Concept failure vs application failure

Safe Havens International

In an excellent blog on the Safe Havens International website, Michael Dorn explains a central concept in the discussion of the place lockdown has in Active Shooter response.

Lockdown is the core of most K-12 schools' response.  There are those who seek to change that, and our question is, why?  The concept of lockdown still has merits.  Those who put forth the new alternatives will point out mistakes made in other incidents as proof that the concept has failed, when in fact, the examples given are of failures in application.

Give it a read.

Michael Dorn keynotes back-to-school session for Danbury Schools

Danbury, CT

Nearly 900 educators met the day before classes begin in Danbury, CT public schools.  They were taught some key school safety concepts by Michael Dorn, the Executive Director of Safe Havens, International.

One of the themes of his training was the Window of Life, a concept that helps people remember the top priorities when a crisis occurs: Protect yourself, protect others, protect your building, and contact Public Safety.  When people seek to know what to do in a crisis, they can remember these priorities.  This can get them on the right path to crisis response, as the first thirty seconds are critical.

This concept will be featured in Staying alive: How to act fast and survive deadly encounters, a book being published by Barron's Educational Series, being released in Spring of 2014.  The book is co-authored by Michael Dorn, Stephen Satterly, Sonayia Shepherd and Chris Dorn.

School Safety in the News 5-2-13

Governor Malloy, Michael Dorn speak at Connecticut School Safety Conference

N.C. Department of Public Safety hosts a safer school forum in Jamestown

Neosho R-5 Board of Education discusses school safety issues

School safety a "what have you done for me now?" kind of business

McMinn County begins to meet with parents on school safety issues

New trend in school safety is disturbing

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Knightstown Intermediate School Stop Bullying Convocation

Today I had the honor of talking to the Panthers of Knightstown Intermediate School about bullying.  A teacher, Tabatha Brown, found my name on the Internet while searching for things written by Michael Dorn.  Mike and I have written together a couple of times which is why my name came up.

The students were typical students of that age, laughing, smiling, some looking morose.  I was able to introduce myself to a few of them prior to the convocation.  After 25 years in education, I have not tired of meeting kids, making them smile, and hearing what they have to say.  A group of eighth graders made a legal comment, so I jokingly referred to them as my "legal team".  They seemed to like it.

As I walked back and forth, to see how far my microphone cord would stretch, Ms. Rodgers, the Assistant Principal, walked by.  As she stepped over the cord, I told my legal team that I would trip her for $20.  They grinned, and informed me that doing so would be bullying.  I agreed that it could be, but that it would be worth it to see her stomp a mudhole in me.  They laughed at that, but I could tell by their response that Ms. Rodgers was respected and liked.

It was also evident as the convocation began.  She walked down the gym, holding up her hand for quiet, and the whole gym very quickly became quiet.  I was very impressed.

As I spoke over the next half hour, I could see that, by and large, the kids were listening.  They interacted well with me during the convocation, and they had great questions afterwards.  All in all, I thought the session went very well.

The overall behavior of the children in a school is a good indicator of how well the staff is doing.  I walked the halls during a passing period, and saw several examples of positive interaction between staff and students.  I saw lots of smiling, and did not notice any tension.  I am sure it helped that it was the Friday before Thanksgiving, but I had the impression that the staff do a great job with their kids.

In my line of work, it is easy to see the negative things that kids do, and get a bit sour on the world.  Seeing the students of Knightstown Intermediate School reminded me of why I got into education in the first place, and also reminded me why I do what I do in school safety.

Thanks to Mrs. Brown for the invitation, and thanks to the principal Mr. Bundy, and Ms. Rodgerss for making it happen.

The kids at KIS are in great hands!

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IPA, A Great School Safety Resource, Part II

Illinois Principals Association
The Illinois Principals Association is a school administration organization that advocates for, and represents Illinois educators.  Part of that advocacy is professional development (PD).  One of the methods they use to develop skill sets in their clientele is the Ed Leaders Network. 

Michael Dorn, Executive Director of Safe Havens, International, has developed a couple of courses for the Ed Leaders Network. 

The second course is Permission to Live.

This course provides an introduction to the historical background and research behind the idea of allowing school personnel to take whatever measures they need to do to keep themselves, and their children safe. This includes the radical idea of allowing any staff member to initiate a safety protocol, including lockdowns.

It is definitely worth a look!

IPA, A Great School Safety Resource

Illinois Principals Association
The Illinois Principals Association is a school administration organization that advocates for, and represents Illinois educators.  Part of that advocacy is professional development (PD).  One of the methods they use to develop skill sets in their clientele is the Ed Leaders Network. 

Michael Dorn, Executive Director of Safe Havens, International, has developed a couple of courses for the Ed Leaders Network. 

The first course is Using Positive School Body Language to Create Dignity, Honor and Respect in Schools.

