Dale Yeager shares the three questions every parent should ask about their children's safety
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Dale Yeager, US Senate School Safety Expert who has headed a special research team that provided three school safety reports for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 2000 to 2007, says that very little progress has been made in national school safety since the Sandy Hook shooting.
"Most school districts in the U.S. have purchased security equipment such as cameras but cameras do not stop school shootings," says Yeager. "Cameras do not have cognitive function or peripheral vision – only humans have that."
Yeager also says that parents of school students have failed to hold their local school boards accountable for the safety of their children.
"There are three questions that parents should be submitting in a letter format to their local school boards," says Yeager.
- What proof of Prevention policies and training does your school district have? [Prevention is defined as Prediction and Prevention of threats]
- Does your school district have a formal process for outside security walks every 30 to 60 minutes? [This has been recommended by the United States Department of Education (USDOE) for the past 10 years. You cannot prevent what you do not see.]
- Has a Federal level [U.S. Department of Education – United States Department of Justice] Security Management audit been done in the last 6 months? [Most audits or security assessments in the U.S. do not meet the federal standards for a climate assessment as mandated by the USDOE].
"You cannot treat an illness without a diagnosis. School boards are throwing money at the problem without a clear understanding of their school's vulnerabilities. It makes people feel safe but their children are not," states Yeager.
Yeager points to three school crimes where School Districts failed to use these prevention techniques:
2012 Chardon High School Chardon, Ohio – Three male students died within the two days following the incident.
2012 Perry Hall High School Perry Hall, MD – A student walked into the cafeteria and fired a pistol injuring a fellow student.
2010 Marinette High School Marinette, WI – A student walked into the school with two pistols and held students and a teacher hostage before killing himself.
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