Review & Discussion (What Do You See Wednesday Dec 11, 2014)

Let’s review and discuss the last, ‘What Do You See Wednesday’

First, here’s the picture.

 

Here’s what Officer Diana Back had to say…

It is SUPER clean which shows that it is taken care of and staff care about their school. It is also well lit, nice line of vision, no real hiding spots…..door is open so people can hear/see anything unusual from inside the classroom and there seems to be a color-code scheme thing going on.

Here’s what I have to add.

First of all, outstanding job to Diana. Absolutely, the school is well taken care of and super clean. That tells us a lot about the leadership, staff, and students. It looks like they care and having spent the day in the school—I can say unequivocally that they do!

I want to add to the color-code scheme that Diana mentioned, which was really the purpose of this picture. The color coding is a CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) technique. It’s made to influence behavior. Along with the lights directly over the colored squares, it helps to create a ‘desire’ in the person walking down the hall to follow a particular path. After all, ask yourself if you were walking down the hall where would you choose to walk. Would it be on the colored squares and under the lights or along the sides?

I’m guessing down the middle of the hall which is good and bad.

Good, because we want to influence behaviors and guide people to walk where we want them to. This helps to control access, enhance surveillance, and give order to the space.

Bad, because it’s in the middle of the hall. When students are changing class, we don’t want 100 students walking in the center of the hall. It is better to keep people separated by space and distance which reduces conflict and the possibility of random violence.

How would we fix this?

When you build new schools or renovate existing buildings in your district, really think about each space and add in every control feature that you possibly can. In this hall, we would put the colored squares on the outside, near the walls and put a string of wall lights directly over them. That way, when the students walk down the hall they will be close to the walls and separated in two columns instead of one directly down the middle.

This will give us greater control and allow for one adult to stand in the middle and better supervise the passing students.

It may seem like a little thing, but creating safer schools is a process and everything that helps, even if only a little, will add up to make a big difference.

What Do You See Wednesday? (12 November 2014)

Check out the comments to read what others have seen!

Being able to spot what is safe and unsafe takes practice. And experience is invaluable. We’re going to post a new picture each Wednesday and after everyone has had a chance to comment, we’ll review and discuss the findings.

Today’s picture has several crime prevention techniques (which is really influencing behaviors) as well as something larger that I want to discuss.  Take a look and what do you see?

 

Do You Know One Name?

Imagine a kid who has no regard for right and wrong, absolutely no self-worth, and lives in the false perception that he has zero prospects of ever achieving greatness by working hard and playing fair. Worse, he’s tempted by the knowledge that he can become world famous in a matter of minutes without having to acquire any skills. This is a powerful lure and Gavin de Becker illustrates this point well in his book, The Gift of Fear, in which he recounts these sentiments from a potential offender. When asked why he wanted to murder a famous person the bad guy stated (and I’m paraphrasing), “It may have taken that person twenty years to become famous but if I murder him, in twenty minutes I’ll be more famous.”

Think about it.

Who murdered JFK?

Now compare the lives of the two men. JFK was an officer in the US Navy, celebrated war hero, skipper of PT 109, and president of the United States.

His murderer was a…um…well…the guy who murdered JFK.

His name would be unknown today if not for that single brief act of targeted violence (targeted violence occurs when a person commits to using violence, plans and prepares for it, and then executes the violent act). JFK’s murderer only became world famous because he murdered a famous person.

Those who attack our schools are not murdering famous people, but they are attacking a target that is vitally important to us—our children. By doing so, they’re striking us where it hurts the most because of the great value and worth we place on the lives of children and they know it.

At conferences, I’ll ask the participants to name one victim from Columbine. To date, no one has been able to recount the name of a single victim. When I ask the names of the two murderers from Columbine, there has never been a class where most of the participants did not immediately respond.

I don’t blame the participants for not knowing the name of a victim. I blame the media which focuses on the murderers rather than the victims and to such an overwhelming extent that they literally make them famous and their names into household words.

I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of people who have made a meaningful difference in this world. They’ve dedicated their lives, poured out their hearts, sacrificed for the sake of others, and their names will never be known. Yet, two boys murder 13 innocent people and within minutes the world knows their names and we hear it over and over and over again.

There is something really wrong with that.

(Notice how the images of the ‘monsters’ are in color and significantly larger).

The media should report what has happened, but stop fixating on the murderers and especially stop drumming their names into the human conscience. In fact, I’d like to see it become illegal for the media to mention their names. Instead, they should only be addressed for what they are…murderers (at least after the first use of their names).

