South San Francisco, CA October 19, 2018
National news of school shootings and other horrific acts have parents, guardians, teachers, staff – and well the whole community in jitters at times, especially when a situation is announced but has not been thoroughly vetted as to it’s level of danger. We hear the words our child’s school has issued a ‘SECURE THE CAMPUS’ Alert and all we can think about is how fast can we get to our kids to ensure their safety. However, calmer heads must prevail allowing the authorities to determine what exactly is the threat and to what extent is there any danger, or even potential of danger, to our kids.
Understanding the purpose of each safety level may do a lot of calm unnecessary fears.
We’ve had a few instances in recent past when the police are actively working a case in the vicinity of a local school and the issue has nothing to do with campus or the students. A ‘secure the campus’ alert may be put out in order to keep everyone on campus and not interfere with any police work that might be taking place even a few blocks away. But when a parent receives that alert our minds are geared towards protecting our children when in fact, our rushing to them could do the complete opposite and put them and others in danger.
One of the toughest jobs ever is that of being a parent. And one of the toughest parts of being a parent is knowing when to let go and when to hold close. Our kids are part of us, they mean the world to us, they are our world. How do we let go, no matter their age, and allow others to decide if their environment is safe? Especially when we hear the alerts and we’ve watched the national news and we know how the worse case scenarios may play out.
One way is by educating yourself and your child. Attend the parent – teacher conferences. Go to the PTA meetings. Make the effort to meet other parents. Attend a School Board meeting. Ask questions. And be assured we all want the same thing at the end of the day; our kids safe and educated!
The District puts out a lot of great information and we are sharing it here to archive as a resource to refer to when needed. A special acknowledgement to SSFUSD Director of Student Services/ Public Information Officer Ryan Sebers for his continued share on information allowing ESC to update our community when appropriate.
