School Security: A Human Layer

Recently in the news we learned about the abduction of 13-year-old Jayme Closs in Barron, Wisconsin.

Reports state that her captor abducted the teenager from her home following the brutal murder of her parents. The suspect in the case told police that he made up his mind to take her when he saw her get on the school bus. Unfortunately, such incidents also affect School Security protocols in general.

This tragic case eventually saw the rescue of Jayme but her ordeal will be forever present as she recovers and goes on without her parents. Cases like the one involving Jayme Closs remind us about the importance of breaking a complacent routine to spend more time observing what is going on in our children’s lives.

At the school and the daycare, however, that task is left to school officials.

Our educators and school staff members have the enormously important mission to educate our children and that easily makes them heroes.

We are proud of our school officials for the job they do every day and want them to be successful so that our children are also successful.

Following a number of mass casualty attacks at schools across the United States, some school districts are upgrading their security profile by adding the use of metal detectors and even armed staff members.

Efforts to upgrade school security are generated with the best intentions but school officials should not rely solely on those added protections. It is critical that schools have campus-wide population accountability program so staff member is given an opportunity to learn how they can detect threat indicators and plotting behavior.

Having a comprehensive accountability program, such as Kidio and PikMyKid, for keeping track of students allows schools to function at an optimum level. Less time is spent searching for communications and students for school activities and dismissal. Students are organized in the system and it’s framework offers officials access to quick actions and better internal communication should a major event occur. After reporting an incident, each class official is given instant and real-time information on what is happening, classroom lockdowns, and evacuation orders.

We can begin to see how this type of program would have aided schools in the past that were targeted in attacks. And I hope that more schools will take the chance to prepare themselves in as many ways possible, for both the larger and everyday safety risks.

As a result of my journey through life, I’ve authored the Family Security
Briefing program book series where I offer my expertise and insight into personal security and the situation awareness mindset. More information about me can be found by visiting: FamilySecurityBriefing.com