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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, Risk Management

  Albert Einstein said: “Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.”    I definitely agree with Albert Einstein on this quote.  When it comes to preventing incidents and tragedies in schools, colleges and organizations of all types, evidence clearly reveals our planet is in need of more geniuses. Are you ready to be a genius? Lots of people and experts have opinions on solving problems and let’s be honest…it is fairly easy to look at a problem and make suggestions that people need to do this or that or add more of this or more of that or do it this way or that. With soRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, School Safety

  After a very cold and very early start on Sunday morning with a 3 hour delay due to frozen airplane systems and frozen lines (meaning no hot coffee on a very cold plane!), I finally made it to the 25th annual National Youth At-Risk (NYAR) Conference in Savannah, GA. http://coe.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar/ The NYAR conference started with a very motivating and uplifting keynote from Keith Brown – Mr. I’m Possible.   http://www.keithlbrown.com/ Mr. Brown reminded everyone that we can make a difference – a huge difference for all youth if we do that little bit extra and if we do not let negativity discourage us from doingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Article originally posted on Corrections.com http://www.corrections.com/news/article/35182-a-walk-in-the-shoes-of-an-sro   What does a School Resource Officer (SRO) do all day? Do they just stand in the hallway at school waiting for violence to occur? Should schools be spending their limited funding on SROs? These are questions, Safety and Security Coordinator for Bradley County Schools, Scotty Hernandez often receives. And NO, the SROs are not twiddling their thumbs. To the contrary, these officers are heavily involved in student activities, classroom lectures, after school events, discipline and more. Bradley County is one of the school districts fortunate enough to have an SRO in each of their school buildings. But,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Information Privacy, Information Security, Risk Management

  In my 30+ years of performing risk, vulnerability and threat assessments, I have always advised my clients to be really careful with whom they hire to for “maintenance and cleaning crews”.  This news about the Target data breach validates my advice.   According to news reports, the hackers that pulled off one of the largest and most expensive data breaches ever, did so by stealing/hacking credentials from Target’s HVAC subcontractor.  Once the hackers had the HVAC subcontractor credentials, they had access to Target’s network and were able to place their sophisticated malware…and you know the rest of the story.   This ‘Connecting the Dots’Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  A friend of mine recently shared this link to an anonymous note with me: I wonder how many other teachers feel like this?   I wonder how many teachers go home at the end of the day drained from dealing with bullying directed at them?   I wonder how many students go home drained at the end of the day drained from dealing with bullying?   In talking to my friends who are teachers, they are getting tired of dealing with bullying related problems in their classroom because it takes time from their teaching and because it has a negative effect on every student’sRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, School Safety, Uncategorized

  Bullying has been going on since people set foot on this planet and people have been writing about bullying all the way back to Cain and Abel.  So why does bullying still exist and continue to escalate? Why has bullying escalated to a level that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] declared bullying a “significant health problem”? Bullying exists and bullies exist in nearly every school, nearly every college and nearly every organization.  Evidence is overwhelming and it is time to accept the facts and admit status quo bullying approaches are not working, are not solving and are not preventing bullying. WhyRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  Have we reached a tipping point…the point at which a series of incidents becomes significant and obvious enough to cause a larger, more important change? Is this a national teachable moment…the time at which learning about a particular topic becomes obvious and easiest? Call it what you want, but obviously now is the time for action to change the future for the better. So how do you and I change the future for the better? Lots and lots and lots of people SAY they want to change the future and many more will SAY they are a leader of positive change…however after years ofRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  Last month, A 17-year-old Texas student committed suicide in a high school courtyard.  The student posted two Facebook updates that morning–one saying he was planning on committing suicide, and another with him pointing a gun at his head. In his message, he said, “I don’t know if this is going to affect people or if ya’ll are even going to care but I just want to say I’m taking my life away…” A quote from another student after the shooting  – “He said he was going through a lot of stuff. He put pictures up before he did it. Nobody believed him until heRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety, Uncategorized

  A child or parent reports bullying during the parent-teacher conference.  Then what?  What constitutes bullying?  What should a teacher do with this report?  Who does the information get shared with?  What type of investigation needs to be done?  Do you talk with the bully and victim together or separately or both?  Should you call in the other parents?   How much information can you give them?  What are the consequences for bullying? Is the situation getting better?  How do you know?  Has it gotten worse?  Are you monitoring behaviors ongoing?  Maybe the bullying stopped in your classroom, but do you know if it is goingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety, Uncategorized

  If you or your child is being bullied by classmates, you have probably reported the bullying to someone at the school.  But, then what?   How was the issue addressed by the school?  Did they talk to the bully or punish the bully?  Did the situation get better?  Did the situation get worse? Regardless of how serious or small the issue is or feels, one of the most important steps for students and parents to remember when reporting a situation is DOCUMENTATION! DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. If you are meeting with a teacher or principal, come prepared with proof and examples of when and where the bullyingRead More →