent allegations in the boy scouts of sexual assault by troop leaders. New York attorney Jeff Anderson has said that he has been able to identify at least 130 perpetrators of sexual assault in the boy scouts in New York and 50 more in New Jersey. Attorneys are working to bring all of these people to justice, they want to give the victims a voice to speak out about what happened to them while they were boy scouts. Thousands of victims have come forward to share their stories of assault, these assaults date back as early as 1944. New laws have increased the statute of limitations, allowing more people to share what happened to them. Olympian Bridie Farrell, who is a sexual abuse survivor, is using her experiences to help those assaulted in the boy scouts. There is a list of people, that the boy scouts made, detailing people who are not able to volunteer in their organization, attorneys are trying to get the boy scouts to release this list to the public. The boy scouts have made an announcement saying that they support and believe those who have come forward and are going to work with victims and attorneys through the process. Cases like these make teachers aware of how frequently sexual assault can happen to young children. Although a hard subject to talk about, this can lead to teachers talking to their students about safe touching and what is and is not appropriate.

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SPAN’s Choices and curriculum is a K-5 violence prevention curriculum on social and emotional wellness.  This curriculum is implemented through collaborative teaching and students are taught how to understand how to identify their emotions.  This helps parents monitor the mental health of their children by being able to understand their child’s emotions through actions. The peers building justice is a youth group that promotes resisting violence in the community.

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Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence

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Violence Prevention Education - Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence

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SPAN’s school-based violence prevention program provides services for K-12th students throughout Boulder and Broomfield Counties.

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Adult Resource: Creating and Anti-Bullying environment

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Adult Resource: Creating and Anti-Bullying environment

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The education world is committed to bringing educators the practical tools they need in order to make good decisions and to engage actively while implementing these strategies.  This article focuses on school staff, which are the ones being bullies.  A teacher who is a bully can be described as one who uses an imbalance of power to intimidate and punish students.  Verbal abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and professional abuse are all behaviors that are not appropriate. Within schools, teachers administration and staff should be expected to act as a good role model so that the student body can look up to appropriate behaviors.

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Education World is committed to bringing educators the practical tools they need to make good decisions, engage in effective leadership and implement strategies that work. To further this commitment, we have formed a content partnership with Stenhouse Publishers. Education World is pleased to feature a variety of book excerpts as part of this collaboration. Check back frequently as we feature additional excerpts from Stenhouse titles. The following excerpts are taken from Chapters 2 and 3 of Bullied Teacher, Bullied Student: How to Recognize the Bullying Culture in Your School and What to Do About It, by Les Parsons (Pembroke Publishers, 2005; distributed in the U.S. by Stenhouse Publishers). The book retails for $18 and is available on the Stenhouse Web site.
These excerpts address the problem of adult bullying and how it can have a pervasive negative impact on a school's culture. See Creating an Anti-Bullying Environment: What Your School May Be Missing for an additional excerpt from Bullied Teacher, Bullied Student.

When School Staff Are the Ones Bullying

For an adult bully, children make ideal targets. Bullying students is like shooting fish in a barrel: as a captive audience, students can neither fight nor flee. They are expected to respect and obey their teachers, as they owe their success or failure in school to how those teachers evaluate them. They are quick to accept blame, and their fledgling egos can be deflated and destroyed with a few, well chosen words or gestures. A bullying teacher can be described as one who uses the imbalance of power to intentionally harm students physically, emotionally, or socially. Whatever definition you choose to apply, a catalogue of bullying teacher behaviors would certainly include the following:

Verbal abuse through the use of sexist, racist, cultural, socio-economic, ability-related, and homophobic stereotyping and labeling;

Physical abuse: such as shaking, pushing, pinching, pulling the hair or ears, slapping with a ruler, or throwing things;

Psychological abuse: such as yelling, using sarcasm, ripping up work, setting student against student, making threats;

Professional abuse: such as unfair marking; applying penalties selectively; using inappropriate disciplinary methods; inducing failure by setting inappropriate standards; lying to colleagues, parents, superiors about a student's behavior; denying students equal access to lessons, resources, or remediation; intimidating parents who, through language, culture, or socio-economic status, are cut off from a complaint process.

About Stenhouse Publishers

Stenhouse publishes professional development books and videos by teachers and for teachers. Their titles cover a range of content areas -- from literacy and mathematics to science, social studies, the arts, and environmental education -- as well as a variety of topics, including classroom management, assessment, and differentiation.

