Code Red In Schools

During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? Administrators face heavy scrutiny when weighing approaches to school safety and student discipline. Likewise, school employees have the right to work in safe environments devoid of life-threatening behaviors (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). America’s founding fathers understood the importance of a public school education. They believed educating its citizens would allow them the opportunity to learn new skills while becoming successful and productive people in society. However, our founding fathers did not predict the severe behavior changes our schools face in educating disruptive and dangerous students. America’s school districts are charged with providing solutions for disruptive and dangerous students (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). School officials must address these issues with research-based interventions and collaborative resources that provide a safe learning environment for all stakeholders (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Schoenwald and Hoagwood, 2001). Boards of education continue to support school efforts to rethink best practices for disciplinary alternative middle schools (DAMS). Many school districts focus on research-based interventions and resources that manage aggression and

The article, Code Red: The Danger of Data-Driven Instruction, the author, Susan Newman provides ineffective uses of data-driven instruction. The author highlights the use of worksheets, spreadsheets, and teaching to the test strategies as weak time consumers that detract from the active learning and classroom engagement. Data-driven instruction is a tool to guide education to increase student performance with researched based practices, rigorous teaching modalities, and differentiated individualized instruction.

“As one of the Red Guards in the middle school, I was given power through Mao to torture and humiliate our teachers, headmaster or anyone we didn’t like. I didn’t know it was wrong. I thought I was doing the right thing to continue the revolution, to fight and win the class struggle”- Zhao, Lin Qing. As a teenager Zhao was a Red Guard in Guangzhou during the Cultural Revolution. When asked what her impression was a member of the Red Guards, Zhao answered with two words: “naïve and senseless”. She refused answering anything more about her experience. She said, “The memories are still too painful to recall.”

The use of police in schools has been on the increase since the shootings at Columbine High school in 1999. However, over the last 10-12 years the increase is due mainly to available government funding. These “Special Police” are now called “School Resource Officers” (SROs). While the proponents of the SRO program believe that the presence of a Police officer represents all that is right and moral and what our children should aspire to be.

The second area that I talked to Mrs. Miskell about was security in the schools. She talked very in depth about the security procedures in her school. She told me about the formulated plan that the school enacted, where all visitors to the school have to stop into the main office and sign into a book and then they receive a special visitors badge, that they have to wear at all times while in the school. Another modification of this plan is that once all the children are into the school, all the doors are locked except the front door where the main office is located. If there is an emergency, the principal announces over the loudspeaker a special code that only the teachers know, so that the children don't panic. If the students hear fire, they are all going to split a different way and that would lead to mayhem, which is very dangerous in an emergency situation. There is a safety team at every school in the district, and one representative

If any unauthorized person enters the school a lockdown announcement will be made. Upon hearing the announcement, teachers are to quickly check the hall for any students nearby and bring them into the closest classroom. All lights are to be turned off and all doors and windows are to be closed and locked. All teachers and students must sit on the floor in the back corner of the room, so the room will appear empty to anyone looking through the glass in the door. Everyone must remain completely silent, even if someone knocks or shakes the door handle, until an all clear announcement has been made.

Code Pink- Summons desigmated staff to assist whenever a patient or child goes missing, the speed and effectiveness of the staffs response is a key factor in limiting liability. In the event of a kidnapping or disaster the police will be notified and the grounds will be searched. All exits and elvevators will be sealed. Community Relations will handle the media, while social workers provide emotional support to all involved persons.

Should high school students be allowed to wear red ribbons, a symbol for aids awareness, on school property?

In the article “Have You Properly Tested Your School Lockdown Concepts?” the authors explained how to minimize problems within school lockdown drills. The problem with school lockdown drills is that they are not tested properly. This article provides information on how to properly test lockdown drills and increase preparedness in staff and students. In the past there have been consequences of schools where they only had one traditional lockdown drill and this includes Columbine High School, Red Lake Reservation High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School. These schools did not perform multiple scenario based drills that could have reduced casualties. In order to prepare for a school crisis, lockdown drills should be scenario based and should

At the Etobicoke School for the Arts, students have started to fight back. Many protests have been happening all over the Durham region, student have been breaking the dress code in large groups or missing classes to hold protesting signs up outside for the schools. It is interesting to see that both males and females can agree that the schools are using the dress to exploit and oppress women and are starting to fight back. Student Evette Reay was sent home for wearing something completely harmless. However, her teacher claimed that her dress was too short and because this was the third time Reay broke the dress code, she was suspended from school for three days.

Next, we had security guards. I don’t really remember exactly how many we had, but they frequented problem areas of the school. The lunchroom was a major problem place, and the surrounding hallways where students would eat and do homework. There would also be security guards that walked around the “unfrequented” parts of the school. The security guards would also go outside and monitor the path, and the students crossing as well. Next, we had a desk at the front of the school with a security guard that doesn’t leave during the day. Vistors were required to sign in and report to the office. For awhile, we had a security guard that went around and looked around the parking lot, looking for suspicious things. Now, there is a van that drives around the parking lot keeping it secure as well. Next, we have to evaluate the potential risks and threats. At Grand Blanc, we didn’t have metal detectors, so being able to slip in with a knife, or something small, like this student did, would be a problem. Also, big bags such as purses, athletic bags and backpacks are problems as well because without metal detectors we do not know what are in the bags. Another potential risk is the unfrequented areas of the school. Even though there are cameras, there are enough cameras that you cant watch every one every time. With the unfrequented areas of the school, a student could create something destructive- it could be a considerable amount of time before someone passes by.

The year was 3600, America is no longer insensitive of minorities. They weren’t just sensitive to just women, but also to everyone of differences in whatever aspects. No one dared speaking unjust to women. No one dared mentioning race. No one dare saw disabilities. All this political correctness is due to the 420th, 421th, and 422nd Rights added to the Constitution, and through the supervision of the American Political Correctors.

What steps are being taken to keep students safe? The topic has risen, ‘should teachers be armed?’. Teachers should be armed in order to protect students from possible threats. School shooting has dramatically risen since 2000, though they dated back to 1764. Teachers would be trained and very prepared to handle any ‘code red’ emergency. Though there are opposing points there are solutions and positive outcomes for most.

The dress codes helps keep kids in school safer because it has been proven to decrease violence, prevent students from wearing gang-related colors, and helping students resist peer pressure. In 1996 President Clinton disseminated the Manual of School Uniforms to most schools in the United States. The manual talked about how the dress code will help students in many ways. According to Larry Wilder it will help students focus on academics and decrease violence throughout the school. In 2000, when a uniform policy was established in New York overall crime was down by about 15 percent. If dress codes really help promote safety, why don’t all schools implement this? If all schools in the US were to have a dress code, crime rate in the whole US would

The debate about public school uniforms in America is an issue that has been around for a very long time. This issue was even mentioned by President Bill Clinton in a previous State of the Union address in 1996. In his 1996 State of the Union Address, President Clinton decreed,” I challenge all of our schools to teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship and if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms” (Clinton 1996). Public schools requiring mandatory uniforms for their students are a major topic as it deals with moral and economic concerns about how America’s public schools are operated.