Protecting Children While in School

This paper aims to discuss a means and method of protecting children from violent predation while they are in school.

It is not meant to be an exhaustive statement on the subject. It is intended to initiate the uncomfortable conversation about how we are placing the security of our children near the bottom of our priorities. My studied opinion is that the public discourse following the school shootings of the past few decades fails to address the real problems and, instead, focuses on popular political talking points that provide no solution.

Articles like the one linked here illustrate the problem. https://publications.csba.org/california-school-news/november-2022/a-focus-on-school-safety/

Nothing in that article, nor in the bills being pushed through the legislature of that state, deals with the issue in a manner that will be effective. I will talk about some of these matters, and I would like you to join me in that conversation, without regard to subject bias. Let’s look at facts and solutions that will work to eliminate predator access to kids.

To properly address the situation and provide practical answers, it is essential to understand the challenges we face. First and foremost, we are leaving our most valued belongings, our children, unprotected and exposed. We wouldn’t think of going to a bank and leaving our money on an open counter, but that is the equivalent of dropping our kids off at a school that has no effective security system to protect them.

Two facts need to be kept in mind as we explore solutions. First, predators have always existed and will continue to do so. Every species on earth experiences predation, and many ‘higher order’ species occasionally kill their offspring. Any discussion of how to identify and eliminate predators before an event is a distraction; what we need to focus on is protecting their prey. A herd of African buffalo doesn’t focus on getting rid of lions; they instinctively understand that perimeter security works, and so do the lions. Secondly, despite the common narrative, guns are not the issue, and arguing about them doesn’t protect kids in school. Knives are used to murder nearly three times as many people as rifles are. When we look at the weapons used in mass murders, we find that automobiles, knives, axes, and bombs are used frequently. In fact, the most notorious mass murder in recent decades was performed with stolen jet planes, commandeered by men using box cutters to perfect their theft.

Similarly, any argument that includes arming teachers is also misplaced. Assuming that the average grade school has around thirty-five teachers and staff, we could expect that between five and seven might qualify psychologically. Then there is the matter of training them to carry weapons, which is further complicated by the issue of threat assessment and confrontation. I’m not opposed to arming qualified teachers, but that is a last defense and should not be considered a solution. The goal should be keeping the killers out, forcing them through layers of defense, and funneling them into areas where they can be neutralized.

Any effective plan to prevent and defeat threats of any kind needs to include three elements:

• Physical Barriers.
• Humans.
• Technology.

If any one of those is missing, the threat will exploit that weakness as a path of attack. This is true of any danger. Whether it is fire, water, an invader, or a predator, you must have all three, used in concert, to be effective.

Specific to schools, I have the following recommendations: if we employ them diligently, it will be virtually impossible for a predator to reach children in their classrooms or gathering areas.

1. There should be a limit to the number of entrances, and those should have metal detectors. Anyone coming inside should be checked for weapons. I have traveled to many places where convenience stores have armed guards, beaches are patrolled by heavily armed military and police, and malls have entry checkpoints. Nobody is traumatized by security; in fact, they are comforted by it.

2. School buildings should be evaluated to prevent easy access, provide student protection, and eliminate lines of sight.

3. Wireless, pendant-activated lockdown systems should be installed. Twenty years ago, we invested in installing the internet in schools; we can invest in protecting kids adequately. We protect what we value.

4. All parents should be required to volunteer four hours monthly, deployed in teams of two, to stand at entrances, roam hallways, inspect bathrooms, and observe gathering areas. All personnel should wear pendants that can be used to secure the school. Given the number of children in schools, an average of twelve parents should be available for every 4-hour shift, not considering grandparents and other family members. Assuming that all teachers and administrators wear pendants, this means that 45-50 adults are providing security on campus at any given time. If there are arguments against this practice, consider that parents often perform crosswalk duty and other volunteer work. Employers should be required to regard this as paid leave, and if anyone is unable to perform, they can pay for someone hired from a list of qualified volunteers. We protect what we value.

5. There should be a resource officer in every school. This position could and should be filled by a trained administrator. There should be a written security plan in place, and the officer should hold a stand-up safety meeting every morning before school begins, just as we do on construction sites.

6. They train daily for safety, and so should a school full of kids. In each school, there should be a CCTV monitoring station, staffed by volunteers. This is redundant, but if a perpetrator gets past a line of defense, it is essential to have a viewpoint from which protected observers can secure the school and advise the police on the location of the predator.

7. Local police should review the entire security plan monthly and discuss what everyone should do in the face of an active attack.

I have estimated that these measures could be implemented for under $100 billion nationally. We will spend multiples of that on failed banks and foreign aid this year. We protect what we value