Safety Solutions

By the age of four one in four students will witness or experience a traumatic event.  By the age of 16 two thirds of students will be exposed to trauma.  Trauma in children's lives in real.  Fortunately trauma is starting to be more recognized among educators as one of the leading causes in distracting students from meaningful learning.  The NEA recently produced a white paper titled "Teaching Children from Poverty and Trauma" and professionals are beginning to spend more time talking about trauma sensitive learning environments.  

Johnny has a bruise on his arm and his mother calls and tells the principal "he must have gotten this at school".  Far to often in today's educational world an allegation such like this automatically turns into a child abuse investigation due to stringent state regulations.   Gone are the days of asking a few common sense questions before calling out of fear of not reporting in a timely manner and being sanctioned.  Tragically in the name of "protecting children" we have become more concerned about "protecting ourselves" for fear of being accused of mismanaging an allegation. Surely we would expect the courtesy of a few questions from a co-worker who may be preparing to call in a child abuse allegation on us?  I can't tell you how many times I have interviewed alleged abusers and they ask " why didn't they just come talk to me?  I could have explained what happened?"  The reality is accusing a staff member of child abuse without applying some due diligence has a significant impact not only on the staff member but the classroom as well.  It is time to slow down.  Take a few minutes and consider the possibilities and ask a few questions before rushing to dial the 1-800-child abuse hot line.  Our initial response and inquiry can have long lasting consequences and should not be taken lightly.

Recently I had several districts ask me if their All Hazards Plan (AHP) was in compliance with Chapter 10 of the PA School Code after attending an AHP training session sponsored by PEMA.  

A few months ago I wrote a blog on football stadiums after a recent shooting at a local high school game in York, PA.  As we move from the stadium to the gym for winter sports I thought it was only fitting to consider some of the unique considerations of a crowded Friday night gym filled with screaming fans.  So what do we do if violence breaks out in that crowded gym?

Ever since schools began teachers have been managing students "skipping class" or leaving campus mid-day.  While this issue is taken very seriously at the elementary level it isn't always the same for middle and high school students.  All to often it is assumed that the student voluntarily left and they are now "on their own".  And while there may be consequences for that student the next school day little is done to retrieve them when they leave.  Two recent court cases, one in Connecticut and the second in Washington state may change administrators views of students skipping class and leaving campus. 

As so often happens, what our students see occurring in the world around them often transfers to school.  They are easily influenced by the latest trend, the "coolest" thing and the celebrities in their lives.  No doubt with several high profile athletes making a visual statement against racism by taking a knee during the national anthem some students will want to also take a knee. So how do we handle that as school administrators and local police?