“The murderers from Columbine, the murderer from Sandy Hook, the murderer from Virginia Tech…”

If the media continues to mention their names, I’d like to see the media outlet charged for what it would cost to have bought that same airtime and then the money given to the victims (families, survivors, first responders, etc.).

Can you imagine how much money that would mean for the victims from Columbine?

For the record, the media is not to blame for school attacks. The murderer and only the murderer is. The environment, video games, guns, and mental health may influence the person and contribute to the attack, but only the murderer is to blame. The media makes the situation worse by elevating these people to ‘celebrity’ status after they have committed a horrible offense. For those who are damaged and have broken thinking, this can have a powerful attraction.

Here is the list of victims from Columbine. I encourage you to pick at least one and to remember it…

Cassie Bernall

Steven Curnow

Corey DePooter

Kelly Fleming

Matthew Kechter

Daniel Mauser

Daniel Rohrbough,

William “Dave” Sanders

Rachel Scott

Isaiah Shoels

John Tomlin

Lauren Townsend

Kyle Velasquez

The Real Fear Behind Violent Video Games

There continues to be articles written by concerned people (some very influential) blaming violent video games for the cause of teen violence and the increase of school attacks starting in the 1990’s. I understand why this connection is proposed, but violent video games do not make people murder or commit a school attack.

How do we know?

Because 40 million people play the first person shooter game Call of Duty II and 40 million people do not then go out and murder anyone or attack our schools. If the game was to blame, we’d see an epidemic of murder and school attacks occurring every day in America.

For the record, this is not a plug for or an argument against violent video games. This is a warning not to get sidetracked and attach too much importance to a teen playing a violent video game.

What do I mean?

A teen playing Call of Duty does not mean they are a threat to attack our schools. If you have this type of perspective, you’re going to be expending too much energy and resources watching 50-60% (or higher) of the male students in your school for no reason. The teens we have to really watch are the ones who play the violent games and are obsessed with the violence. It’s not that they just like the graphics and the cool uniforms, but that they love the violence. They are obsessed with the violence. That’s the real fear.That they only play it for the violence.

These are the teens that are using the game to meet their need for experiencing, seeing, and participating with violence. Eric Harris, Columbine murderer, played Doom because he loved and needed the violence. He even created his own Doom levels so he could craft the violence to his own specifics. Doom didn’t make him murder—he used Doom to release his obsession with murder. Much in the same way that Andrew Golden, 11 year old Westside Middle School murderer, massacred animals to meet his. It’s not the game or the method per se, it’s the intent behind the behavior.

That’s what we have to focus on—what are they getting out of it?

If you find yourself with a student who has made a threat, and you’re concerned about whether the student poses a risk, one indicator may be if he plays violent video games. But don’t automatically assume that it raises the threat level. Instead, figure out exactly what it means to the student and why he plays it. Knowing his true intent will give you a much clearer view as to the real risk he poses.

What Do You See Wednesday? (19 March 2014)

Check out the comments to read what others have seen!

Being able to spot what is safe and unsafe takes practice. And experience is invaluable. We’re going to post a new picture each Wednesday and after everyone has had a chance to comment, we’ll review and discuss the findings.

Today’s picture is from another high school with severe security concerns.  Every student that enters the school must walk through one of the two metal detectors and then have their backpack run through the X-ray machine. When you comment on this picture, do so as if you are a security officer and you are working this spot during student arrival.

What do you see–from the eyes of a security officer?

What Do You See Wednesday (Review & Discussion) 12 March 2014

Let’s review and discuss the last, ‘What Do You See Wednesday’ from 12 March 2014.

Here’s the picture

I posted this picture because I wanted to talk about the stairs and give some tips for making them a little bit safer.

Designated directions.
This school has designated an ‘up’ and ‘down’ side for the students. Besides the arrows indicating which way the student is supposed to travel, there is also a metal rail that physically divides the two sides. This is a great way to reduce space conflict. Meaning, students that are using the space to walk down the stairs will not be in conflict with students using the stairs to walk up or…one gaggle of students cannot run into another gaggle.

For the schools that do not have a dividing rail to physically separate the two sides some have painted arrows on the walls and even stripes on the floor to help control movement.

Remember, this school had serious safety concerns and needed a dozen security officers to maintain control. Separating the students and making them all move in one direction helped a great deal to reduce fighting in the stairwells.

Shut it down.
Another technique is to shut down a specific stairwell to student movement. Don’t lock the doors, but just close the stairwell down so students cannot use them unless it’s an emergency. This is a great technique for limiting student access to spots that are difficult to observe, high risk areas where trouble seems to always occur, or if manpower is low and you’re spread too thin to cover everywhere.