This course illustrates how schools can improve their climate through the use of murals, bright colors, and CPTED, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.  It is worth 20 minutes of your time to watch.

A New Topical Paper Being Released

New Topical Paper - Flight, Fight or Lockdown - Teaching Students and Staff to Attack Active Shooters could Result in Decreased Casualties or Needless Deaths

There has been considerable interest in teaching students and staff to attack active shooters as a last resort in recent years.  In December of 2011, Steve Satterly and I began research on a white paper designed to explore that benefits and the potential dangers of training school employees and students to attack an active shooter as a last resort option.   This approach has been highly controversial with many veteran law enforcement officers and educators having opposing views on the practicality of this approach.

There are now a number of training videos depicting various tactics to attack a gunman with several of them being available for public viewing on the Internet.  Large numbers of people are now viewing these videos and these concepts have now been taught to children as young as kindergarten (in rare instances).

Proponents of the concept assert correctly that there have been some instances where victims have been killed and wounded when they remained relatively passive when they were confronted by an active shooter.  They propose that by teaching people these concepts, a group of individuals can overpower a gunman as has already occurred as far back as the late 1990’s.  They feel that by training groups of staff and students on this approach, another option will be available to students and staff who find themselves confronted by an active shooter in a classroom, cafeteria, auditorium or other setting.

Those who have expressed concern about this approach point out that some of the concepts being taught might be appropriate for one situation but could result in needless mass casualty losses in another type of situation.  For example, one recent training video instructs viewers that they should always flee the building if they hear gunfire and have the opportunity to do so.  As victims have already been killed when attempting to do this in past events, this concern may have some validity.  In addition, blanket recommendations of this type could prove deadly if numerous people attempt to flee the building at the same time.  For example, if there are several hundred people on each floor of a building and a shooting occurs on the sixth floor, several hundred people could jam stairwells fleeing floors five, six and seven creating a mass of densely packed victims.   Another concern is that people who leave relatively secure lockdown areas may be shot as they attempt to flee instead of simply locking down which may be a better option for their particular situation.  It is important to remember that lockdowns have been successfully preventing serious injury and death in schools for more than forty years.

Steve and I worked tirelessly for more than a year to review numerous campus shooting situations as well as the findings of more than 1,700 school crisis simulations with 500 different school employees from 15 different school districts.  The paper also draws conclusions from seven different multiple victim school shootings as well as many more campus weapons assaults that did not involve active shooters in the United States and Canada.   

The paper is designed to stimulate further dialogue on the topic rather than to condemn the idea that there are situations where victims should fight back when they are trapped by an active shooter.  In addition to providing examples of cases where people have successfully stopped an active shooter incident, the paper raises a number of considerations that the authors feel have been overlooked as attempts to offer new options to help counter the dangers of active shooters.     
 

Mike Dorn

The paper can be downloaded HERE.

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Run! Hide! Fight! A Response to City of Houston's Thoughts on Active Shooters

Michael Dorn emailed me a link to a video made by the City of Houston, with funding from the Department of Homeland Security.  The purpose of the video is to instruct people in the workplace on what to do in an Active Shooter Incident.  They boil it down to three main responses: Run, hide, or fight.

As I watched the video, I was impressed by it's quality, and by the desire of those who made it to protect others.  I therefore applaud their effort, and thank them for the time and energy spent in its making.

That being said, I have a tactical issue with the 'run' part of their instructions.  Eight of my twelve years in the US Army were spent in the Infantry.  One of the things we were taught was that, when ambushed, you charge the ambush.  Thus, if a person barges into my school and begins shooting, my personal choice would be to go to the shooting.  That's not my problem with the video.

My problem is with running when you don't know what the situation is.  Even with my training, it is difficult to determine where a shot came from, and blindly running at the sound of a shot may send you right into the sights of the shooter.  This happened more than once at Columbine.

We need to teach people how not to give into panic, and how to properly react to a shooter.  Assess the situation, make the right call, and know where you're running too.  The seconds spent doing this could mean the difference between life and death.

The same is true with hiding.  It is rare for an Active Shooter to force a locked door.  They are often moving quickly, seeking targets of opportunity.  At Red Lake, MN, the shooter did force his way in, but in many cases, classes were able to get out of a back door.  Hiding places need to have a means of escape.

Another thing I learned in the Infantry was the difference between 'cover' and 'concealment'.  One can hide using concealment, but it won't protect you from gunfire.  If your hiding place offers you cover, concealment, AND an escape route, then you have a good hiding place.

The key is that people should use this video as a starting point for their thoughts on preparing for violence in the workplace.  Spend some time NOW, thinking of what you would do, and those memories will be ready for you IF it ever happens.

Thanks to the City of Houston for making this video.  It's a scary topic, and an important one to discuss.

