Safety Solutions

So why is emergency preparedness only thought about in many schools when it’s time for the monthly fire drill or when something horrible happens at someone else’s school?   I think it is because schools are so busy educating and preparing our students for the futures that it just isn’t part of the daily curriculum or it isn’t thought about until something bad happens. We need to change that

• Start viewing emergency preparedness as a life skill NOT just a school skill. Our students are going to grow up someday and head out into a world. Moms and dads will eventually realize that their helicopter can’t fly over their child forever. When bad stuff happens at their college, workplace or just walking their dog in the park our students need to know how to react.
• “We might scare them”. Really? When these students were toddlers at home mom taught them the dangers of reaching for a hot stove or trying to walk across the street without holding a grown-ups hand. They didn’t have to be shown images of kids with third degree burns or horribly mutilated children after being struck by a car to get them to do these things. We can teach them lifesaving skills without scaring them.
• It only takes a few minutes. Some school’s solution to this problem is hosting a safety day once a year. While it’s neat to tour the fire truck and speak with the police man the once a year approach isn’t nearly as effective as building these simple life skills into every day lessons.

Don’t be afraid of this. Life skills are not rocket science or brain surgery. They are actually quite simple. We can do this and I believe we owe it to our students to launch them into life with the greatest possibility of success.  If you want to talk about this or other safety and security topics give us a call.  Until next time I'm John for Safetysolutions4schools.com.

Image: dreamstime.com