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Although schools are generally safer than many other places children encounter in society, school communities cannot become complacent about student safety and security. Keeping a school safe requires a coordinated effort among all the key players. One important group that is sometimes overlooked is parents. Acting individually or as representatives of a PTA, parents can play a crucial role in enhancing safety at a school: they can ask questions about topics such as physical security, crisis teams, and emergency plans; they can build awareness about safety issues at the school; and they can participate in school safety committees. The following will equip parents with the information they need to serve effectively in these roles and thus to help improve student safety—not only the safety of their own children but the safety of all the children—at their schools.

What is a safe school?
The effort to ensure school safety cannot be limited to a one-time training workshop or a short discussion at one board meeting. Safety must be cultivated—it requires an ongoing process within the school’s culture.

A safe school has

• A climate focused on respect, acceptance of diversity, and peaceful resolution of conflicts.
• Strong academic and extracurricular programs, prevention and intervention programs to support students, parent and community involvement, and firm, fair, and consistent discipline.
• Balanced, proactive school security measures that provide a secure environment in which all other academic and support programs may be safely delivered.
• A school staff trained in recognizing early warning signs of potential violence, in crime prevention practices, and in emergency preparedness guidelines for managing natural disasters and human acts of violence.
• Educators who have active working relationships with the police and fire departments, emergency medical services, emergency management agencies, mental health officials, and other community public safety providers.

What can parents do?
The first and most important step parents should take is to talk with their children about school safety (see “Talking with Students About School Safety” at right). Students typically know where gaps in security exist and what can be done to improve school safety. They often have practical, cost-effective ideas for dealing with safety concerns.

Parents should also conduct a basic assessment of physical security issues by asking questions such as

• Are there a reduced number of doors that can be opened from outside? Do visitors have to sign in and wear a badge? Do staff members greet and challenge strangers?
  
  
• Does the school have adequate communications capabilities, such as a public address system, phones in classrooms, two-way radios, cell phones, and charged bullhorns?
  Security equipment and physical security measures are only part of the school safety puzzle. Technology must be a supplement to, not a substitute for, the human element of security.

Most schools have crisis teams named on paper, as well as written crisis plans in their files. But parents need to go beyond what is in writing and ask more in-depth questions, such as

• Who specifically is on the crisis team and how often do they meet?
• What type of training have crisis teams and school staff received?
• Has a formal school security assessment been conducted at the school? If so, when and by whom?
• Have police, fire, and emergency management agencies been involved in developing school emergency plans?
• How does the school test and exercise its emergency plans to make sure what is on paper would work in a real emergency?

The politics of school safety
Parents often do not recognize that school safety can be a highly political issue in some school communities. While there have been improvements in school safety in many school communities in recent years, there are still some school officials who fear that reporting incidents of school crime and violence will lead to adverse media attention and blame from parents. Unfortunately, this fear can result in safety threats and problems being downplayed and denied, rather than tackled openly and head-on by everyone in the school community. Parents must be aware of, and sensitive to, these political dynamics.

While it is important for parents to be persistent in working on school safety issues, parents should approach school officials as partners, rather than as adversaries or with finger-pointing. The goal should be for everyone in the school community to collectively identify and tackle safety concerns, and most importantly, to work together to identify ways of reducing safety risks.

How PTAs Can Improve School Safety
Through practical activities, PTAs can play a very active and supportive role in improving school safety.

• Assign PTA representatives to be part of the school's safety committee and crisis team.
• Organize parent volunteers to provide additional supervision at school drop-off and pick-up areas, during lunch periods, during the school day to greet and direct visitors, and at school athletic events.
• Conduct surveys to identify parents' school safety concerns and suggestions.
• Sponsor educational presentations for parents on school violence prevention, security, and emergency planning.
• Communicate information on safety concerns, procedures, and resources in PTA newsletters.
• Inform parents of specific methods for reporting immediate safety threats.
• Organize awareness campaigns and projects to promote school safety.

Talking with Students About School Safety
Here are some possible discussion topics:

• Ask children to identify safety concerns at their schools. Where in their schools do they feel most safe? Where do they feel least safe? Why?
• Solicit children's opinions on how they would improve school safety if they were the principals at their schools.
• Talk with children about the importance of reporting threats and safety concerns at their schools. Explain to them that reporting safety matters is not "snitching," but instead could save someone's life.
• Help children identify specific adults at school who they would feel comfortable talking with if they became aware of safety concerns, had been threatened, or knew of some other safety matter at the school that needed attention.
• Discuss the importance of avoiding being drawn into rumors and inter-personal conflicts, both of which could lead to violence.

Working with Administrators and Boards
Do not be hesitant to bring school safety concerns to the attention of school officials.

• Approach school administrators in a nonthreatening and nonaccusatory way. Take a position as partners, not adversaries.
• Work with other parents who share similar safety concerns.
• Try to resolve matters at the building level before taking concerns to central office administrators and/or the school district's superintendent.
• On serious unresolved matters, parents may wish to bring their concerns to the attention of the school board. Use board-meeting forums to address safety issues associated with school district policies, regulations, and procedures that affect all students.

Kenneth S. Trump, MPA, is president of National School Safety and Security Services (www.schoolsecurity.org), based in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the author of two books on school security and crisis preparedness issues. Trump has worked with school and public safety officials in 45 states, and has presented workshops at two recent National PTA conventions.

http://www.pta.org/pr_magazine_article_details_1133975794812.html