Few things are as disruptive to a school as a student threat. Site administrators are usually put in a no-win situation, having to balance the safety of the school, the needs of the intended victim(s), the inevitable court of public opinion when social media starts making judgments, and the reality that an administrator's career can be cut short by the wrong decisions. The most unfortunate part is that the needs of the student who made the threat often are the last things to be addressed - if at all.
Our training is designed to empower a school, not terrify it. We go through the behavioral pathways that are frequently associated with students who end up making threats. When we understand and recognize the underlying risk factors and behaviors, schools can often intervene before the student's stress level rises to the point of making a threat.
If a threat is made, we ensure that the school is prepared to respond to it. We walk the schools through the design of the Threat Assessment Management (TAM) team, the roles and responsibilities of the team, and we take the teams through scenarios where they can practice. We work with the schools to develop short and long-term supports for the student who made a threat, as well as the rest of the school community.
For a site principal, this training can be the difference between sleepless nights and an organized, confident response.
