School Safety

Something that has been weighing in extra hard on Teachers minds the last few years (and the last few weeks after another school shooting) has been keeping our students and schools safe. School is supposed to be a safe spot for everyone. An escape from the problems at home and from the pressures of life outside the school building such as finances and family relationships. School should be a safe zone where all children have to worry about is learning from the staff and their peers at school. Of course, there is the pressure to "fit in" and cliques that form or the need to be the "smartest" in the class or to break the schools’ athletics records. However, they shouldn't have to worry about their life being threated by a school shooting. No one should. Ever. I am not a political person but this topic weighs more and more on me as we see school shootings happening often. Too often. I have my own opinions and ideas about larger steps that should be taken but that is not what this is going to be about. Instead, I want to help other Teachers and School Staff have some resources I found useful, some tips and tricks I also found useful as well as share what I have been trained to do in the event of a school shooting.

In the event that there is a school shooting I have been taught to decide to hide, fight or run based on the location of the shooter. If the shooter is near where you are located in the school building it is suggested you hide. Hide means that the door is locked, curtains are shut, and everyone is hidden from the window and door. The hard part is making sure everyone is quiet. It is important to also think of those that may be in hallways or courtyards so we are also taught to look out quick to make sure there are no students and staff when we check to make sure the door is locked. Fighting requires some prep as you need to be physically ready to approach the shooter or have items ready to throw at them to distract them so you are able to run. If you are lucky enough to have a kitchen in your classroom (I had this during my special education student teaching) those items can be thrown or you could use notebooks, pencils, markers, or anything you and your students have available. Running is an option if the shooter is not near you. Most schools have a safe spot for you to go to and to take your students to if you are able to run. All three of these options have been shared with me multiple times and to be honest it’s really the only training I have received as a educator. However, I have been very blessed to work at schools that are locked during the day with only the office entrances available and with the need to "buzz in" before being allowed into the school building. I have also been at schools with their own officer and that is also a greatly apprecaite safety feature some schools have in place.

I have found a few tips and tricks to help teachers and school staff feel a little "prepared" in the case of an emergency within your classroom. Because truly no one is ever prepared for a school shooting. To be honest most of these came from social media posts but there are some I alrady use and others that I do plan to use in my classroom moving forward. The first is to have a hammer in your classroom. It can be used for projects within the classroom but can also help break a window or be used as a weapon if needed. Another tip that I found was to keep feminine pads available in your first aid kit at any grade level and in all classrooms because they could be used as gauze if needed in case of injury in which there is a lot of blood. Something else to have in the classroom is a magnet that can block the part of the door that keeps it locked. This allows you to open and shut the door but the door is technically locked if the magent strip is moved out of the way. The purpose is that the magent blocks where the door handle locks and then if moved quickly it immediately lockes the door. Some schools supply these but they can also be found on Amazon. Amazon also has fabric curtains made specifically for classroom doors and windows that are able to easily be dropped down to block the view from the window and/or door. One final tip I'd like to share is to always review the plan with your students in a way they understand as well as have your school and districts emergency plans posted right by your classroom door for all staff to have readily available as well as for substitutes who might be in your classroom throughout the school year. I will share more of how sharing the plan with students may look when I do this when the school year begins.

After a recent school shooting the National Board Institute of Teaching sent me some resources that I looked into about prevention, lesson plans you can use and also how to help students through trauma:

• Supporting Safe Schools: Resources for Gun Violence Prevention

• Addressing Gun Violence: Lesson Plans and Resources

• Trauma-Informed Resources for Students and School Staff

I hope this helps other teachers and school staff feel a little more comfortable in their classrooms and with the profession. I would be lying if I said that the thought of what I would do in a school shooting hasn't crossed my mind many times with every single classroom and school I have worked at and taught at. Having and knowing a plan, as well as having a secure school can help! I hope after reading this you can have a little more insight into what goes into keeping our schools as safe as they can be for our students and the staff that look over them daily.

~Marissa