The first step in controlling and treating bullying in a school environment is acknowledging that anyone in the building, especially the adults who are acting as surrogate parents, can bully and be bullied. How effective can any zero-tolerance policy be if students are expected to believe in anti-bullying ideals while witnessing adults around them bullying others and being bullied themselves? Any anti-bullying policy based on the assumption that students will do as teachers say and not as they do will accomplish nothing. How diligent will teachers be in implementing their school's anti-bullying strategies while under the thumb of a bullying principal? How effective can any bullying policy be if it's applied piecemeal, subjectively and inconsistently?
A Visit to your Worst Nightmare
Principals can be bullies; teachers can be bullies; and so can parents. And if adult bullying stains a school, wiping out student bullying is an uphill battle. If a school is developing or has developed a bullying culture, the effects are wide-ranging and invidious. Keep in mind that that the majority of adults in any school are idealistic, hard-working, nurturing professionals who accept their vocation as a calling rather than as a job. A few key individuals, however, wielding and abusing whatever power they possess, can turn a school into a toxic environment.
Welcome to Watchyerstep Public School. I'm Doris, the head secretary. I think you'll like it here; it's a good school. I do like the morning attendance sheets sent down promptly; I'd hate to have to embarrass you on the "on-call." The office photocopier is off-limits to teachers no matter how many others in the school have broken down. We're busy here and we don't have time to wait in line. And don't send kids down to the office and expect us to watch them. We have more than enough to do as it is. I'd introduce you to the principal but her door is closed this morning. After a while you'll get used to figuring out the best time to talk to her. You'll like her though: she's tough but fair. She's usually pretty busy, so I wouldn't bother her unless it's really important. If it has anything to do with ordering books or supplies, or spending money at all, just give the request to me in writing and I'll see what I can do. You don't want to get on her bad side. That made you jump, didn't it? You'll get used to it. It's just Dave, the VP. He's in charge of discipline and one of the school bullies was sent in early from the yard for fighting. Dave will rip into him like that for a bit, tear a strip off his back, and the kid will leave bawling his eyes out. Dave has a knack for it. He'll go after the odd teacher now and then, but it's just for their own good. We like to run a tight ship around here. You'll really like him. He has a new joke every day and some of them will make your hair curl. Just don't get caught in the book room with him, if you know what I mean. That's Sonja, the other Grade 5 teacher. You'll be teaching across the hall from her. She's a terrific teacher. You can go by her classroom any time you like and you won't hear a peep. Her kids do as they're told if they know what's good for them. She'll tell you what texts to use and fill you in on the routines. Follow her lead and you won't have any problems. Speaking of problems, you have the Robertson boy in your class. He's a bit of a rough-and-tumbler, but it's the other kids who mostly get him into trouble. Some of them egg him on; you know, they just ask for it. Anyway, I'd go easy on him; his mother can get a little out of hand. She went after the teacher you're replacing and the principal in the hall last week, just when the classes were changing. You should have heard the language! She's also not afraid to call the area superintendent over the least little thing. You'll say something to the boy, the boy tells her, she phones the superintendent, the super calls the principal, and the next thing you know you're hauled up on the carpet. It might also be a good idea to check the kind of marks the boy usually gets before you mark any work, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I'd like to talk to you for a while longer but we're really busy here in the office. But I can tell right off that you're the kind of teacher we need here in Watchyerstep P.S.
Consider the extreme example, "A Visit to Your Worst Nightmare," below.

Imagine that you're filling in for a Grade 5 teacher who may be off for a few weeks. It's your first day on the job. You report to the office.

From this example, it's clear that a bullying school culture defies easy or simple analysis. It's not simply a matter of a principal bullying a teacher who then bullies students. If the dynamic were as linear as the classic case of a parent slapping a child who then turns to slap the family dog, intervention would be more clear-cut and definitive. In a bullying school, the student who is bullied at home is likely to bully other students at school; that same student might also try to bully the teacher using the reputation of the bullying parent as leverage. A collaborative, fair-minded principal might inadvertently empower a bullying teacher, who might use that leverage to bully other teachers as well as students. Teachers who band together to stand up against a bullying principal might well find themselves undermined by the principal's superior or even by the school community.

In a bullying school, morale is eroded, initiative squelched, and risk-taking discouraged. Apprehension seeps into the learning environment. Adults, as well as students, are reluctant to take risks or make mistakes for fear of ridicule or censure. People feel alienated, isolated, and disenfranchised and begin to mistrust their own abilities and competencies. As they fall prey to dependence, ignorance, and uncertainty, their capacity to learn or teach is critically impaired. As the bullying in a school increases, a school's effectiveness wanes.

