Page 92 - Security Today, April 2021

"Whether it is guns, fires, bus accidents, bullying – you can fill in the blank. These are real challenges schools face."
By Kevin Brown and Alok Jain
Using Technology
COVID-19
Zapp2Photo/Shutterstock.com
40 campuslifesecurity.com | MARCH/APRIL 2021
How Technology Can Be Used to Keep Schools and Students Safe
The COVID pandemic has changed how we educate young people in this country. Teaching students safely, and creating safe environment for students to learn has always been a chal- lenge in the 21st century, given the sad new normal in schools. Whether it is guns, fires, bus accidents, bullying – you can fill in the blank. These are real challenges schools face.
Consider the Following
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), there are roughly 115 school bus incidents involving fatalities each year. Most people have no idea that this many fatalities occur on school buses every single year.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, there are more than 23 3,200 fires each year in schools in the United States. Each year schools tragically instill incorrect habits into young chil- dren with antiquated fire drills that we will discuss later.
Finally, there have been more than 280 school shootings since 2009, according to CNN. This, of course, gets all of the news cover- age. In fact, it took a global pandemic that closed our schools to stop the shootings in the latter part of 2020, and this pandemic has intro- duced new challenges to our schools.
• How do you re-open safely?
• What new protocols need to be in place?
• How do you measure adherence to these new protocols?