Security officers in public schools

[no_hypocrisy]

I've changed my mind. We need them.

When the concept was first introduced, I balked. I didn't like the idea of armed guards roaming the halls or being a gatekeeper.

I'm a substitute teacher in 4 districts, pre-K to 8 and I have been able to make observations about their utility.

First, having locked metal doors that only allow access via electronic buzzing in isn't enough. You could have an irate parent, relative, or a stranger get inside the school. Without a security guard, that person has free roam of the premises. Security is there to protect the safety of the children from those who wish to do harm.

Second, Security is needed in some schools to protect the students from each other. I've had innocuous games like Silent Ball where the Nerf ball drops to the floor. 5 or 6 kids rush to grab it. Sometimes they hit each other as a joke or "in fun" to get the others to let go. Sometimes the hitting goes from funny to opportunity to hurt someone. And the kids won't stop when you, the teacher, tell them to knock it off and to return to their desks, etc. I've had to call Security for 5th and 8th graders to protect them from hurting each other. If Security wasn't in my room within a minute, I promise that at least one student would be injured. And it would be my fault for "allowing it to happen." And they'll tell their parents. And their parents will tell an attorney.

Security is also a stabilizing presence. All the kids know ours. He smiles, says good morning and have a good day. And when he says "STOP!" they stop. He is part of our program on discipline and self-control.

School today is not what a lot of us remember. There is so much else going on besides education. Every day is a myriad of potential lawsuits. Security is needed when you least expect it.

In my town, the BOE is seriously considering making Security part-time. I shudder to think if I called the school's 911 and nobody came.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. It sounds like what your school actually needs is resources dedicated to helping students learn

conflict resolution, respect for themselves and others, and confidence in the adults who work with them. That's not the mission of "security officers."

[no_hypocrisy]

3. You don't start a discussion of self-worth when the kids are beating up on each other.

You need someone to break up the fight.

[emmaverybo]

4. Children's impulses can totally take over in groups. Whatever is taught at school must be

reinforced and modeled at home. This is not always the case. Teachers deal with kids who may have any number of emotional and behavioral problems which interfere with their ability to inhibit
aggression, and to, in the heat of the moment, put lessons into action.

Disciplinary problems are not as easily settled by a visit to the principal’s office or a time-out as
one might think.

There are children in troubled home situations, children diagnosed with emotional disorders, and some who from a very early age are resistant to adult interventions no matter how
well-trained and educated a teacher might be in these.

Further, teachers get into problems attempting to restrain children in any way so as to protect them from each other or themselves from a child acting out. It is sad, but true, that parent patrols, “shadows,” peer counseling, affirming children to help them gain self-esteem, educators modeling respect in individual exchanges and in the classroom—all this can fail to work to de-escalate and defuse a volatile situation, particularly when a group is involved.

Children spend seven to eight hours a day at school, but they are influenced strongly by the worlds they live in outside of school. Although security guards can not substitute for the role of teachers in guiding children to behaviors conducive to learning and to respectful behaviors in the classroom, neither can teachers be security guards.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. There's a lot of room for intervention between "teacher" and "security guard." That's where I want

the resources to go before we bring more agents of the carceral state into schools.

[Ohiogal]

2. I graduated from high school in 1974

We had security guards in the school back then! Retired police officers