Don't forget our hard-learned lessons

Oct 1, 2002 12:00 PM, Larry Anderson

Horrendous events, such as the shooting at Columbine High School, tend to shape perceptions and awareness of security — often in constructive ways.

As horrible as the shooting was, we can, at least, learn from it something about how we can prevent such episodes in the future.

This awareness, and the resulting action, can, if correctly channeled, go a long way toward avoiding the circumstances that brought on the shooting in the first place.

Unfortunately, our awareness can have a short attention span, and it can be eclipsed by The Next Big Thing. Security at our nation's schools was much higher on our national agenda before Sept. 11. Since then, our attention has turned instead to terrorism — how to prevent it, how to fight it. Everybody wants to keep our schools safe, but clearly some of the urgency has been lost.

Maybe that's why the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) has announced the “Be Safe and Sound” campaign, the purpose of which is to focus constructive attention on the need for physical security in our schools, complemented by effective prevention strategies such as mentoring and after-school programs.

“Prevention is the core of this initiative,” says Jim Copple, vice president of the NCPC. “Working together, parents, educators and policymakers provide a blueprint to ensure safer, more secure schools.” Leading the “Be Safe and Sound” campaign is a partnership called the National Safety and Security Council, which combines the efforts of the NCPC, Assa Abloy, The Allstate Foundation, the Security Industry Association and SafeSchool Solutions.

The initiative will combine safety — programs, policies and procedures — with security — lights, locks and alarms — that work together to ensure a safe and secure school. It will launch in two pilot states, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Certainly the importance of school security has not been lessened by our national preoccupation with the fight against terrorism. The need for proactive security measures and prevention campaigns is just as urgent now as it was in those first sad days following the Columbine incident. The blunt truth is this: Our waning public attention to school security could set the stage for another tragedy. Maybe the “Be Safe and Sound” campaign will keep that from happening.

Terrorism isn't going away, so our security efforts will have to step up to the challenge facing all of us in this complex world: Get ready to multitask!

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