The Sky is NOT Falling - School Fatalities

A Serious Look at School Fatalities

According to a study released in 2012, wolves are the number one cause of death in the United States.  After the Reynolds HS shooting, a group called Everytown for Gun Safety posted a map showing 74 school shootings since the Sandy Hook massacre.  What do these two events have in common?  They are not true.

The fictitious Wolf Study was cited in a rather humorous article in The Onion, a website of parodies and satirical stories.  Though the article involves made-up facts, it rings true in several ways as borne out by research in the field of what is known as terror management theory TMT.  TMT research indicates that people often become convinced that they are more likely to experience catastrophic but extremely rare events than factual risk evaluation indicates.  For example, though most passengers on commercial aircraft survive aviation crashes, most people believe they will be killed if they are on a plane that crashes.  TMT also explains why many people fear events that are bizarre and unusual even more than events that pose much greater actual risk because they as far more common and even deadly. 

Besides delivering humor, this story highlighted how wildly inaccurate statistical data is often used to generate increased and sometimes unrealistic levels of fear among the public.

The second study was of great concern because it used a flawed process to identify school shootings.  Shortly after it's release, The Blaze and CNN took a closer look at the figures.  The 74 alleged school shootings were reduced to 15 which included university shooting incident.  While 15 incidents is still tragic, this data provides a much more accurate indication of risk in a nation of more than 300 million people and 55 million K12 students.  It is important to keep in mind that while many people automatically think of any “school shooting” in terms of active shooter events, the majority of these fifteen tragedies are not active shooter incidents but are in fact, far more typical of the types of shootings that have claimed many more lives than active shooter incidents.  Though they are truly catastrophic and shocking events, active shooter incidents are not the leading cause of violent death at school.

Early in 2014, Safe Havens International commissioned me to do a study on the leading causes of death in K12 schools in the US.  On April 16, 2014, this study was released as part of a project for the Maine Department of Education.  It was called Relative Risks of Death in US K12 Schools.

The study centers around a very important question. Are active shooter incidents being addressed at the expense of the all­‐hazards approach? This question is a crucial one because preventable school fatalities may be occurring if resource allocation does not match the actual safety risks for K12 schools.

This was an observational study of open-source material.  Events were identified using the Department of Homeland Security definition of an Active Shooter, “An Active Shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.”

The Top Five Causes of Death in Schools from 1998-2012:
1) School Transportation-Related Crashes (525)
2) School Homicides (489)
3) School Suicides (129)
4) Active Shooter Incidents (62)
5) Interpersonal Disputes (61)

The following were findings from the study:
1) Active Shooter Incidents are not the leading threat for fatal incidents schools face.
2) Active Shooter Incidents in schools (K12) are not happening more frequently.
3) Active Shooter Incidents should not be the primary focus for a school's prevention, mitigation and emergency preparedness efforts.
4) More focus needs to be given to school transportation-related safety.
5) More focus needs to be given to school homicides and school suicides.

Schools are better served using a risk assessment-based approach to school safety, as part of the All-Hazards emergency planning model.  School fatalities are a serious issue, one that is better served through proper data analysis and research.   My colleagues and I have spent considerable time and energy developing some of the most advanced training resources to address active shooter events available including the IS-360 training program which was part of the 2013 White House School Safety Initiative and recently released web courses.  At the same time, the research indicates that we should also address the less publicized situations that claim more lives than active shooter incidents as well.

 Oh, and keep an eye out for the wolves.

Crimes against Children Digest 8-13-14

Las Cruces Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Possession of Child Pornography Charge

Tuolumne County Man Sentenced to 19 Years and Seven Months in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Minors

North Carolina Man Convicted in Connection with Sex Trafficking Enterprise

Orangevale Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Crime

Director Comey Highlights FBI Efforts to Combat Crimes Against Children

Arrest Made in Child Homicide Investigation

Porcupine Man Sentenced for Abusive Sexual Contact

St. Paul Man Sentenced for Producing Child Pornography

Charleston Pedophile Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison

FBI Assisting in Search for Missing 6-Year-Old Jenise Wright  

School Safety Training - Who's Being Trained?

In the last blog, I wrote about Criterion-Referenced Instruction, and how it can be applied to Active Shooter Training, as well as other forms of school safety training.  In this blog, I will ask the most important question a trainer should be asking, "Who is being trained?"

Professional educators who do not consider their students do not last long in education.  What considerations do school safety trainers today give for their classes?  Some give great thought to whom they teach.  Dave Grossman, when presenting at the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy, doesn't train educators the same way he trains law enforcement, or the way he trains military personnel.  Michael Dorn is the same way.  He adjusts his training to the audience he is training. 

That is what master educators do.  They learn about their students, and find the best way to teach them.  What they don't do is teach the same from class to class.  They discover the learning styles of their students, and design their lessons to match those learning styles.  So again the question becomes, "Who's being trained?"

Educators, as a whole, are not like law enforcement personnel.  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality survey used by researchers.  The MBTI of educators shows that they are: Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling and Judging (For a more detailed explanation of what these terms fully mean, check out the Wikipedia entry on Myers-Briggs).  INFJs may come across as individualistic, private and perhaps mysterious to others, and may do their thinking in a vacuum, resulting in an unrealistic vision that is difficult to communicate.

Law enforcement, as a group, are ESTJs, Extroverts, Sensing, Thinking, Judging.  According to the MBTI of law enforcement personnel, "ESTJ people tend to be so focused on the objective pursuit of their goal that they ignore the ideas or feelings of others. Situations where an intimate rapport is needed are likely to be less comfortable for them. They may not collect enough information before jumping into action, and risk missing new opportunities that are not already part of their plan.