Related resources

The Best Bullying Prevention Schools Aren't Doing
Stan Davis: Ask Bullied Kids What Helps Them
Lesson Plan Booster: How Can Students Help a Bullied Peer?
EducationWorld's Bullying Resource Page

Education World®
Copyright © 2011 Education World

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Bullying Prevention: Understanding Adult Bullying | Education World

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Education World is committed to bringing educators the practical tools they need to make good decisions, engage in effective leadership and implement strategies that work. To further this commitment, we have formed a content partnership with Stenhouse Publishers. Education World is pleased to feature a variety of book excerpts as part of this collaboration.

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Adult Resource: Georgia State University Law Library Public Health Law

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Adult Resource: Georgia State University Law Library Public Health Law

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LibGuides: Public Health Law: Prevention of Intentional Injury and Violence

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LibGuides: Public Health Law: Prevention of Intentional Injury and Violence

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Society for Public Health Education - SOPHE

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An injury which is judged to have been purposely inflicted, either by the self or another  - assaults, homicides, self-inflicted injuries and suicides

Rice et al., 1989

Violence/Intentional Injuries

A total of 199,752 deaths were recorded in 2014 from poisoning, motor vehicle and firearms.

In 2014, suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals, ages of 10-24.

Homicide was the fourth leading cause of death (National Center for Health Statistics, 2016).

Suicide

Suicide rates continue to increase across all age groups and races.

The CDC reports approximately 41,149 suicides in 2013 in the U.S. - equal to one every 13 minutes.

The need for increased access to mental health services persists.

Sexual Violence

Sexual violence remains a public health problem that affects million of people annually

Roughly 20 percent of women and 7 percent of men experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime.

CDC released STOP SV, a technical report that compiles various strategies and best practices for states and communities to implement.

By creating protective and inclusive environments, the number of incidents can decrease.

Intimate Partner Violence

Nearly 30 percent of women and 10 percent of men experience some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime - physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression.

Sexual violence occurs roughly one every 24 minutes - impacting more than 12 million people every year.

Awareness and education about common risk factors can help to address rising concerns. Activities and evidence-based approaches are available from CDC and Futures Without Violence.

Child Maltreatment

In 2015, roughly 683,000 cases of neglect and abuse were reported to child protective services.

Statistics show more than 25 percent of children are victims of neglect in their first year of life.

Additional research looked at these adverse childhood experiences and to develop preventive strategies to enhance awareness and education.

The CDC has gathered a number of best practices that can be used for reporting and addressing child maltreatment.

Youth Violence

Youth violence - bullying, robbery and assault - lead to emotional and physical harm.

It is the third leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults.

Factors linked to youth violence - drug and alcohol use, poor grades in school, poverty in the community and a lack of safety in the social and physical environments (CDC, 2015).

Addressing these risk factors and developing community-based interventions to educate at-risk individuals may allow for coordinated and maintained preventive efforts.

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Violence/Intentional Injury Facts - Society for Public Health Education - SOPHE

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Violence/Intentional Injury Facts An injury which is judged to have been purposely inflicted, either by the self or another  - assaults, homicides, self-inflicted injuries and suicides Rice et al., 1989 Violence/Intentional Injuries A total of 199,752 deaths were recorded in 2014 from poisoning, motor vehicle and firearms. In 2014, suicide was...

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Please check your email for instructions on resetting your password. If you do not receive an email within 10 minutes, your email address may not be registered, and you may need to create a new Wiley Online Library account.

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Adult Resource: Violence: A Challenge for Public Health and for All

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Adult Resource: Violence: A Challenge for Public Health and for All

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Adult Resource: How Trauma Affects Kids in School

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Adult Resource: How Trauma Affects Kids in School

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The Child Mind Institute details several ways in which traumatic events cause reactions in school-age children. Some of these include trouble forming relationships with teachers, poor self-regulation, negative thinking, hypervigilance, and challenges in executive functioning (i.e. working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control). Teachers can focus on creating positive attention for the student on a one-on-one basis as well as within the general classroom context so as to mitigate a child's learned negative reaction to stressful situations.

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How Trauma Affects Kids in School - Child Mind Institute

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Learn how trauma from ongoing neglect, abuse, homelessness or violence causes children to have problems with learning and behavior. How to help these kids.

