According to a new study, 76% of high school principals surveyed say they do not have a procedure or policy in place to respond to a teen dating violence incident. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that about 1.5 million high school students experience abuse from a dating partner. Next month is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month so it’s a good time to educate your staff on the warning signs of teen dating violence.

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence has a number of great resources for your school staff to help promote teen dating violence prevention among their students.Besides raising awareness on the topic, it’s helpful to know warning signs of domestic abuse. Common signs and symptoms that a student may be the victim of dating violence include:

• Bruises.
• Unlikely explanation for injuries.
• Wearing heavy makeup to cover up bruises or wearing inappropriately heavy clothing to cover bruises.
• Missing class or withdrawing from campus activities.Injuries that occur with increasing frequency or severity.

Teen dating violence is often kept a secret because the parties involved tend to be inexperienced with dating relationships, have romanticized views about love, feel pressure from their peers to be in a relationship, and want to be independent from their parents.

Always carefully follow your district’s policies and procedures regarding reporting on violence.

To help prevent dating violence, your district can provide students with information about the characteristics of healthy relationships and warning signs of violent relationships. By learning about dating violence, and increasing your awareness about its impact on students, you are already taking an important step in reducing this danger.

The SafeSchools Online Staff Training System includes an informative Dating Violence: Identification and Prevention course geared to help your staff recognize the signs and symptoms of dating violence.

With the recent school shootings in Arizona and Ohio, it’s important for your staff to know and understand the link between student behavior and mental health. A student’s mental health affects his or her classroom behavior. When a student causes disruption in the classroom, it can often be an indicator of more serious issues.

The National Institute of Mental Health defines mental illness as a complex illness that may come from a combination of genetics, chemical imbalances, congenital anomalies and conditions, or events. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as defined by the CDC, can contribute to student mental health issues. ACEs are events such as the death of a close family member, illness of a parent, family financial problems, divorce, physical, sexual or emotional abuse, domestic violence, or ongoing social exclusion and bullying. Students under severe distress may exhibit:

• Highly disruptive behavior.
• Inability to communicate clearly.
• Threats to harm others.
• Overtly suicidal thoughts.
• Anger, irritability, and increased interpersonal difficulties.
• Marked changes in personal hygiene, noticeable weight gain or loss.
• Acting tired or lack of energy.
• Appearing noticeably anxious or panicked.

How can your staff identify and help a student with a potential mental illness? First, awareness is key. Be aware of the warning signs and changes in student behavior. If you have access to a school psychologist, he or she can be a valuable resource for students who may have potential mental health needs. If there isn’t a school psychologist readily available in your school or district, there will be a district policy or procedure to help students with potential mental health issues.

SafeSchools Training offers a Student Mental Health course that provides an overview of student behavior and mental health. This course is not meant as a diagnostic tool, however, this course may give you information that should be helpful in referring a student to a qualified professional. Diagnoses must always come from a certified professional who specializes in mental health.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than six million children are reported as abused or neglected each year. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month so this month is a good time to make sure you’re familiar with your duties in regards to preventing and reporting child abuse.

To help remove barriers that affect students’ readiness to learn, school personnel must be able to recognize when children are being abused and quickly intervene on their behalf.

Child abuse can be more than just bruises and broken bones. Child maltreatment includes physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation, emotional abuse, threat of harm, and abuse of children with disabilities. While physical abuse may be easier to detect, emotional abuse and neglect leave deep, lasting, invisible scars. Research shows that maltreatment can cause:

• Neurological damage.
• Low self concept.
• Depression.
• Anxiety.
• School adjustment problems.
• Poor academic outcomes.

While each state has their own laws and regulations as to reporting incidents of child abuse, in nearly all states all school employees are considered mandatory reporters. This means that if any school staff member has reasonable cause to believe a child is being abused, they must report suspected incidents to one or more of the following: local law enforcement, child protection services, and building or district administrators. In order to protect the child, state statutes require school employees to report when they “have reason to suspect,” “have observed,” or “know or have a reasonable cause to believe” that a child is abused or neglected. It’s important for you, as a school staff member, to know which standard your state applies to you so that you can properly protect children from abuse.

The SafeSchools Online Staff Training System offers a Child Abuse: Identification & Intervention course and a Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting course. We also offer state-specific versions of our Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting course for Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

For more information on these courses, please contact us at 1-800-434-0154 or [email protected].

