Armed Teachers...Crazy Idea?

A surprising proposal could hold the answer to school shootings

By Ed Kardauskas, CPP, PSP, PCI, CHSII, CAS
Director, Risk Management Services, American School Safety, LLC

Legislative and rule changes that would allow some licensed and qualified teachers to carry concealed firearms as a last resort defense against shootings in schools are being proposed throughout the country. Is this a form of mass insanity, or an example of the axiom that it is socially unacceptable to be ahead of one's time in the vanguard of a solution that has not yet been embraced as common wisdom?

The best way to examine the issue is to wait until the shouting from proponents on both sides has died down, and then to take a look at the historical facts.

The first and most obvious fact is that the "Gun Free Zone" signs in our schools have not made them gun free any more than the "Drug Free Zone" signs have ended that scourge. Pretending that they do is akin to whistling past the graveyard.

If signage alone were effective, we could eliminate the TSA screenings at airports and just leave the signs prohibiting guns, bombs, and knives in place to manage the risk. Not many folks would be comfortable with that, yet that's the tactic we use in most of our schools.

Law enforcement tacticians who understand the mind set of killers have noted that almost all active shooter cases occur in locations with signage prohibiting firearms, and they are now seriously questioning whether "Gun Free Zone" signs may actually increase danger and invite attack by announcing the absence of effective defenses.

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H1N1 Mitigation Update — Be Careful with Hand Sanitizers

Schools are cautioned to establish guidelines in the storage, distribution, and use of hand sanitizers

By William J. Smith
Managing Director, AmericanSchoolSafety.com, LLC

We recently received an email from the parent of a kindergarten student who reported that her child was hospitalized due to the effects of alcohol intoxication after ingesting a small quantity of liquid hand sanitizer distributed at her school.

While at first skeptical of the report, we verified the claim; determined that other similar incidents had occurred; and subsequently reviewed news articles from media as well as medical authorities in two mid-western states.

To heighten our concerns about this subject even further, reports have surfaced of some students in high schools intentionally squirting hand sanitizer gel from school supplied dispensers into soda cans or water bottles or by refilling their own empty hand sanitizer squeeze bottle containers with vodka in an effort to 'get high'.

Hand sanitizer dispensers have become a commonplace fixtures within hospitals, nursing homes and medical offices during the past 20 years; where usage of the product allows for quick and effective cleansing that kills many bacteria and virus germs on contact.

The Center for Disease Control has published guidelines for educators, parents and health providers...

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