A school is a place of learning where we trust that our children will be safe and drop them off without too much worry. Unfortunately, violence can happen, and if there are no effective safety protocols, people can get hurt or become victims of violent assault.

Do you trust that the school your children attend is a protected institute that knows how to deal with potential threats? Here are some great school safety measures that they can adopt.

School Security Measure #1: Surveillance Cameras

This is at the front line of defence in a school and works well to monitor and alert any suspicious activity inside and outside a school. Different types of cameras can be used, including:

• Bullet
• PTZ
• Fisheye
• Dome

All these cameras work together to offer discreet and exposed mounting to monitor activities around the premises and grounds, making it safer for students and staff.

When you can see footage in real-time, you can better respond to a threat before it escalates. Also, cameras around the school deter those wanting to enter the building or cause havoc. Footage can also be captured to view later by security or police to aid in any investigations.

School Security Measure #2: Reporting

Many altercations and incidents occur on the school grounds every day. These can be anything from bullying to physical assault, and while they are serious offences, they often don’t get reported.

This leaves students vulnerable to harm as bad conduct has no repercussions. It will only escalate when someone knows they can get away with inappropriate or disrespectful behaviour. Schools must establish rules where staff must report all incidents to the principal. The principal must contact the victims’ parents so everyone knows what is happening.

Students should always report anything that has happened to themselves or what they have witnessed so it can be quickly dealt with. Awareness helps stop security threats from occurring, and when teachers, principals and parents are involved, incidents can be prevented from becoming violent statistics.

School Security Measure #3: AI Security

If weapons are brought into schools, the results can be deadly. Often, a student carries a weapon undetected, which can lead to more people carrying concealed weapons for safety.

AI security screening is the perfect answer to prevent harmful weapons from being brought inside schools. These school security solutions come in the form of entry scanning. They use unobtrusive, frictionless entry lanes for all students to pass through as they enter the facility. This eliminates the need for searches or pat-downs, reducing confrontations and potential outbursts.

AI technology scans and detects concealed threats like guns, knives or other prohibited items. An alert is triggered, and the person in question can be removed from the area and searched. Regular, unobstructed flow can continue into and out of the school or campus to maintain entry speed while threats are dealt with in real time.

This technology works great on small and large campuses to detect and deter security threats.

School Security Measure #4: Practice Drills

In a shooting threat or other emergency, being prepared is the key. When teaching staff know how to respond to an incident and have trained students on safety protocols, there is a better chance of less harm to those inside the school.

School Security Measure #5: Lockdown Procedures

This is training for staff and students to know what to do during a panic or emergency. This training can include lockdown procedures like internal threats, external threats, shelter-in-place and full lockdowns.

School Security Measure #6: Fire Drills

During a fire, there may be limited exit points for people to escape, and panic can quickly occur, leading to chaos. Educating students about accessible escape routes and emergency protocols will empower them to take the appropriate steps for escape and help those around them.

Fire drills should be practiced a few times per school year to keep everyone refreshed, and staff must be ready to act calmly and decisively as they follow the school’s fire procedures.

School Security Measure #7: Disaster Drill

Besides a fire emergency, other situations can happen while attending school that call for security measures to be followed. These include:

• Extreme weather
• Bomb threat
• Active shooter

Having students and staff prepared and familiar with disaster protocols will keep everyone safer and create less panic while everyone is learning readiness skills and calmer response initiatives. Perform simulated disaster drills often to prepare everyone for a real-life disaster event.

These effective school security measures will protect our friends and family while attending school. Get involved in your local learning institutions to ensure they implement these types of security protocols in all age levels of school so you can be confident your children will be secure and get home safe every day.