On February 14th, 17 people tragically died when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The gunman, 19, arrived on campus and began shooting students just as school was letting out. People who knew the shooter say the warning signs of future violence were there, including online posts about shooting people, social media accounts featuring weapons and photos, and exhibiting peculiar behavior.

In the wake of this tragic school shooting, our SafeSchools Alert customers in Richland, WA and Blaine, WA are hopeful that the anonymity of our bullying reporting system will prompt more people to share safety concerns. In fact, a day after the shooting, Lee’s Summit School District received an anonymous tip on its SafeSchools Alert website that a student brought a gun to school, and the gun was quickly recovered.

When we heard the news about the Parkland school shooting, our hearts were broken again. Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with this community now and in the days ahead.

This week, there’s been many conflicting reports in the media about how many school shootings there have been since the Sandy Hook tragedy. Were there 297 or 22? To us, the number isn’t what matters. One school shooting is one too many.

In an effort to help with the healing that’s needed right now, we are making our SafeSchools Training course, Managing the Aftermath of Tragedy, available to any educator, free of charge, for the next 60 days. This course, written by school safety expert, Dr. Scott Poland, provides valuable information on how to help your school deal with a tragedy, should one occur.

To access this free course, go to www.SafeSchools.com/Cares.

Our Creative Services team recently updated the Back Injury & Lifting course in the SafeSchools Online Staff Training System.

We’ve updated the content and added a number of rich media elements throughout the course, including:

• A visual makeover.
• New video scenarios.
• More video content, including lift demonstrations.
• New interactive exercise.
• New ‘Knowledge Check’ questions to reinforce content presented up to that point.

This course is authored by Joanette Lima, PT, MS, CPE. Joanette has worked with a variety of industries to develop and implement effective strategies for ergonomic risk reduction and injury prevention, including workplace design, furniture and equipment selection, and management and employee training. Ms. Lima has been a CPE (Certified Professional Ergonomist) since 1996, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy, and earned a Master’s of Science in Exercise Science. In addition to her consulting work, she teaches Ergonomics at the University level. She is affiliated with the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the American Society of Safety Engineers and the American Physical Therapy Association.

For more information on the SafeSchools Online Staff Training System, please contact us at 1-800-434-0154 or [email protected] today! You can also check out our new website www.SafeSchools.com.

Did you know that you can add specialized online school bus driver training from the School Bus Safety Company (SBSC) to your SafeSchools Online Staff Training System, in just minutes?

School Bus Safety Course Bundle 

Now includes 35 courses. Deliver specialized courses that are proven to reduce claims by nearly 50%:

(1) Driver Training Course

• 25 integrated courses that cover almost everything a school bus driver needs to know to do their job the right way. Topics include Danger Zones; Driver Distractions; Safe Backing; Student Management and more!

(2) Bullying Prevention on the School Bus

• In these 3 courses, drivers will learn how to set the stage for a bully free bus, recognize bullying, and how to stop it to keep students safe.

(3) Transporting Students with Special Needs

• Safely and correctly transporting students with special needs can be challenging. These 7 courses address issues to help your drivers provide the most professional service possible.

Give your bus drivers the tools they need to succeed and save at the same time!

For more information or a demonstration, please contact us at [email protected] or call 1-800-434-0154.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark piece of legislation. It outlaws discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and gender. It’s organized into 11 sections, or titles – each of which covers specific aspects of discrimination. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act outlaws this discrimination through use of federal financial assistance.

Some important aspects of Title VI compliance include: 

• Public Title VI Information:
  • Posters.
  • Handbooks.
  • Manuals.
  • Pamphlets.
  • Other materials which are typically distributed to describe federally assisted programs and the requirements for participation by recipients and beneficiaries.
• Data and Information Collection.
• Application Reviews.
• Post-Approval Reviews.
• Methods of Resolving Noncompliance.
• Guidelines of the Enforcement of Title VI.

How can you efficiently train all your employees on Title VI compliance? The SafeSchools Online Staff Training System recently published a Title VI Overview course to provide staff members and employees with a brief overview of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and several strategies for compliance with non-discriminatory practices.

To get started with SafeSchools Training, or for a demonstration of the system, please contact us at 1-800-434-0154 or [email protected]. More information can also be found on our website, www.SafeSchools.com..

For a big district like Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland, it can be challenging to maintain a record of training compliance for a large number of employees. Hear how Michael Howie, Risk Management Specialist, uses the SafeSchools Online Staff Training System to track employee training, develop policy courses, and address legislative requirements.

To learn more about SafeSchools Training or to request a free trial, please call 1-800-434-0154, email us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.SafeSchools.com.