Teachers should still use the stairwell to ensure that it is not being used as a spot for students to hide or to do bad things.

Own it.
Stairwells are often ignored because no one really owns them. Identify the adults that are near the stairwells and ask, plead, and or assign them to help own the stairwell. I would assign several adults to one stairwell and have them take turns supervising the space. Someone must watch them during class change and occasionally search them for indicators of violence or other unwanted behaviors.

Most schools only have a few stairwells and they don’t have severe safety issues.  With a good plan and a coordinated response you can enjoy an immediate improvement with a little bit of effort.  For schools that ignore their stairwells, they can and will cause a terrible amount of heartache for such a little space.

What Do You See Wednesday? (12 March 2014)

Check out the comments to read what others have seen!

Being able to spot what is safe and unsafe takes practice. And experience is invaluable. We’re going to post a new picture each Wednesday and after everyone has had a chance to comment, we’ll review and discuss the findings.

Today’s picture is from a high school in a district with severe security concerns.  This particular school had at least ten security officers.  Keep that in mind when looking at this picture…

What do you see?

What Do You See Wednesday (Review & Discussion) 5 March 2014

Thank you for all of those who voted in our poll to decide whether to continue with What Do You See Wednesday?  100% of those who voted said, “Yes” so we will gladly continue to post and comment on new pictures weekly.

Let’s review and discuss the last, ‘What Do You See Wednesday’ from 5 March 2014.

First, here’s the picture:

Here is what others had to say:

Corporal Rob Sarnoski: School has numbered the door inside and out with large, easy to see, numerals.  This can save first responders time and enhance situation awareness when officers unfamiliar with a school can quickly state their location or the location of a threat.  School officials might want to consider minimizing paper on entry/exit doors.  Even a little bit of paper blocks what can be seen inside or outside the school.  If a paper has to be posted, it might be better on the side windows.  The sidewalk/road outside the doors still looks a bit slippery/snow covered.  This area may need another application of shovel and salt.

Thanks, Rob for the comment. Very thorough and very helpful.

I just want to add four points.

1. Pylons
Snow, ice, and cars driving directly in front of the doors worry me.  I’d like to see some metal pylons to prevent someone from crashing through the doors (accidently or otherwise).

2. Stairs are very close to the door.
Anyone who is let in or is able to gain entrance will quickly and very easily have access to the second floor.  It’s good to play the ‘what if’ game.  What if someone was able to gain entrance here—where could they go before we could confront them?  The fact that a person could be deep inside the school before we even see them can raise the level of vulnerability in a particularly entrance and may require tighter access control.

3. Bag of salt.
Salt crystals are large and can sometimes block the door from closing completely, while appearing to be fully closed.  Remind those putting down salt to keep it a few inches away from the door frame and to make sure that the doors are firmly closed after each coating.

4. Close to the street.
If you look closely you can just make out a guard rail, a home in the near distance, and in-between the two a black surfaced road that runs directly in front of the school. Look how close the road is to the school.  Because of the closeness of the road, the school has very little time or opportunity to see a potential threat turn off the highway and enter the school parking lot.  This lack of time to react will require extra vigilance on the part of the students, staff, and teachers to project greater surveillance and supervision of the outside of the school.  All threats have to enter a school.  No one just magically appears.  The school lacks distance from the road which will lessen their time to react.  This concern has to be a focal point of their security plan and daily safety procedures.  This also makes the proximity of the stairs to the door now a little bigger issue and reminds us that so many safety concerns are interconnected.  One by itself can be bad, but when you start adding them up, then our response takes on a greater urgency.

What Do You See Wednesday Poll

We’ve been doing ‘What Do You See Wednesday’ now for nearly three months and it seems like a good time to evaluate where we are and if we should continue the way that we’re going.  Please take a second and let me know if you find ‘What Do You See Wednesday’ valuable or should we invest our time in something else that could be more beneficial.

All votes and recommendations for improvement would be greatly appreciated!

What Do You See Wednesday? (5 March 2014)

Check out the comments to read what others have seen!

Being able to spot what is safe and unsafe takes practice. And experience is invaluable. We’re going to post a new picture each Wednesday and after everyone has had a chance to comment, we’ll review and discuss the findings.

Today’s picture is from a (great!) vocational school (9-12th grade).  This is a side door near the parking lot.  Teachers and staff members use it to enter and exit the building.

What do you see?