Schools and school-related activities where students are safe from violence, bullying, harassment, and substance use
School Safety: Protocols That Every Parent Should Know
The safety of our children in our schools is of the utmost importance. Thankfully, significant positive strides have been made in school policies to ensure the safety of our children. For schools to address safety issues, parents, teachers, and students must take part in identifying many safety issues that affect our children today.
Safety needs to be addressed on both the physical and the psychological levels. To create a supportive and safe school for our kids, every parent should know precisely what the school’s policies are regarding the safety of their children. However, many parents are unsure what questions to ask and what to look out for. Below is our guideline for parents on school safety protocols.
Important School Safety Protocols to Know
First and foremost, the school should have a safety policy in place. The safety policy must include the best practice recommendations from the Framework for Safe and Successful Schools.
Establish if the school has an interdisciplinary team of school leaders available. The school should have a qualified mental health practitioner onsite in the form of a school counselor or psychologist. The school’s counselor should be involved in developing and implementing the school’s threat assessment procedure.
This procedure must include how to identify threats, establish the seriousness of threats, intervene in serious threats, and identify underlying issues relating to threats. The institution should also have direct access to parents and local law enforcement for extreme cases.
Ask the school leaders if there are building safety measures in place. The school must have visitor check-in and check-out protocols in place, proper visibility (lighting), a secure parking lot, a playground, campus, and playing fields. In addition, you must ascertain the school’s release procedures and how the institution ensures that the children in its care won’t be evacuated from the premises by an unauthorized person.
Furthermore, determine if there are additional security measures imposed. The best way to get this information is to participate in PTA meetings and get feedback from students, the school counselor, and teachers. If the institution has additional security staff, establish whether these employees’ roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding.
Lastly, it would be best to establish how often the school employs safety drills throughout the school year. It would help if you had clear answers on what you can expect from these drills. Also, determine if you think these safety drills are appropriate for your child and other students’ age. tment, so we must try some methods to see which ones will work best for us.
Conclusion
The above is only a guideline to help you start asking the right questions. As a parent, you play an essential role in your child’s safety and education. It’s critical that you get involved whenever safety issues are discussed, addressed, or decisions are made.
Every decision will impact your child, and you must take every opportunity to learn from the academic institution’s leaders and mental health practitioners. Most importantly, listen to your child and ensure that the school considers their special safety needs.
Sources:
https://www.pta.org/home/family-resources/safety/School-Safety
