School Safety: Is my Child Safe At School

Is my child’s school implementing new locks or safety measures to prevent an attack on them.

School Safety: Is My Child Safe at School?

These days the nightly news is sadly filled with tragic stories about children who are hurt, or even die, while they are at school. If you are a parent you have probably asked yourself many times “Is my child safe at school?”

I have worked on many school over the last 20 years, so I have a unique view of school safety. First off, I might mention that statistics show your child is more than ten times safer riding the school bus to school than he is driving with his own parents! Our busses are inspected regularly and our drivers are continually drug screened and skill-tested. Safety is very important!

I know for a fact that in our school district the superintendent worries continuously about school safety. Most school districts have imposed strict rules about keeping all exterior school doors locked during the day. Students are not allowed to open outside doors to let visitors in — all visitors must be screened by the school office.

Our schools, like others around the country, hold regular safety drills with the students. Some of these drills are for weather related emergencies, such as tornadoes and earthquakes. Our district is very strict about exactly where the children go when a tornado siren goes off.

Other emergency drills are to practice what the students do if an intruder enters the school. It is sad these drills are necessary and it would be nice to be able to shield our young children from learning about the school tragedies that have taken place around the country. But kids do see the news. Talking about what to do in an emergency seems to help the youngsters. Many youngsters getting on the bus tell me about what they are supposed to do if an intruder should come into their school; it seems to make them more secure.

When asking yourself if your child is safe at school you may wonder if he is safe from other students.

My school district, like any other, takes any report of a student carrying a weapon very seriously. I recently had a 2nd grade girl tell me that one of my 3rd grade boys had a knife on the bus. I had to radio in a code message to our dispatcher and a principal met the bus at the first available stop. The principal found a fairly innocent pocket knife that the student’s grandfather had given him — he wanted to show it off. Needless to say he was not allowed to have it in school and his parents had to come in for a conference. You can see how seriously the school district considered this violation.

Another most school districts insists upon is a “no bullying” policy. Reports of bullying are taken very seriously. Parents are involved and oftentimes habitual bullies will be suspended, sent to a special school, or even expelled.

If you are asking yourself whether your child is safe at school, the answer is troubling. Is your child safe anywhere? Certainly responsible school districts around the country are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of every student in their care. And in view of recent school tragedies, more time, resources and school funds are being spent on school safety.

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