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Adolescent Violence and Unintentional Injury in the United States

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Adolescent Violence and Unintentional Injury in the United States

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Overall rates of injury and death increase dramatically from childhood to late adolescence. In this article, it talks about the developmental and social factors that influence the high-risk taking behaviors children and adolescents put themselves in.  Violence and Unintentional injury are two interrelated areas the adolescents encounter while growing up in school.  The time spent without parental supervision and increasing independence, adolescents are more likely to engage in risk taking behaviors than younger children or adults. The uses of drug, alcohol, motor vehicle, and violent acts of behavior are highly influenced by the community a child is raised in and the circumstances around them.  It is important that schools implement a program that implements a strong sense of safety and awareness on the tragic accidents that can happen when poor decisions are made.  Brining in a professional multiple times a year to talk to the student community about violence and safety is essential for adolescents to wrap their heads around the importance.

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NCCP | Adolescent Violence and Unintentional Injury in the United States

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Overall rates of injury and death increase dramatically from childhood to late adolescence. This fact sheet presents basic facts about adolescent violence and unintentional injury, outlines barriers to ensuring their safety, and makes recommendations for addressing these barriers.

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This article about school-based violence prevention first defines what violence is, and then discusses why it is important to support violence prevention programs in schools. The authors explain the components of a comprehensive school-based approach, which include direct and indirect student services, and direct and indirect school services. The authors share a training model that was implemented in four elementary schools in Hawaii that was offered to school administrators, health professionals, and teachers. In the classroom, teachers can use suggestions from this article for preventing violence in their daily routine, remembering to collaborate with other school staff members and families.

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School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence 

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School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence 

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The CDC discusses some recommendations in which schools should use to prevent violence and injury. The recommendations have been developed through extensive research and theories. Teachers, when planning curriculum, can refer to state and national standards for health to implement appropriate information that will promote health lifestyles and individual wellbeing.  The authors break down all the different components of violence and injury education and how to identify such situations. The source also provides direction of how to deal with the individual results of violence.

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School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence

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This report summarizes school health recommendations for preventing unintentional injury, violence, and suicide among young persons. These guidelines were developed by CDC in collaboration with specialists from universities and from national, federal, state, local, and voluntary agencies and organizations.

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School Safety During Emergencies: What Parents Need To Know

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School Safety During Emergencies: What Parents Need To Know

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In the following article on parental guidance for school safety from the American Academy of Pediatrics, parents are presented with several important tools to facilitate discussion and implement at-home procedures that complement their child's existing school safety plan. The article provides a comprehensive list of essential vocabulary and acronyms, discussion questions, and a web resource list to help them understand what typically happens in a school emergency.
Parents should have a home emergency plan in place as well as updated contact and student information on file at school so that faculty and staff can make the appropriately informed decisions in the midst of an actual crisis or emergency. Teachers can build a beginning of year lesson to include a checklist with this criteria noted both as a reminder to parents and to give students time to think about their plans.

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​ As a parent, feeling confident in the safety of your child or children at the school they attend is extremely important. Some of the questions parents have about school safety may be:

How are lockdown drills implemented?

What plans are in place to help kids stay safe?

How can I talk to my child or respond to their questions or anxiety about school safety?

While "school safety" is a broad term with various applications within every school, the information in this article can help parents learn about actions schools across the country are taking to make themselves safer and better prepared for an emergency.

What's the Plan?

All schools should have an organized, systematic emergency operations plan in place to reduce risks or prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from a crisis situation. The types of crises can vary from a death or accident affecting some members of the school community to a natural disaster or community crisis affecting a lot of individuals in the school. Many school districts have a safety coordinator or director, or have assigned this role to one of the district administrators. School faculty and staff are trained to assess the seriousness of incidents and respond according to the plan's established procedures and guidelines.

What parents should do:

While the school staff has been trained and continue to receive guidance on how best to help students, the best advocate for your child is YOU! Ask your child's teacher about the plans the school has in place for emergencies such as fires, blizzards, bomb threats, and armed intruders. You can also ask how often school officials and safety experts meet to discuss safety procedures. While some schools may hesitate to share all components of their plans and strategies, make yourself aware of the information available to you.

Safety Drills Currently Used in Schools

In 2013, the White House released a Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operation Plans. The guide is customized for each type of community, incorporates lessons learned from recent incidents, and responds to the needs and concerns voiced following the recent shootings in Newtown and Oak Creek and the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma.

Terms to know:

Evacuation: Used to move students and staff out of the building.

With a simple evacuation, students and staff leave and move to a nearby pre-designated safe location and return to the school building right after the cause of evacuation is resolved. Schools practice evacuations regularly (often monthly) during fire drills.

Relocation: Used to move students and staff to a pre-designated alternate site following evacuation when it is determined that returning to the school building will not take place within a reasonable period of time.