It's a Sheepdog thing to do.

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School Planning & Magazine July 2012 Article

http://schoolplanning.epubxp.com/i/74643

P. 46

Quick!  Lives are at Stake!

An article I wrote about the critical first few moments of a crisis in school.

Under-Reporting Discipline Issues in Schools

Bibb County, GA
Michael Dorn, of Safe Havens International, has been hired by the Bibb County school system to perform an assessment of their schools.  One of their most important findings was, "The underreporting of on-campus incidents requiring student discipline."

There can be many reasons for this, chief among them is the desire to not be seen as a violent school.  This is denial in its most damaging form.  This is akin to a homeowner not wanting to know about the roaches, or carpenter ants, as that would give their house the appearance of being pest-ridden.

There are some very important reasons to properly report discipline incidents.  One, you cannot take care of a problem unless you identify it as a problem.  That's the first step in any type of recovery program.  Shed the denial and recognize that there is a problem.

Two, schools can place themselves in some serious liability jeopardy by not reporting discipline issues.  In Indiana, we are required to file a report of all suspensions and expulsions from that school year.  Improperly reporting data is fraud.  Having a student report a gun, and not reporting that to the police, is a crime.  Do we want our school administrators acting dishonestly to maintain the illusion of a safe school?  If school administrators are saying the schools are safe, and the kids know differently, how much respect will they have for school administration?  Will parents be able to trust school administrators who are fraudulent?

At what point do those who are responsible for protecting the sheep become the wolves?  This is a very real possibility when we operate by dishonesty, rather than honesty; on perceived notions of safety rather than reality.

Fraud and deceit are not the Sheepdog Way.

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Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/07/19/2100458/report-bibb-school-district-under.html#storylink=cpy

Some Thoughts on the Aurora Shooting

Aurora, CO
Like many others, I woke up this morning to the news of the spree shooting in Aurora, killing 12 and wounding 50.  It was a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rising".  It makes me angry when wolves prey on the innocent.

Michael Dorn has an excellent blog on the topic in which he gives his take on the shooting.  My take is a bit different.  Already on the the news, talking heads chatter on about things like gun control, psychology, seek to know why the gunman would do this horrible thing, and wonder what could have been done to prevent it.

 The awful secret to school safety, as well as emergency management, is that it is impossible to stop bad things from happening.  There are things that can be done to mitigate a disaster, and can help prevent an attack, but there is little that can be done from stopping a dedicated person from acting upon the evil in their hearts.

That doesn't mean we don't do everything we can to prevent an attack.  It just means that we should do what we can to understand why an attack occurred, and improve the way we prepare.  We should spend little time, if any, pounding our chests and crying, "Why?"

Sheepdogs adapt, change, and then overcome.

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The Core of the Training Issue in Schools

RJ Hilton returns to continue the discussion.

"This is the core of the problem.

What this boils down to is you have a certain amount of time that districts will allow for training on emergency and safety situations. You’re already past the point where you don’t have enough time to train people on the really likely threats. When an event triggers media attention to rare threats, it just makes things worse. The fact is, even with what you are teaching, people are failing to meet minimum standards.

A focused killer can be difficult to comprehend and schools feel helpless to defend against it. People will grasp for straws to make it less scary. Believe it or not you can be as clear and concise as you possibly can but still not have the impact you’d like. Explaining to them not to get carried away because active shooter is only a very small possibility, doesn’t make them feel less helpless, no matter how clear and concise you are. It’s likely many have already made up their mind, what they want to hear. They are simply trying to decide who they want to hear it from. Michael Dorn says, more or less, let's discuss the issue more. Schools have to decide if that will be enough.

The question becomes how do you tell schools what they want to hear in a way that doesn't do damage but at the same time fixes what isn't working. Time available is important but more importantly is how that time is utilized. From my experience and what I'm hearing here, the people aren't really engaged during their normal routine. When they're required to make decisions on things other then what they are immediately focused on, they mentally have to switch gears. The problem is, it takes time and it happens in pieces, so reaction is spotty at best. 

Resolving the problem doesn't normally take a lot of man hours but it does initially take a lot of follow up. It's a matter of getting people to increase their normal range of awareness in their everyday life. The question is, is that type of thing possible logistically considering the bureaucracy. It requires a few minutes every one or two months, demonstrating they are still being paid attention to and what they are doing is important."

In real, practical terms, this is the core of the problem.  Schools have very little time to provide for staff and student training.  High-stakes testing drives the curriculum, and time is at a premium.  Should schools use what little time they have to prepare for something that, statistically speaking, will never happen?  Or should they spend their precious time preparing for identified hazards?

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Bullying/Suicide are Important Issues

New York City, NY
MSNBC is reporting that 12-year-old Joel Morales of New York City killed himself after being badly bullied in two different New York City Schools.

