Protecting Our Schools – Last Word on Preventing Violence in Our Schools: An Opinion
Written by Robert D. Sollars
Over the past month, I’ve recounted the ways that are fairly inexpensive and effective in combating and preventing violence in our schools. Will these ideas prevent everything? Of course not! These are generalized posts that allowed you to see and read what can be used to prevent violence, and the initial post is the extreme end of an incident.
You have to remember that violence in our schools has many different facets to it, and it can’t all be stopped. Things such as harassment, bullying, fistfights, and taking weapons that are located in the school to attack another student or administrative staff member. An item such as;
staplers
coffee cups
pens & pencils
trash cans
student desks
and all sorts of items are located in classrooms. Any of these can be used as a weapon to attack someone. If wanted, they can also inflict serious and life-threatening injuries.
While these ideas in the past month are a good start, YOU must tweak them for your own use. The high school in Minot, ND. Is totally unlike my other favorite high school I attended, Lafayette High School in St. Joseph, and others around the country. They are, however, a good place to start your program from. If you can recognize the warning signs, as the Secret Service has stated in its report, most of these incidents can be prevented.
Going along with that is the attitudes, which absolutely must be curtailed and watched, as well as the training, vitally important for everyone concerned. Then there are the physical security items…as I’ve said in the past “Just this once” rarely happens just once and can’t be allowed to happen at all, not even once, much less even discussed. Remember back to Uvalde, TX. When the exterior & internal doors, weren’t secured? 24 people dead, including those who died after the assault was long over.
I’m adamant, some say overly protective, about protecting the lives of children, and adults through the workplace or school violence, so I make myself available to any district or school that wishes a consultation on the subject. No child should die while at school, on their way to or from getting their education…and it’s up to US to ensure that they don’t get injured, traumatized, or murdered.
If you don’t wish a consultation, then I urge you to read my book on the subject published in 2018 Murder in the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Prevention or an updated list of warning signs is available in my book Murder at Work: A Practical Guide for Prevention. If you would like a consultation then please contact me via my website at Sollars Violence Prevention Training & Consulting. You can also call me at 480-251-5197 or write me at robert@sollarsviolenceprevention.com
I’m interested in saving the lives of kids everywhere, so this is not a typical blog post or even a sales letter, you’re reading. I hope that no child will die this school year due to violence, but that isn’t a plausible reality. It’s up to us to prevent these things, can you help everyone come home from school safely?
