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What can school administrators do to keep kids safe at school? Part Two

By Oguz Ozdemir

When you send your child off to school every day you are putting them in the hands of others who you believe have your child's best interest at heart. In most cases this is true, but in some cases you wonder if something more could have been done to protect the innocent children who are part of the daily school system.

What things can administrators and teachers do to ensure the safety of your children on a regular basis as well as during an emergency? The National Crime Prevention Council has some suggestions that you may want to check to see if your school has in place or you may want to discuss them further with your school leaders.

There should be a zero tolerance policy in place for anyone who brings weapons, alcohol or drugs on to school property. Once a good solid procedure is in place, and it is put into effect it should discourage these types of behavior.

Work with law enforcement authorities on how to deal with children who already have problems with the law or who seem to be at-risk. Working together will help the child with problems as well as protect those around him or her from becoming victim to their potentially dangerous behavior.

Have a list of resources on hand to help children who have shown signs of depression, stress or even signs of mental disorders that are not being properly addressed. Many children who have committed serious crimes at school have shown signs of depression or mental illness and they seem to have fallen through the cracks.

Get the students involved in dealing with some of these issues by incorporating peer assistance programs, encouraging mentoring, and creating a student mediation team. It is also a good idea to put together a crime watch group made up of the students themselves.

Enforce policies regarding school attire including a ban on gang-related and even just gang-style clothing. Many parents may not even be aware of what gang style clothing is and kids who are not part of a gang could be at risk just by trying to be in style. It should also be required that students keep all of their heavy outerwear in their lockers during regular school hours.

Having a specific form of identification in place for all teachers, administrators, staff members and visitors will alert students to anyone who should not be on school property. Many students already are familiar with most teachers and administrators but sometimes they may just assume that an individual who is on school property is someone who has good reason to be there.

While all of these suggestions may not totally prevent any incidents at school, they are at least some policies and procedures that address the best interest and safety of the school, students and even the administrators themselves. Taking back control of the safety of the school and its inhabitants should be priority in today's society.

If your child has become victim to a crime that occurred at his or her school, please contact our law firm, Napoli Bern Ripka, at 1-888-LAW-IN-NY for a free consultation to determine a course of action.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Oguz Ozdemir

Full post as published by New York City Personal Injury Lawyer on September 09, 2009 (boomark / email).