It is always a tragedy when a young person takes their life.  It is worse when it is due to the actions of others. The finger of blame in these circumstances usually get pointed at the school.  However, without more information, it would be brash to do so.  Even the boy's youth minister wasn't aware of what was going on, and he only recently began talking to someone at the school.

Unrealistic expectations are often placed upon schools when it comes to combating bullying.  Parents don't know, and youth ministers don't know, and school officials just recently found out, what is to be reasonably expected of schools to do?  Or worse yet, the parents who know, don't inform the school until they've had enough, and then expect the school to put an immediate halt to the bullying that has been going on for weeks, months, or years?

My colleague Michael Dorn, in his latest BLOG, brings up six great points that will help schools.  But the best way to help is to consider it a joint effort between parents, schools, mental health and public safety professionals.

I was bullied as a child.  I contemplated suicide as a teen.  The two were unrelated, but for some today it is related.  As educators, the best way we can aid in preventing bullying and suicide is to develop connections with our students, so we have a better chance of knowing if something is amiss.  We also want to use research-based bullying prevention programs to help our students develop the skills to communicate these difficult issues with us.

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A Note From Safe Havens International

Steve, I wanted to express my gratitude for the excellent work you do not only with your school corporation, but for all of the articles, blogs, white papers and other resources that you have been working on to help make the world safer for our students and the educators who have dedicated their lives to serving them.  You are truly a national level expert when it comes to school tornado preparedness.  Your contributions in the field will surely save lives and prevent much suffering.  We have had a great deal of feedback on your recent article in The Safety Net and people in the field are deeply impressed to say the least.

Your recent articles and blogs in Campus Safety Magazine and the article that is about to run in School Planning and Management are without a doubt the two best pieces I have seen published on the critical topics of tornado preparedness and recovery strategies for K-12 schools.  Your willingness to help our non – profit school safety center to help others by providing free information to school and public safety officials is commendable.

I know you have caught a lot of grief and have been harassed by a couple of people who are not open to the idea that other viewpoints might have validity.  Your patience and maturity in handling these sometimes vicious personal attacks has been most impressive as has been your continual willingness to recognize that there are many valid opinions in the field.  I wanted to remind you that while one or two people who  have long histories of these types of ruthless and baseless attacks on many top experts, the majority of the folks I know in the field are deeply impressed and appreciative of your efforts.  Please hang in there and continue to acquit yourself with professionalism as you have done to date when others stoop to low tactics.    

We at Safe Havens want to let you know that you are one of the most decent and compassionate advocates for the children we have ever had the privilege to meet.

Thank you for all that you do to make the world a safer place.

Michael Dorn

Executive Director

Safe Havens International Inc.

Michael Dorn Teaches Anti-Bullying Message to Hoosiers

Portage, IN

Michael Dorn, of Safe Havens International, is brought in to teach his anti-bullying message in Weakfish: Bullying Through the Eyes of a Child.

If you ever get a chance to see it, do it.  It will move you, and give you a new perspective about bullying.  It did for me, and I was a victim of bullying myself.

Campus Safety Director of the Year: Gerald Summers

Evansville, IN

I met Gerald in Denver, CO, at a safety conference.  He was introduced to me by Michael Dorn, of Safe Havens International.  I was impressed with his knowledge, and his professionalism.

Last October, I asked Gerald to serve as the Exercise Evaluator for my full-scale exercise, which he graciously accepted.  Many of the lessons we learned from that event were due to his insights.

He is very deserving of this reward, and I am glad he is helping to keep the kids of Evansville Public Schools safer.

He is a true Sheepdog!

My 100th Post!

It's been a long road from my first post.  I am finally getting to the point that I think I am getting a handle on blogging.

As I continue down the blogger road, I want to give some thanks to some people that have helped make this blog possible.

LTC Dave Grossman, from whom I got the 'Sheepdog' idea.  You were one of my big inspirations when I first started in the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy.  Hooah!

Michael Dorn, whom I consider a mentor, and a friend.  If someone back in 2004 would have told me that I would be friends with the world's foremost expert in school safety, I would have laughed at them.  Yet, here I am.  Not only has he taught me how to do site assessments and other school safety concepts, he is teaching me how to be a professional, how to write professionally, and has made me a better person overall.  My wife Robin will attest to how difficult that last task is.

Speaking of my wife, no WAY I could do this without her.  She has been a sounding board, a Devil's Advocate (Sometimes TOO good), a confidante, and has loved and supported me through some very trying times.  I love you, Robin.

And of course I cannot forget all the people who I am responsible for, the kids, staff, and administrators of the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County.  You are all dear to me, and are the reasons I do what I do.

Non in meus vigilo!

14 Severe Weather Survival Tips

 An article I wrote.  Thanks to Mike Dorn for editing.