IN THE NEWS WITH ASR

Back to School with Covid-19 and Mass Shootings

Much of the United states is getting back to school in some form or another. Many schools are focused on new procedures to protect kids from Covid-19, but how are schools going to address the elephant in the room? That’s right, the threat of an active shooter is still out there. The pandemic stopped mass shootings while we were all in quarantine, but now – 6 months later, the threat is front of mind for many parents.

Covid-19 has had a global impact. Most everyone alive today has had their lives altered in some form by the pandemic. Extended quarantines, job losses, childcare options, and sickness have many Americans feeling depressed and full of anxiety. Civil unrest from race-relations have been expanding across the United States and have also likely been fueled by frustrations stemming from the virus. In addition, we are also in an election year, one with extreme polarization of views – two candidates that are so diabolically opposed to one another that tensions between regular folks on either side seem to be unreasonably heightened. As a nation, we are literally living in a state of mental chaos in many forms.

When we take this top-down view of the state of things, its logical to be concerned about back to school with Covid-19 and mass shootings as they clearly relate to each other considering heightened tensions. As students return to classrooms, how are schools keeping children safe from COVID-19 AND active shooters?

FLORIDA PANEL RAISING AWARENESS

Nearly all of the attention lately has been on keeping children safe from COVID-19 in Florida’s schools — not mass shooters. But this week, a panel created after the 2018 Parkland massacre met for the first time this year to revisit the issue of gun violence on Florida campuses.

Much like the rest of the country, the panel reminded us that many school safety programs have funding issues, many because the funds are being spent on Covid-19 challenges. In addition, schools also must cope with having to conduct school-shooter drills in an era of social distancing.

What we must understand is that even though the pandemic is dominating most of our thoughts and actions regarding school safety, we CANNOT relax our preparations for other threats that not only still exist, but are likely even greater with the height of our collective tensions.

Children are suffering from anxiety and loneliness, and some are in abusive homes cut off from help, this a recipe for more violence.

“The likelihood of a targeted attack increases after a break in attendance,” said Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting. “Due to COVID, we have had the largest break in attendance that any student or teacher has faced. It is important for school districts to be prepared for that when school comes back.”

PANIC ALARMS BECOMING STANDARD

One New Jersey and Florida success story involved legislation called Alyssa’s Law, which will allow school staffers and teachers to summon law enforcement with the touch of a button.

Lori Alhadeff, a Broward County school board member, championed the legislation, saying it would improve response time during an emergency. The legislation was named in honor of Alhadeff’s daughter, Alyssa, one of the 17 killed in the Parkland shooting.

Alyssa’s Law addresses the issue of law enforcement response time when a life-threatening emergency occurs. The law calls for the installation of warning lights and a panic alarm in schools to provide the fastest possible support during a code red situation. In a code red, every second counts.  Alyssa's Law has now been passed in the states of New Jersey and Florida.  Petitions have been started to ensure the Alyssa Law gets passed at the national level.  

ASR Alert Systems is a state-of-the-art security technology specializing in the field of threat alert notifications to local Law Enforcement and First Responders in the event of a crisis. The threat notification capabilities include Active Shooter/Assailant, Medical and Severe Weather. Our team of professionals has diverse experience in Security, Law Enforcement and Special Operations Military. ASR has melded these capabilities for use in both the public and private sectors. Our system meets and well exceeds the requirements of Alyssa’s Law and our PATENTED technology can be met by no other.

Learn More about how ASR works with Alyssa’s Law Here

As this vital legislation is proposed across the country, ASR is here to help. Our system can be installed in any building and can be customized for a client’s specific needs. Large or small, indoor or out, we have you covered. To learn more about the different systems we have, please CLICK HERE.