How Technology Is Being Used To Keep Schools Safe
By Peter Davidson
Schools and their surrounding communities across the country have been experiencing a rash of violence that has put countless student and teacher lives at risk and, in some cases, even cost precious lives. Dangers that once used to lurk far from school grounds or that only cast their painful shadows across them once in a great while now seem to be all too commonplace.
Many schools became more vigilant after the Columbine High School massacre in April of 1999. However, schools began to turn to technology in earnest after the Sandy Hook Elementary School offensive which left 20 young children and six adult teachers and staff fatally shot on December 14, 2012. Parents, teachers and community leaders, alike, raised their voices calling for better security while their children and young people attended to their education. Safety has become the beckoning call and technological advancements are the desired solution.
Prevention
The saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is just as true in school security as it is with health. Programs have been established that are specifically designed to help prepare schools in problem areas to reduce criminal threats. Distance learning, for example, is a platform that can be attended over video conference calls by public safety leaders and school officials. Updates, tips, and warnings can also be issued through this type of system.
Schools are being encouraged to have readiness drills and conduct emergency management seminars in order to be prepared for threatening situation, as well as better coordinate with emergency response crews and local law enforcement authorities. Reducing drug use and other unsafe behavior is further recommended for pursuit and enforcement by schools.
Early Warning and Detection
Stopping would-be attackers before they act is at the top of the list of technological security solutions. Video surveillance is one form of technology that has been used for quite some time to deter criminals, but its use is being stepped up in today’s dangerous world. For example, video surveillance now uses IP-based digital platforms which can be integrated into closed-circuit systems with wireless technology.
Central schools in Putnam County, Indiana has turned to “the cloud” for crime prevention. A computer program monitors online community activity via an algorithm designed to detect dangerous words on Facebook that might lead to threats of violence or suicide. In one month’s time, the system alerted authorities to three probabilities, two of which were determined to be false, but the third prevented a suicide.
Tracking and Organization
Keeping track of students and personnel has also risen in importance since all the recent devastating on-campus terror threats and acts. School bus tracking is one form of surveillance that seeks to protect students from the time they step onto a bus until they step off at the end of the day.
RFID chips and biometric scanners have taken up residence in some schools, although these are still quite controversial. Most tasks of such technology are quite general in that they tally lunch totals, track library books and record various office visits. However, these same technologies have the ability to track students across campus grounds and alert authorities and parents of no-shows or departing students, as well as to only permit those who have authority into sensitive areas.
Other schools have begun to install touch button alerts, or panic buttons, which are mounted beneath countertops and desks in admin offices and reception areas. Newer renditions of the same idea are mobile, being wireless units carried on a lanyard and worn around the necks of authorities; these can be activated from any campus location.
Handling Terror Situations
Emergency alert broadcasting is another form of technology used during actual threat scenarios. Various EAB systems have been designed and implemented to make broadcasts to large numbers of students and school personnel rapid and easy.
Long distance audio conferencing is one such type of EAB system technology that has normally been confined to boardroom meetings, but is playing a broader role in school safety these days. This effective tool allows crisis management members and school officials to share situational information and coordinate response plans during live terror threats. Of course, such services can also be used for generic instant communication through either audio/web calls.
Although large threats are still relatively remote on school grounds, parents and other concerned citizens don’t want the next incident to occur at their schools and to their children and students. Therefore, the trouble and extra expense of installing, training for, and utilizing advanced technologies are worth it to ensure the peace of mind that comes from sufficiently protecting the children. As the storm clouds of troubled souls roll across the country, technological advancements in school security will help prevent, detect, and deal with any occurrences before they reach critical proportions.
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