I am a dues paying member of ASTM International. ASTM used to stand for the American Society for Testing and Measurement, an organization that set industry standards for things like the required density of concrete used in highway bridges or the varying characteristics of plastic. It doesn\u2019t sound like the usual political, educational or athletic group I involve myself with. But they also make recommendations about the size of pole vault mats, and all the other safety equipment required. That\u2019s right up my alley. So I\u2019m on ASTM, Committee F08 (Sports Equipment), Sub Committee 67 on pole vault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s why I get the monthly \u201cStandards\u201d magazine, which usually doesn\u2019t get too far into the house.\u00a0\u00a0But this month, one of the \u201cstandards\u201d discussed how to protect schools, and that\u2019s an area where I used to have a significant amount of professional concern.\u00a0\u00a0So I read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a lot of talk about tempered glass, not completely bullet-proof glass, but bullet resistant to make it more difficult for a school shooter to gain access to the building.\u00a0\u00a0The glass is tempered with coatings that prevented it from shattering, instead just leaving bullet holes from the testing device (an AR-15). The shooter would then have to bust in the rest with his gun, or kick it out with his foot.\u00a0\u00a0It wouldn\u2019t stop him, but buys additional time. That gives schools\u00a0 more opportunity to react. This standard was for school shootings like Sandy Hook in Connecticut and the Covenant School in Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The article also went into detail about \u201cbollards\u201d, the concrete posts designed to stop a careening vehicle from crashing into the school or a car bomb from parking too close. It explained how the \u201cbollards\u201d could be reinforced by brick walls or weakened by placement uphill from the \u201ctarget\u201d building.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s more of a reaction to terror attacks throughout the world, but still applies to the ultimate soft target, a school.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It discussed the use of metal detectors, (three kinds, hand attached, hand held, or standing arches).\u00a0Wisely, it spoke of placing metal detection in some area of the school that could be locked away from the main part of the building, should a weapon be discovered.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If metal detection is in the main hall, the \u201cgun\u201d is already in the building.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why newer buildings are built with a two-stage entryway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the article also mentioned video cameras, and pointed out the obvious.\u00a0\u00a0Cameras don\u2019t stop anything.\u00a0\u00a0While they serve to alert staff what\u2019s going on, in general, cameras are more for evidence after the fact rather than alerting and averting the event all-together.\u00a0\u00a0There is the one exception:\u00a0\u00a0the roving shooter, like the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shootings in Florida.\u00a0\u00a0Building cameras can be used by staff and law enforcement to target the \u201ccavalry\u201d for the rescue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I guess that\u2019s the whole point.\u00a0\u00a0Schools \u201cstandards\u201d, like the Secret Service with their protectees, are\u00a0\u00a0mostly \u201creactive\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sure, the Secret Service will \u201ctake a bullet\u201d for their protectees, but the real point is to stop that first bullet from being fired.\u00a0\u00a0Apalachee High School in Georgia did a wonderful job of getting School Resource Officers to the shooter.\u00a0\u00a0The two police officers risked their lives to protect staff and students from further attack.\u00a0\u00a0But there were already four dead, and nine wounded.\u00a0\u00a0Certainly lives were saved. But it was reactive, not proactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Secret Service has a vast population to look to, and folks of every political persuasion to worry about.\u00a0\u00a0They require a huge network of intelligence to stay ahead of possible violence.\u00a0\u00a0But schools have a much narrower \u201cpool\u201d of candidates.\u00a0\u00a0Sure, there\u2019s a possible random stranger, but evidence shows that most school shooters are either current or former students.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Schools know them, which creates an opportunity for intervention before the worst case occurs.\u00a0\u00a0The school just needs to know to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apalachee High shooter\u2019s mother called the school about thirty minutes before the attack. She said her child was \u201cin crisis\u201d and needed immediate contact. Did she tell the school that the crisis involved in AR-15? Not to my knowledge. But the school counselors and administration did their best to reach him. That all takes time; from the counselor to an administrator, to look up the schedule, and to physically get to the student. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, as any parent picking up their kid from high school can tell you; just because he\u2019s scheduled in room 410 at 10:00am, doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s in Room 410 at 10:00am. There\u2019s all sorts of legitimate reasons for a kid to be out of class: restroom, band room, library, office, guidance, tutoring, nurse. Sure the teacher in Room 410 should and probably does know where he is, but that just means more time. The clock is ticking. At Apalachee they didn\u2019t reach him in time to stop the carnage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are lots of things the 1999 Columbine school shootings taught us.\u00a0\u00a0Now, teachers hide students out of the shooter\u2019s sight, barricade doors and prepare to defend them if breeched.\u00a0\u00a0If there\u2019s a clear line of escape out of the building –\u00a0\u00a0go!!\u00a0\u00a0But the biggest lesson of Columbine was this:\u00a0\u00a0the shooters were plotting their attack for months.\u00a0\u00a0Like the 9-11 attacks, there were plenty of people who knew pieces of what they were plotting. But there was no one who could put the pieces together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s on the school. Administrators, Guidance, Teachers, Staff (nurses, cooks, custodians, bus drivers, SRO\u2019s, and the folks who know EVERYTHING \u2013 secretaries) and students need to communicate about kids that might be at risk. It\u2019s not usually the \u201cbad\u201d kids; everyone knows them. It\u2019s the kid that few know. When I first went into education they were called the \u201cCipher in the Snow\u201d kids. (Cipher in the Snow<\/a> was a short-film put out by Brigham Young University back in 1974 about a kid who dies and no one knows him). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kids need to find some adult they can talk to. Adults need to find kids they can relate with. Adults have to talk to other adults, and kids to kids. There has to be a web of communication, so that if someone is going wrong, other folks know and action (pro-action) can be taken. It\u2019s that web of protection that doesn\u2019t have an ASTM \u201cstandard\u201d, but it is the best defense against school violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A school can put up tempered glass. They can structure a \u201csafe\u201d building, and practice \u201cactive shooter drills\u201d. There can be advanced plans for \u201cevasion\u201d and \u201crendezvous\u201d. They can surround the entrances with bollards. All of those are reactions, and they are all absolutely necessary. Any school without those plans is committing \u201cmalpractice\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, the only proactive method to try to evert school shootings is creating lines of communication between kids and adults; parents and staff. Those lines can forewarn against a student going \u201cover the edge\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a \u201cweb\u201d of communication and support.\u00a0\u00a0And that needs to be a defined \u201cplan\u201d, just as much as the plan to lock the door and hide in the farthest corner.\u00a0\u00a0A parent calls about their kid; or a kid comes off the bus with word that a friend is in crisis; that must become the most important thing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s priority \u201cone\u201d, even in these days when there are always lots of very important priorities.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cweb\u201d of concern is the best chance to avoid the unimaginable.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Web of Concern<\/h3>\n\n\n\n