A Florida suburban middle school teacher observed a student in his classroom showing another student what turned out to be a .45 caliber gun. The student returned it to his book bag from which he had originally removed it as the teacher approached. Did the teacher run, jump in the air and tackle the student? Did he yell “gun” and [...]

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Questions about student and teacher safety continue to mount as some schools deploy questionable drill tactics in which children and teachers are instructed to throw things at, and to attack, armed gunmen. The tactics stem from the controversial “Counter” component of the A.L.I.C.E. Training program, which stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate. Questionable tactics stemming from A.L.I.C.E. training In recent months, [...]

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They’re talking about your school on social media:  gossip on Facebook, school fights on YouTube, threats on Twitter. Every child with a cell phone, every driver who sees a bus accident, every parent who disagrees with a teacher…they’re all texting and tweeting and posting pictures, videos and comments. Do you know what they’re saying? Information [...]

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Teachers should throw items and assault, choke and subdue intruders and school shooters, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine instructs teachers in his office’s latest school safety and emergency plan template. An ongoing review of DeWine’s plan reveals that on page 59 of the Ohio Attorney General’s School Safety/Emergency Operations Plan Template released on Friday, teachers are directed: [...]

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Ohio’s Attorney General may be the first state official in the nation to formally instruct teachers and students to attack intruders and school shooters by “throwing objects at the shooter/intruder’s face or person.” In an entry buried on the 50th page of the Ohio Attorney General’s School Safety/Emergency Operations Plan Template released on Friday, Ohio’s plan under the Lockdown section [...]

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If you ever face a major crisis at your school – and we hope you don’t – you’ll learn the real meaning of the phrase “misery loves company.”  Hundreds of reporters will descend upon you, and they’re not just the local reporters on the education beat. You will face reporters from major newspapers and online [...]

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Tension continues to grow as we learn more about possible international terrorism ties to the Boston Marathon bombers. My tension grew dramatically as soon as I heard they had Chechen connections. Most Americans likely know less about Chechnya than I do. And I don’t know much at all. But I do know that Chechen terrorists were responsible [...]

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A.L.I.C.E. training — teaching students to attack armed gunmen — is “an overreaction and potentially dangerous,” according to Dr. Stephen Brock of the National Association of School Psychologists. The A.L.I.C.E. program, which stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate, is described as “controversial” in a March 28th article by Mother Jones writer Deanna Pan entitled, “Schools are training second-graders to [...]

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Gun control activists, the National Rifle Association (NRA), civil rights special interest groups, and politicians have hijacked school safety to advance their own political agendas. Meanwhile, little is being done to help principals, teachers, and first responders improve school security on the front lines in education. A closer look reveals individuals and organizations with little-to-no [...]

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Dr. Steve Sroka shares in the following guest article some straight-forward, realistic lessons learned from his more than 30 years working with school violence prevention and safety issues. School Safety Lessons Learned: From Cleveland to Newtown by Stephen Sroka I dealt with school violence before it was fashionable and funded. To me, any child killed [...]

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