George Brick joined the military during the Vietnam War, and spent his career afterward in the Special Forces. He retired after his 20 years and went into education, serving as a teacher and then an administrator in public and private schools alike. His longest post was Vice Dean of Students at the prestigious New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.
These twin careers in the military and education give George a unique perspective on school safety. I know of no other people with as much security and threat assessment training who also spent so much time in education. Based on my interview with him, and the contributions of other experts like Spencer Coursen, Dave Kovar, and Gary Quesenberry, I compiled today’s list of important school safety facts you probably didn’t know.
1. Stranger Danger is Not a Factor
The horror story about strangers in vans abducting children on the way to and from school happens, but very, very rarely. Nearly all of the people who victimize children are people the kids know, and often people with authority over the kids. We should spend less time on “stranger danger” and more time teaching our kids how to advocate for their safety and autonomy, and making sure they know they can talk to us about anything, at any time.
2. It’s About Liability, Not Survivability
When making decisions about security, safety, and emergencies, whether or not your child survives is not a priority at the policy level for almost any school. Instead, it’s about the district and/or city getting sued for negligence over a death or injury. These Venn diagrams intersect (the best way to avoid that lawsuit is to prevent the death or injury), but if those priorities come into conflict, liability will win every time.
3. It’s Also About Amount of Effort
Teachers are profoundly overworked, and give the most free overtime of any profession in the developed world. They’re also profoundly constrained, bound by policies that make initiative and judgment very difficult for them to exercise even under the best circumstances. Sometimes, the effort required to make your child safer is so great the teacher lacks the resources to make it happen. In those cases, it’s our job to make not keeping our kids safe require even greater effort.
4. The Bus Ramp is Where It’s At
The overwhelming majority of serious child injuries at school happen at the bus ramp. There’s a lot of chaos there, and large vehicles in motion. Also, the bus ramp is one of the best indicators of how engaged the school staff is about kid safety. Watch the teachers on duty as you drop off and pick up your kid. Are they engaged with the students, their safety, and the flow of bodies and vehicles? Or are they primarily interested in some social time together? What happens at the bus ramp will tell you what’s going on elsewhere in the school.
5. You Should Be Volunteering
This is the number one thing you can do to improve your child’s school safety and performance. By being on site from time to time, you get to know the building, the teachers, the administrators, the support staff, and the other children. You get a sense of who’s good, who’s questionable, and where the problems lie. You also become a known quantity at the school, and people tend to go out of their way more for somebody they know.
6. Access is Laughably Easy
Although most school districts have policies in place about confirming identification of visiting adults and children, plus some physical security to enforce those policies, getting into a school is incredibly easy. Staff tends to be welcoming, even on-site security, and even if they’re not kids will let an adult in more often than they won’t. There’s not much to be done about this in any practicable sense, but this is something to let older kids know about so you can work together to make a family plan for safety surrounding this.
7. The Number of Fire Deaths Is…
…one per year, on average. Just one, and usually an adult. Though that’s tragic for the family of the victim, it tells us that those fire drills are not the best use of our safety attention and resources. In fact, given that school shootings claim far more lives each year and that what kids do during a fire drill creates an ideal situation for any school shooter, they’re probably a bad idea in general. This is a powerful illustration of how priorities in school safety are badly skewed, and can make things less safe.
8. School Resource Officers Are Not Your Friends
Or your kids’ friends. Although their presence can give a sense of security (and potentially deter some criminal elements), keeping your kids safe is not their primary job. Their primary job is to police the school, meaning it’s their job to investigate children — including your children. We must teach our kids, especially high school age kids, to be as suspicious and careful around them as they are around police in any other environment. Never divulge anything remotely criminal (not even casual marijuana use) to a school resource officer.
9. Bullying vs. Assault
A lot of violence at schools (and sexual harassment or sexual assault) gets minimized under the label of bullying. I’m personally of the opinion that a little low-grade bullying is unavoidable in schools, and primarily an opportunity for kids to learn that some people are unpleasant, and how to deal with that. But bullying also becomes harassment, assault, or battery. Because of how safety standards and reporting are measured, teachers and administrators are incentivized to see bullying, not those more serious crimes. It’s on us to make sure serious issues are dealt with seriously.
10. The Administrators Already Know
They know who the bad kids are. They know who the bad parents are. They know who the bad teachers are. The trouble is, they have extremely limited power to do anything about it. If you bring a problem to an administrator’s attention, watch to see if they look surprised. If they do, then there’s a good chance the issue isn’t as serious as you thought (or that your child is more responsible for the issue than they’re letting on). If they seem resigned or frustrated, then you know where the problem lies, and you can work with the administrator to find a solution that keeps your child safe.
Really, It’s Not That Bad
I know this feels very cynical and gloom-and-doom about our schools, but the truth is they are some of the safest places in the country for our kids. Plus, they’re full of dedicated, devoted professionals who care deeply about our kids. Nearly all of the systemic issues I named above aren’t because teachers and administrators don’t care. It’s because the system they work in has questionable incentives, which ties their hands in many ways.
Above all, the best way to keep your kids safe is to identify the best adults in your kids’ school and then to work with them however you can. They deserve our support and assistance, and our children deserve to go to a school where that support and assistance exists.