Depending on the time of day and the circumstances, students may be released early or school activities may be changed or put on hold until they are able to return to the school building. Plans should also be in place for students and staff with limited mobility who may need assistance moving to the relocation site.

Shelter-in-place: Used during severe weather or other environmental threats (e.g., air contamination due to a local fire).

This is a precaution aimed to keep people safe while remaining indoors. (This is not the same thing as going to a shelter in case of a storm.) In schools, shelter-in-place involves having all students, staff, and visitors take shelter in pre-selected rooms that have phone access and stored disaster supplies kits and, preferably, access to a bathroom. The room doors are then shut.

Lockdown: Used when there is a perceived danger inside the building.

A lockdown includes securing each occupied room by locking the door(s) and directing people to move away from windows and doors. Hallways are cleared of students and school staff. Typically, local law enforcement arrives to secure the site and arrange for evacuation or return to usual building activities. Students are kept in their classrooms or other secured areas in the school until the lockdown has ended.

Lockout: Used to secure the building from a potential threat outside the building, such as when an unauthorized person is loitering on school grounds or when there is criminal activity in the neighborhood.

During a lockout, access to the building is restricted, but there may be some limited movement within the building.

How Emergencies at Schools are Communicated to Parents?

Every school has its own standards for parental involvement in school safety threats. To prevent possibly risking the safety of your child and their classmates, it is important for parents to understand what the school and local law enforcement require of them during these emergency situations.

Misinformation can easily spread if a crisis situation occurs at your child's school. Because of this, it is the responsibility of the school staff to provide parents with timely information on the status of their child's safety. For example, some schools have an emergency communication system in place that notify parents via email, voice, and text messages. Schools typically inform parents of any unusual situation that demands one of the protocols listed above, however, they may not provide prior notice of drills.

At the Beginning of the School Year, Parents Can:

Review with their child the family emergency plan, including reunification and communication options.

Provide the school with information about any unique needs their children may have. This can be accomplished by filling out an emergency information form and working with school health staff to be sure there is an emergency plan on file for your child that includes information on health issues and what is needed during other school emergencies.

Arrange for the school to have on hand back up/extra medication or other items to address the unique needs of your child so they have what they need if there is an emergency where they need to remain in the school building for a longer period of time.

Provide the school and your child's teacher with up-to-date contact information for family or friends who can help out if you are unavailable. Be sure to update this information as needed throughout the school year.

Learn about the school's plan for emergency response, including parental access during emergencies, school emergency contact information, meet-up locations, and other reunification plans.

Helpful Guidelines to Keep in Mind When Talking with Children about School Safety

For some children, even participation in a drill may cause some emotional distress, especially if it reminds them of a prior crisis event or if they otherwise are feeling vulnerable or anxious. As a parent, you are in the best position to help your child cope. Any conversation with a child must be developmentally appropriate.

Young children need brief simple information that should be balanced with reassurance. This includes informing children that their school and home are safe (once these are secure) and that adults are available to protect them. Young children often gauge how threatening or serious an event is by adult reactions. This is why, for example, parents are encouraged not to get overly emotional when saying goodbye on the first day of school. Young children respond well to basic assurance by adults and simple examples of school safety, like reminding them the exterior doors are locked.

Upper elementary and early middle school children may​ be more vocal in asking questions about whether they are truly safe and what is being done at their school. They may need assistance separating reality from fantasy. Parents can share the information they have about the school's safety plan and any other relevant communication to ease their child's mind.

Upper middle school and high school students may have strong and varying opinions about causes of violence in school and society. Parents should stress the role that students have in maintaining safe schools by following the school's safety guidelines (e.g., not providing building access to strangers, reporting strangers on campus, reporting threats to school safety made by students or community members, etc.).

After a crisis:

It is important to provide emotional support to a child in the aftermath of a crisis situation. Watch for clues that your child might want to talk, but understand that not all children will want or need to talk about these events. Some children may not express their concerns verbally. Be aware of signs that children might be in distress, e.g., changes in behavior, anxiety, sleep problems, acting out, problems at school or with academic work.

If you need assistance, consider talking with your child's doctor, a mental health professional, or the school nurse, counselor, or social worker at your child's school. See Helping Your Child Cope for strategies to ensure children's needs are met in emergency situations.

Additional Information & Resources:

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School Safety during Emergencies: What Parents Need to Know

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​ As a parent, feeling confident in the safety of your child or children at the school they attend is extremely important. Some of the questions parents have about school safety may be: How are lockdown drills implemented? What plans are in place to help kids stay safe?