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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*, Business Continuity, Emergency Management, Risk Management

  Can you prevent acts of Mother Nature?  No. Can you prevent tragic acts of Humans?  YES! Over 30 years ago, I started working for a large data processing organization and we processed data for nearly 400 banks.  One of my job responsibilities was to be part of the Disaster Recovery Team – yes that is what it was called back then.  Our goal was to be prepared to react to different types of disasters and make sure our clients (nearly 400 banks) were still delivering their services to their customers. Today most organizations have renamed their Disaster Recovery department/team to Business Continuity, Emergency Response,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management, School Safety, Success

Awareity’s Rick Shaw recently had the opportunity to speak with Tulsa Public Schools’ Assistant Athletic Director Mick Wilson.   TPS is always looking for ways to save time and improve the way the athletic department manages their obligations and Wilson shares several tips for improving compliance and touches on hot topics like concussions, training, etc. A quick excerpt from the interview is below.  To hear the full 15 minute segment, click here.   How is TIPS improving the way you make coaches aware of new information and training? The biggest thing we have been able to do so far is really to get the information outRead More →

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

  Co-Authored by Keira Olvey and Rick Shaw of Awareity   Adolescence can be a terrifying time for children. Harassment, assault, bullying, cyber bullying, weapon threats, stabbings, shootings, bombings, gangs, child abuse, human trafficking, drugs, alcohol and more – have all become potential risks that children face in their community and their school. These terrifying risks can cause children to: Experience anxiety and depression, Fear for one’s safety at school or to and from school, Lose focus on school work, Withdraw from friends and family, Blame themselves and others for troubles, Lose self-esteem and self-respect, Withdraw from school and social activities once enjoyed, Retaliate withRead More →

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

  Unfortunately, many people do not know the differences between security and safety because so many security solutions have been misrepresented or misunderstood. For over 30 years, I have had the privilege to assist thousands of organizations with multiple security related technologies, services, vendors and solutions.  For the most part, Security related efforts are understood by most people because security efforts are focused primarily at REACTING to a risk or threat at your front door and/or REACTING to an incident or tragedy in progress.  For example, security related efforts include, but are not limited to, doors/locks (to keep people/threats out), cameras (to record threats atRead More →

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

  As a follow-up to our previous blog, I wanted to share some real-world solutions that are helping schools proactively PREVENT. Proactive prevention starts with empowering and equipping students, families, teachers, churches and other community members [like all the people coming forward now who observed “concerning behaviors” with this disconnected young man in Newtown, CT] with the right tools to anonymously or non-anonymously report incidents, concerning behaviors and signs of evil before the evil builds and escalates into a tragedy.  Prevention is possible and prevention is very affordable. A lot of time, money and resources are spent on reactive security equipment, plans and training, yetRead More →

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

  The evil that showed up at the front door of Sandy Hook Elementary School was horrible, morally unbelievable and extremely scary. Most everyone is wondering how this could happen? How could this 20 year old kid be so full of evil that he would murder young innocent children, innocent adults and his own mother? We are hearing and seeing a lot of reactions – emotional reactions mostly – to this evil and horrible incident. Emotional reactions are clearly justified as we are all human, especially when young innocent children are murdered and threatened. We are hearing emotional reactions focused at guns. We are hearingRead More →

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

  Bullying.  Cyberbullying.  Harassment.  Violence.  Weapons. Truancy.  Student Achievement.  While most school leaders want to focus their attention on the last item mentioned in that list, student achievement, school districts are finding themselves overwhelmed with school safety issues and constantly working to investigate and respond to situations, leaving fewer and fewer resources to improve learning and achievement. So, what can be done to improve student safety and prevention efforts, and in turn, provide students with an environment they feel secure in to excel and expand their learning objectives? In many situations, gaps exist between school administrators and policy, and what is actually happening on buses,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Risk Management

  What makes a good risk manager? This was a discussion I participated in recently and most of the responses suggested a good risk manager had to have knowledge and ability – and needed to know who, how, why, when, where, how often, etc. I agree a good risk manager should have each of the things mentioned above, however these are only part of what makes a good risk manager. So I asked the following questions…What makes a good surgeon? A good race car driver? A good golfer? They all need knowledge and ability and they need to know who, how, why, when, where, howRead More →

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

  Did you see the video of the 68 year-old Bus Monitor getting bullied and abused by students? This incident has received attention from across the nation with support pouring in for the bus monitor. But, perhaps what is more important is the lessons we learn from this incident to help prevent future situations from escalating. Do School Administrators have any clue as to what is happening to Bus Monitors and Bus Drivers on their buses? How many other Bus Monitors and Bus Drivers is this happening to? Why are Bus Monitors and Bus Drivers not properly trained with the right information on how toRead More →