Newtown Archives

Thoughts and prayers to Newtown

OSSI would like to offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and friends affected by the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday morning. I know that we are not the only ones who could not stop thinking about this horrifying tragedy these last few, long days. Our philosophy and mission is to make the world a safer place so while this tragedy occurred a thousand miles away, it truly saddens us. We offer our thoughts and prayers through this difficult time.

dave2017-04-26T10:23:15-05:00School Security|

Educating teachers on school safety: Part One

This is part one of a two part series on how teachers can be educated on school safety to protect the future of our country: students. Many of the heroes of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting were teachers. In a time of intense crisis, they were able to face one of the worst possible dangers to their lives and their student’s lives: a shooter while not having any kind of protection. The result could have been much worse. Many of the staff at this facility were trained and educated on how to deal with this type of situation. While the government works out ways to protect schools by discussing gun control and other tactics, schools are still potential targets for crazed shooters. However, there are ways for teachers and school personnel to protect their school from shooters before they become targets; and while a shooting is in progress. Ways to [...]

dave2017-04-26T10:20:39-05:00School Security|

Educating teachers on school safety: Part Two

This is part two of a two part series on how teachers can be educated on school safety to protect the future of our country: students. View part one here. Once you are aware of a shooting in your school, there are some specific actions you can take to protect yourself and your students: Barricade your door: Move all the desks and chairs to the door. A normal shooting lasts seven minutes, so the shooters is not going to waste time trying to push through a door if it is barricaded. Contact authorities: Text or call 911, alerting someone that there is an attack going on at your school once you and your students are secure. Turn off the lights: This prevents the shooter from being able to see clearly through the door or windows. Hide: The best places to hide are to get on the floor against a wall out of line of sight [...]

dave2017-04-26T10:20:53-05:00School Security|

Effectiveness of metal detectors on school safety

There are numerous inquiries about metal detectors and school safety measures all year long, and usually they pick up after incidents of school violence that are heavily covered by the media. We get several questions about metal detectors: Are they effective? Is it a necessary addition to a school? Are they needed to ensure and improve school safety? All of these questions really depend on your school’s situation. Not every school district is the same. There are a lot of schools across the United States that do not use metal detectors and a vast majority of these schools never experience the horrific acts of violence such as Columbine or Sandy Hook. I think we all agree that violence has no place at a school, and if we lived in a perfect world, there wouldn’t be any violence in schools at all. But the sad reality is that there are evil [...]

dave2017-04-26T10:21:46-05:00School Security|

Additional considerations about metal detectors in schools

Our last blog post talked about the potential effectiveness of metal detectors in school. This blog post will relate to some arguments for and against using metal detectors that your school district should consider before implementing a metal detector system in your school. "Do everything we can to protect students" vs. "Not creating a prison-like atmosphere" This is a big component of the argument between getting a metal detector in a school. One side will argue that the school district must do everything they can to ensure student's safety. On the other hand, they don't want to make it seems like the children are going to a prison. School is supposed to be considered a safe zone; if students walk in and see metal detectors, does that really give a sense of security? Implementation Considerations There are many considerations to have when installing a metal detector as a source of [...]

dave2017-04-26T10:21:39-05:00School Security|