A look at the two types, even knowing that they don't apply to all within the group, show that law enforcement and educators are vastly different.  This becomes problematic when law enforcement trains educators.  Most law enforcement trainers are used to training cops, not educators.

I am not saying law enforcement officers can't train educators.  As noticed above, some do very well.  Those that do, know their audience, and teach to that audience.  They know whom they are training.

The question is, do you?

Crimes against Children Digest 8-6-14

Chicago Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Forced Sex Trafficking of Four Victims, Including Two Minors 

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Edmond Man for Traveling to Kenya to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct with Underage Children  

Two Milwaukee Men Indicted in Sex Trafficking Conspiracy and for Related Trafficking Offenses 

Rochester Man Charged in Sex Trafficking Case 

St. Petersburg Man Arrested for Attempting to Entice a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity 

Merrimack Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Offense 

Sacramento Man Indicted for Sharing Child Pornography Files 

      

School Safety Training - Criterion-based?

There are numerous companies and numerous school safety programs out there, especially in the area of Active Shooter Intervention.  The last couple of blogs have been taking a look at various elements in school safety training, research and continuity of training.  Now let's look at criterion-referenced training.

Many quality training programs lack a component that is prevalent throughout education; the use of Goals, Objectives and Assessment.  One educational model that incorporates these elements is Criterion-Referenced Instruction (CRI).  This model was developed by Dr. Robert F. Mager (More research!), and is used by many professional educators to develop their lesson plans, and their curriculum.  To be sure, there are other models in use, but they do have common elements; What overall goal is being attempted? What are the standards to be assessed?  How will the assessment be conducted?

Having sat through quite a few different training programs and classes for school safety, the only ones I know that has followed these educational guidelines is FEMA.  To be able to get a certificate from the Emergency Management Institute, you have to complete the modules (goals and standards) and then successfully pass a final exam (assessed to a criterion).

Let's take a look at how an Active Shooter response lesson might look using this criterion.

There are numerous goals to set when considering how to respond to an Active Shooter Incident in your building.  I teach the use of the Window of Life to help people assess their actions during the critical opening seconds of any crisis.  The steps are: Protect yourself; protect others; protect your facility; notify public safety.  Since this addresses those critical first moments, let's establish a goal for its use.

Mager established a method to analyze goals.
1. Write down the goal in brief phrases or single words.
2. Write down the performance that, if achieved, would provide confirmation that the goal was achieved.
3. Delete any duplications or unwanted items. If there are items in 1 and 2 that are too abstract (fuzzy), rewrite to make more specific.
4. Write a complete statement for each desired behavior or performance. Describe the nature, quality, or amount considered acceptable.
5. Test the statements against the original goals in no. 1. If a student demonstrated the stated performances, would you be willing to say that he has achieved the goal? when the answer is yes, the analysis is complete.

When writing goals, use concrete language to describe measurable behaviors.  Some terms to use include: To write, to recite, to identify, to differentiate, to solve, to construct, to list, to compare, to contrast, to demonstrate.

Using all this, let's establish a goal.
1. Use the proper action steps during the first 30 seconds.
2. Staff and students are secured, and prepared for further action.
3. N/A
4. Upon recognition of an Active Shooter Incident, the student will take proper action steps, in 100% compliance with the Window of Life.
5. N/A

Using this, we go from an orientation, which is the common approach of a lot of school safety training, to describing discrete, measurable skills that can let the instructor know that their students understand what they have taught.

In today's world of liability issue, this can be huge.  An instructor who can document that his/her students met a criterion will be in much better shape than an instructor who says, "They attended my class."  This can be especially true of "Train the Trainer" certification.  The question now is, if you are a 'certified' instructor, what does that mean?  To an educator, that means that an instructor has demonstrated mastery of the skills for which they are instructing.

If the overall goal is to instruct educators on how to save lives, then shouldn't we find out if they can after they've been instructed?

Next: Who's Being Trained?

School Safety Training - Continuity of Training

When Safe Havens International trains people in a school, they use the same approach every time.   While what they teach is tailored to the needs of the school, how they teach is consistent from school to school.  This is achieved by setting standards, in the case of Safe Havens International, high standards.  Each unit taught has common objectives, methods, and expected outcomes.  This is what I call 'Continuity of Training'.

This is more difficult for schools to determine when assessing a company's capabilities.  Contact previous schools a company has trained and asked how they were trained.  Apply what you know of teaching to their methods.  Are they appropriate for the audience?  Are they effective?  Is there continuity of training from school to school?

Another important consideration is the safety of your people.  Are they being trained in a way that endangers them?  Look for a pattern of injury to participants.  Occasional mishaps are one thing, a pattern of injury is an indication of bad training techniques.

When schools hire new teachers, they check credentials and references, and conduct background checks.  Schools should do similar checks for people who are going to train yours.

Next; Criterion-based training

Crimes against Children Digest 8-4-14

San Diego Realtor Pleads Guilty to Engaging in Sex with 13-Year-Old Girl

Washington, D.C. Man Pleads Guilty to Traveling to Maryland to Engage in Sexual Activity with a Minor

Nixa Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

Carbon County Man Charged with Producing Child Pornography

Sheffield Village Man Sentence to Five Years in Prison on Child Pornography Conviction

Former Fairfield Community High School Coach Charged with Attempted Sexual Exploitation of Minors and Possession of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct

Fruitland Man Sentenced to More Than 22 Years in Federal Prison for Killing 2-Year-Old Navajo Child

Former Police Officer Sentenced to Serve 121 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

Chicago Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Offense with Underage Girl in Sacramento Area