Dealing With Various Safety Problems In School

Safety and security of children at schools have become the highest priority with increasing violence on the school campuses. In the modern day, children are exposed to violence through the television and video games. Parents are finding it difficult to send their child to school without worrying about the safety of the children.  The incidents like school shooting have increased the need for the proper school safety plan and the appointment of dedicated school safety officers. The school safety officer will be the first person for the children, teachers, and parents to approach during any emergency situation at the school premises.

Safety Problems In School

  •         Nonviolent crimes

Many schools will have to deal with minor or nonviolent crimes on a daily basis. There are chances of vandalism and theft in any school. Destruction of school properties such as benches, chairs, desks, windows, etc., can cost lots of money for the school and inconvenience to the students in the school. Another problem the school authorities will have to face is graffiti. Most of the time, the toilet will become the target of graffiti by vandals. With the help of school safety officers, it is easy for the educational institution to maintain the learning environment in school. This company that does junk removal vancouver has implemented an anti-graffiti program to help with ongoing graffiti problems in schools. This could spread to other areas as well. With the security skills, the safety officers will be able to prevent any gang activity and vandalism on school property.

  •         Handling major incidents

Emergencies and crises like school shooting can happen in any educational institution and hence a high alertness on part of the safety officer is necessary to handle the crises. It is necessary that any incident should be communicated promptly to the staff, students and other safety or security personnel in the school premises. The safety officer will be able to train the staff and students and emergency responders to identify warning signs of potentially violent situations and reporting it to the administration without any delay. This will help in managing the situation in the most efficient way.

  •         Controlling school access

Allowing the outsiders to access the school without proper identity checking can cause problems with the safety and security of the students and of the school property. The entrance points should be monitored constantly and any entrance should be locked if necessary. It should be mandatory for the visitors to show their identity proof before allowing inside the school premise.


The Duties And Responsibilities Of A School Security Officer

There is a growing need for ensuring the school to be a safe haven for kids as well as the teachers. By making use of the school security officers, the school and other educational institutions can be turned into a safe and secure place for children to learn. The main duty of the school security officer is to see that discipline and order is maintained in the schools. The school should not turn into a center where crimes, gang activities or violence is very common. This will spoil the reputation of the school and also will instill fear and fright in kids. The school students can also be easily converted into criminals. Hence, it is recommended that all schools in Virginia make use of the school security officers to prevent any crisis and criminal activities from developing in the school.

Duties and Responsibilities

The school security officer is appointed by the local school district administration. The main purpose of making use of the services of these officers is to prevent crime, maintain order and discipline, take action against anyone who breaks the policies and rules of the school and detain students who violate the school property or cause problems in school related events. They will make sure that the rules and regulations are in place and are followed by the school. The school safety officer is the main person who is responsible for making sure of the safety and security of the students and the teachers of the assigned school. They will need to keep an eye on any miscreants and prevent any untoward law and order or criminal situations from developing in the school.

Skills that school safety officer must have

  •    The officer must be efficient and resourceful enough to deal with any unlawful activities in the school in an efficient and quick manner before it escalates.
  •    They must be ready to build a good relationship with the students and to guide them on the right path.
  •    They should be fully aware of the rules and regulations and the policies of the school and should have the ability to analyze and investigate any pieces of evidence that they get.
  •    The officers should have the undergone the necessary training in preparing and preventing any crisis that develops in the schools and college campuses.
  •    They should have attended the necessary training program that is prepared in keeping in mind the previous worst records of the school, the current problems and the solutions to it and also the possible reactions that they could face from the students, teachers, and the communities.

The person should be a citizen of the United States and must be over 18 years of age in order to be eligible to become a school security officer. He should be a high school graduate and must have a clean record in school and college.

How To Ensure School Safety This Summer?

Summers are here and every kid and parent welcome the summer time. This is the time when one can vacation with their family and friends. The schools are closed for the summer holidays and many now enjoy free time. But, this is not the case for people involved in the school communities. If you are a school safety officer, then your responsibility does not end with students going on vacation. The summer is the time when you can plan and learn for the future and also be wary of improving the school safety.

School Safety

There are plenty of things that you can do as a school security officer during the summer in order to ensure the school to be a safe and secure place for the students to study, play, and learn.

Evaluate where the school stands

The summer is the best time for the school safety officer to take a look at where the school is at present in terms of school safety and security. This is the time for you to take the necessary steps in improving the safety aspects of the school in order to make it a better and safe haven for the kids during the new school year. It is important to start conversations with everyone involved in the school safety communities to know where the school is standing at present and to think of various ideas that will help in improving the school safety in the coming year.

Develop relationships

The summer time is the best period for the school safety office to get in touch with everyone involved in school safety. They can act as a liaison between the school resource officers, safety teams, and the first responders. Arranging an informal meeting of the school safety team will help in increasing the rapport between different groups. This will help in collaborating and making good plans for the new school year.

Attend workshops

There are many organizations that offer school safety and security staff training and workshops to plan for the new school year. Attending such workshops will help in gaining new ideas and perspectives that can be tried out in the ensuing school year.

Importance Of A School Safety Officer

In order to ensure a safe and secure environment in a school for the students as well as teachers and other personnel, a security team headed by a school safety officer is a necessity. Such a person will ensure that the security of the grounds or premises, school building and other areas adjacent to a school stay free of hazards for children as well as for the school property.

Standard responsibilities

A school safety officer either works with a few security personnel as in the case of a small building or manages a larger team when the school premises are large and involve different facilities. Either the officer himself or his reports need to patrol the premises in order to ensure that the gates remain secure and no suspicious activities go on that can jeopardize the safety of the grounds and school property. In order to carry out inspections, a school safety officer might carry security tools like handcuffs, batons or pepper spray. These tools might be seldom required but help to threaten disturbing elements such as groups of unruly children who might engage in fights within or immediately outside the school premises.

Nowadays, certain security regulations require school safety personnel to check the backpacks of children as well as other school personnel. Many schools have certain exceptions for students who should not carry certain items to school like sharp objects that could act as weapons or carry prohibited items like drugs. In order to ensure that children, as well as other school personnel, follow such rules, there are regular inspections or checkpoints that are installed in entryways of schools. These checks and regulations need to be monitored by school safety officers and their teams of security personnel.

School Safety Officer

The safety officer also might be required to carry out other kinds of examinations or conduct searches. For instance, in case any misdemeanor is reported, student lockers might have to be checked or alterations need to be intervened upon. In case any verbal exchange escalates to a physical confrontation, such incidents also need to be intervened upon by school safety officers.

Inspection of the grounds and building property is a common job of a school safety officer. He or she needs to ensure that the extinguishers and fire alarms work and are operational. They might conduct safety drills; look out for hazards like broken glass or spills of dangerous materials that can endanger students or others within the premises. They are usually expected to take action in such cases to rectify the situation. In modern schools, there are surveillance systems in place and monitoring different school grounds and interior spaces of schools for any sign of misdemeanors or suspicious activity is also a responsibility of the security team headed by a school safety officer.