Posted on: 11:07 pm, December 14, 2012, by Suzanne Stratford, updated on: 11:09pm, December 14, 2012
CLEVELAND? School security experts have been overwhelmed with requests for information following the massacre Friday morning in Newtown, Connecticut.
26 people including 20 children, were killed when a gunman entered a kindergarten class at an elementary school and began shooting.
Ken Trump, President of National School Safety & Security Services based in Cleveland said he learned of the shootings while he was volunteering at school with his children on the playground.
?With 25 years plus in the school security business and it still feels different as a parent,? said Trump.
Ken immediately began considering all of the possible scenarios surrounding the onslaught, as he became inundated with questions.
Many people have been wondering if the deaths could?ve been prevented.
Ken says maybe, but there are definitely ways to reduce the risk.
It starts with communication and education.
According to Ken, the greatest concern and threat to elementary school children involves domestic troubles.
Unlike high school shootings where a troubled or angry teen may shoot students, young children are often harmed by estranged parents or mentally ill family members.
In Conn., the suspected shooter 20-year-old Adam Lanza may have killed his mother Nancy Lanza before shooting the children.
The gunman is also dead.
Ken says everyone has a responsibility to report unstable people in their lives to school officials so that they are aware of the threat and take appropriate actions if the person shows up at the school.
?We have a lot of people with undiagnosed untreated mental health issues. The economy is putting an enormous amount of stress on families, divorce, substance abuse- all these issues are going on in our society,? said Trump.
Police officers, metal detectors and cameras are fine; but Ken says an alert, well-trained staff with many parental volunteers is still the best defense.
Right after the Columbine massacre in 1999, it was top priority, but Ken says since then financial cuts have caused cutbacks.
?We see counselors and psychologists and social workers cut across the country,? said Trump.
Ken says people need to watch out for the ?lone wolf? who indiscriminately kills innocent victims.
Ken says, ?The lone wolf factor is occurring in churches, in malls, in movie theaters and it?s unrealistic to think it can?t happen in our schools.?
Most importantly Ken says now is not the time to panic.
It is time to talk to your child and their school officials and see how you can volunteer or help.
?We have to focus on the fundamentals,? said Trump.
Read more on the Connecticut school shooting.
Source: http://fox8.com/2012/12/14/schoolexpert/
sag awards 2012 kyra sedgwick honor killings mary tyler moore x games pro bowl pro bowl 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment