Behind The Screens: Talking School Safety

Lori Alhadeff, a New Jersey native, is a former K-12 Health and Physical Education teacher and stay-at-home mom. Her life changed when her daughter, Alyssa, was killed in the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Married to Dr. Ilan Alhadeff for 23 years, Lori is a dedicated community safety advocate. She holds a BS in Health and Physical Education from The College of New Jersey and an MA in Education from Gratz College, with certifications in both New Jersey and New York. Lori served on the Broward County School Board, where she championed policies for student safety, including the Alyssa’s Alert panic button initiative. She is also president of Make Our Schools Safe, a nonprofit focused on school security and student well-being.

Lori shares the significant strides she's spearheaded to enhance school safety across the U.S. Following the tragic loss of her daughter Alyssa in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Lori co-founded "Make Our Schools Safe" and played a crucial role in the inception and enactment of Alyssa’s Law. This law mandates panic button systems in schools, ensuring direct and swift communication with law enforcement during emergencies.

The conversation touches on many vital aspects, including comprehensive safety measures like strong fencing, secure entry processes, and robust mental health programs. Lori also emphasizes the importance of parental involvement, urging parents to be vigilant and proactive about their children's environment and interactions.

Takeaways

1. Know how your school handles safety.
2. Ask school administrators about safety.
3. Cyber threats are no joke and will lead to arrest.

Timestamps

00:00 Ensure school security, mental health, threat reporting.
03:59 Wearable panic button aids emergency response.
08:47 School threats are illegal, serious; kids face expulsion.
11:11 Serious consequences for threats; not a joke.
14:21 Kids retaliate against bullying through misbehavior.
18:38 Moss Clubs promote school safety and kindness.
21:29 Bulletproof backpacks required for children's safety.
25:11 Florida leads in school safety legislation initiatives.
26:40 Proactive school safety measures ensure student security.

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🔗 Connect with Jessica Anger and Carrie Wiesenfeld:
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Transcript

0:01

Hi, and welcome to today's episode. Jessica and I have a special guest with us, Lori Alhadeff, and we are going to talk about a really important topic, school safety. So if you are a parent, you well, I assume you're a parent because why else would you be listening to our podcast? But, parents, you will want to listen to this episode, and you'll wanna take notes. So, Jess, would you like to introduce Laurie to us? I it would be my honor and my pleasure. Lori is a former k through 12 teacher and mom of 3. Lori's daughter, Alyssa, was tragically killed in the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. Following this tragedy, Lori ran and was elected to the Broward County School Board. In addition, Lori and her husband, Ilan, created a national non for profit, make our school safe, in honor of their daughter. Between her non for profit and school board position, Lori continues to raise awareness for legislation changes and supports initiatives to enhance school safety. We are honored to have Lori join us on today's episode. Hi, Lori. Welcome, Laurie. Hi, Jessica. Hi, Carrie. Thank you so much for having me today. Well, we're so glad you could be with us. We're just gonna jump right in and talk to us a little bit about what parents should be looking for in their school safety. What do they wanna be what questions do they wanna be asking? What are parents looking for? So we wanna make sure that there is a strong perimeter fencing and that all the doors are locked to the school so that when they get to the security desk, they have to buzz in, show their ID. What is the purpose for being there today? That's the question they should be asked, and then they get buzzed into the main office. And then from there, they should be having to show their license to be checked in, getting a a badge. And then also, they need to make sure that there are strong mental health programs for students in the school and that a there is a strong school security risk assessment. That assessment is something that is done every school year, but I think it's important to ask questions to the administrators, to the to your schools to make sure that every aspect of security is being taken care of and that there's also a way for students and parents to report threats. We have Fortify Florida, and we have the, SaferWatch app. Parents can report a threat. They see something, say something, report it, and then it's up to law enforcement to do something. So is this SaferWatch app for parents and kids? Like, anyone can report anything? Yeah. So students can have the SaferWatch app on their phone and parents can have the SaferWatch app on their phone. And then just to kinda give you a little bit of difference, teachers have the SaferWatch app on every one of their computers, but that also is their panic button so that if there's a life threatening emergency situation, whether it's a medical emergency or an active shooter situation, the teacher can push their panic button, and it's directly linked to law enforcement so they can get there as quickly as possible to triage any victims or take down the threat. And that is Alyssa's law. That is the law that we have passed in 7 states now and including Florida. So that panic button is litter is on their computer or on their person? So it can be well, it is on every computer in the school for the teachers, and, also, the teacher can download the Alyssa's Alert app on their cell phone. And in other schools in different areas, they also have a wearable panic button that would look something like this. The teacher would wear it around their neck, and then they would have this panic button 3 times pushed for medical emergency, 8 times or more for an active shooter situation. And this is also there would be their teacher ID, and this was used in the Apalachee shooting a couple weeks ago. Sadly, 4 people died, and my heart goes out to those families. But the wearable panic button was used and helped to save lives, and law enforcement was got there faster to apprehend the shooter to prevent further loss of life. Okay. So parents, when they go to interview a school or they're looking at their options, right, that that's a really, really important thing to have. Right? Do the parents have or the teachers have the wearable panic button, you know, as part of school safety measures? If they say no, but we have a, b, c's, right, should one thing be better than another, or it's based on the parent and how they feel in terms of how they're communicated, what the safety measures are. Like, do you have recommendations there? Like, they absolutely must have these three things. Well, I would say that it's just important to ask the question, how is Alyssa's Law being implemented in your school? And then that teacher could say, well, we have Alyssa's alert panic button on our computer. And then the next question is, are you trained? Do you know how to use it? Right? Most importantly, all these safety measures need we need to make sure that we have training connected with it so that in a life threatening emergency situation, the body goes into fight or flight, and we wanna make sure that our teachers know how to push their panic button. Okay. Sure. You mentioned also a risk management report. Is that something that's available to all parents if they choose to see it? No. So that is a confidential report. It's required for every school to do a school security risk assessment every year, and they file that confidential report with the state, and then the state can allocate funding to help fund those vulnerabilities. So then whose job is it to locate the vulnerabilities in a school's safety? Is it the school themselves, or is it an outside company or police? Or who's responsible for that? So here in Broward County, we have what's called area security managers, and they help assist with the principals and APs to fill out their school security risk assessment. And the school resource officer could be a part of that conversation. So you have law enforcement expertise helping to fill out that risk assessment form. Alright. Got it. Are these questions you or this information, do you recommend across the board, like, from preschool to college? I mean, college campuses get a little different because they're so much larger than your typical public school setting. But across the board, would you say these questions should be asked? Yeah. So, absolutely, I think it's so important for parents to be engaged, involved, to ask the questions. You know, I'd say that I lived in the Parkland bubble before 2018, before the shooting here. I thought my kids were safe in school. I never could have imagined Alyssa being murdered in an English classroom, and I never thought twice that her school at MSD wasn't safe. So I definitely think it's important for parents to be proactive, ask questions. You know, parents know best. If they see something and they have that instinct, that gut instinct, like, that just doesn't look right, speak up. I mean, one thing I say is your voice is your power, and so it's so important for parents to to speak up, ask questions, and demand answers. Alright. So what is your biggest concern right now in the schools? What you're saying as a parent, what you're seeing as a school board member. Tell us what parents should be concerned about based on what you're seeing from all of those seats that you sit in. So, unfortunately, kids are making threats to schools. They are either verbally saying that they're going to shoot up a school or they are writing down a piece of paper that they want to shoot up a school or they could be putting something in the Snapchat about making a threat to a school or something on their video game that they're playing or text message. And these threats are illegal. It is a secondary felony charge, and it is they'll be expelled from school. And what's happening is these kids are saying that they are joking, but this is not a joke. No. We are taking this very, very seriously. It's a state law, and I want parents to be aware of this and have that tough conversation with their child that they should never ever ever make a threat to shoot up a school or to harm anyone or school. That's unbelievable that in this day and age, that's still going on with everything that we've seen. I know that it's happening still in our own community that we're getting these threats, and it's just Yeah. Like unfathomable to me that this can still be happening in our own neighborhood where we've lived, and you have experienced such tragedy. I mean, it's But anywhere. Right? Like, why how does anyone think this is funny? Right? Like, what are kids watching or hearing or listening to that would ever think that something so serious is funny or a joke. Right? And, you know, like, the consequence of a felony by making a joke or being serious or daring somebody else to do something, make a joke like that, make a threat, what act so what happens? What happens to that child? Right? And we're talking about children. Right? We're not talking about grown, mature adults. We're talking about children whose brains are not developed, but who the pay it's still the parents are the res are responsible for their children and for teaching right from wrong. Yeah. So the police will fine you. The or the FBI will fine you. They will track down where that threat came from, and they will be you will be arrested. It is a second degree felony charge, and then you would also be up for expulsion from school. So this is very serious, and probably 99% of the time, kids say, well, it was just a joke. But it's not a joke, and that's why I'm here today because I want parents to take this seriously and have that tough conversation with their child and explain to them the consequences of their actions, where they verbally say it or they write it or they text message it. It is they are going to be found, and they will be arrested. And if this should happen to a child in school or outside of school, right, and they are charged with a felony, and the parents come forward and hire an attorney and say, my child was just joking. Right? Like, can they get off? Like, can this be wiped away from their record? Like, I wanna make it clear and make sure that parents, you know, because there's gonna be the parents that say, oh, not my child. Right. Right? My child would never do that, and then they do. So can this be wiped away from a child's record, or will this affect their life forever? Yeah. It's a second degree felony, and and they will be charged. They will be found, and they will be up for expulsion from school. So this is on their official record, And it doesn't matter if you say, I'm joking. It will still be on your record. You can't just get out of it. And so, you know, I'm here today to, as parents, to have that tough conversation with their child because at the end of the day, kids continue to do this. Even though we've had our sheriff speak about the consequences, our superintendent, I have as a school board member, but kids aren't listening. And so it's super important that parents take that responsibility and the accountability to sit down, have that tough conversation with their child. Also, check their phones, you know, know Yes. What their passwords are, Know what they're writing on social media. What pictures are they posting? It's really important that we are actively engaged. Like, we we own the phone. We pay for their phone. And so you need to have their passwords, and you'll be checking their phones. Laurie, is there I don't know if you know the answer to this, but is there any particular profile of a child that has been making these threats? Is it could be anyone, any ages? Is there more girls than boys? Like, is there anything is there any one particular demographic that the kids making these threats fall into? No. I wouldn't really say that, but what I would say is, potentially, these kids are maybe feeling bullied, like, that they are being made fun of in some way, and that's their way of retaliating possibly against the bullying that is happening to them. But there is kids of all ages that are continuing to do this and from elementary school, middle school, up even to high school. So it's a real problem, but that's why I felt like it was so important for me to be here today to talk about this. Right? Because we don't talk about it, then, you know, people are just gonna be in denial that's it's even happening and telling it's their kid that it that does this, and then it's happening. Right. Are are there any statistics? Like, is it happening once a day? Is that happening once a week? You know, like So how prevalent? So after an Apalachee school shooting, it was happening a lot, sadly, though it has calmed down Okay. Like I'm wood. Okay. But, you know, I think that the more parents are learning about this and having those conversations, it is helping. And, you know, we will continue to talk about it, but it's just so important so we can prevent this from happening because at the end of the day, kids are losing out in their education. And then also it is bringing in all of our resources, our law enforcement to the school to make sure there is not an active threat at the school. It costs money and and administration time, and it's timing and taking away from educating our students. Is there anything being done at the school level, any assemblies or any type of information being given to the kids themselves about this? So it is decided school by school as far as assemblies goes to have conversations regarding this. There are flyers up at every school with 4 to 5 Florida as far as being able to you know, if you see something, see something reporting a threat, but the schools are having conversations about this. We have done videos. The videos are up on the school's website, but, again, it's you know, it will be extremely helpful if parents also can sit down and have that tough conversation with their child. Right. And that's you know, if a parent is hesitant and doesn't know how to start that conversation, they could sit and watch one of the videos together to get that conversation started. Like, that would be a really good tool to use to open communication about what's going on. Now is it in a school handbook now, the consequence of a threat or cyberbullying or bullying? Like, does it actually say now, like, you will be expelled, or is there no language yet? Yeah. So every year, remember in the beginning of the year, as parents, we sign those forms? Yep. Yes. And One second. It's in there. It's in the the disciplinary matrix. They have the student code of conduct and book, and and so it the information is in there. And then I was gonna say too is I can give you a link to the the video that I did with the of talking about the you know, not to make any types of threats. That would be great. That would be great to hear. Yeah. That would be awesome to share. Okay. Yes. Cyberbullying, do you feel comfortable at talking about that, and does Make Our Schools Safe do any training, or at the club level, is there any education for kids and the parents, or how to deal with bullying that might be happening, and are there any school resources for them to get help to help themselves as a family and their child? Make Our School Safe has we call them Moss Clubs. Make Our School Safe Clubs. We have a club at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, JP Taraval High School, Coral Glee's High School, Coral Springs High School, and many other high schools here in Broward County, but also around the country. And so the Moss Clubs, we started this after 2018, and I want the students to be able to really create that culture of safety within their school, to own that safety, to have a voice for safety and be able to, during their monthly meetings, bring in a speaker. It could be somebody to talk about cyberbullying and how to prevent that bullying from happening, and they could speak at their meetings. And so we have had that happen where the clubs do have those monthly speakers come in, whether it is the chief of police or somebody in mental health. But these are proactive ways that the schools are trying to educate our students and also teach kindness and love and that you know, we don't want to be bullying people. We want that to be prevented. And the school also has different programs within the schools to prevent bullying from happening. K. That's great. Is there anything else today you would like to share with us about school safety or any of the other topics or anything else you want parents to know? So I would say there's 2 really great resources to go to. Max Factor has a great website where you can look up your school to see what types of threats are going on at your child's school, and that's Safe Schools for Alex. And then at make our schools safe dot org, we also have resources and ability for parents to advocate for Alyssa's Law, sign up for a Moss Club, and then we also are gonna have Moss Moms and Moss Dads where parents can be actively engaged in the school safety at their child's school and be a voice for school safety. And our website is make our school safe dot org. That's great. We'll put that on our notes as well. You know, I'm just I'm curious about one other thing, and I'm I if you would share your experience. This isn't something we spoke about previously, but I know for me, after 2018, when we started touring colleges, security became number 1 for me. Like, how was that for you when you started looking at schools for your boys? Yeah. So the colleges have such open campuses. Right. One one of my requirements for my boys is that they have a bulletproof backpack. I know it doesn't prevent, like, an AR 15, but it does prevent something. So at least I feel like they would have that to protect themselves potentially if there was a shooting going on. So that's one of my requirements since 2018 And, you know, I think it's just important for to teach your child to be aware of their surroundings, where they are, who's around them. I know the colleges, they do a good job of ever, like, so often having, like, an emergency call station where they can call for help. Okay. But it is difficult. We have make our school safe has engaged fraternities and sororities to do fundraisers to put stop the bleed kits in their fraternity house or sorority house, but it is very challenging, and there has been shootings on college campuses. But that's why also it's so important for schools to have some type of panic button so that if there is whether it's medical emergency, which we're gonna have 99% of the time, it's medical emergency, which we're gonna have 99% of the time, or the active shooter situation, that they can press their panic button and get law enforcement there, good guy with a gun, to take down the threat as quickly as possible. To date, are there any colleges or universities that implement the panic button or anything from Alyssa's Law? So the law does not include colleges in it, and I'm not aware of anybody that's, you know, currently using, like, a aware role type of panic button, but it's something that, you know, should not only be in schools and universities, but also hospitals. Yeah. My husband, doctor Elon Aldev, just wrote an article that was out today regarding hospitals and doctors and nurses needing their panic button. That's true. Yep. Unfortunately, the society that we live in, it seems like everyone's going to need them sooner or later. Right. And if you think about it, our banks have always had panic buttons. Our Yes. Elected officials have panic buttons at their desks. Yep. Right? And it's just so vitally important. And, you know, one thing I was thinking about and we implemented this year in all of our high schools was the metal detectors. Okay. You know, just like our airports have the metal detectors, we now have metal detectors that our kids are walking through. And, yes, the first day was very difficult, but we've you know, they've learned the process, and it's working, and they're preventing weapons from getting into our schools. Yeah. Prevent prevention is what we're all looking for. Right? We're looking for, you know, yes, new procedures, new things coming in. It's gonna take time for kids and teachers and schools to adjust, but I think is we all have to just be patient. Right? Be patient because these new, tools that we can use to help our kids be safe at school, right, it just takes time and we should be patient and supporting all efforts to implement new safety protocols. Yes. Yeah. And if you just think about it, it's about creating those layers of safety protection. Like, so today, there was randomized wanding metal detector wanding at MSD. That's great. Yeah. They're going in. They're they're wanding backpacks. Even though they went through the metal detector, they're still doing that randomized metal detector wanding. So it's, like, continuous, whether it's mental health programs in schools, which is so widely important, moss clubs to fencing, bulletproof glass, and panic violence, and just continuing to implement those layers of safety protection. And, unfortunately, it took our tragedy for us to get here today, But Florida has been a leader in implementing every year a school safety piece of legislation to help protect our schools here in Florida, and I'm proud that we're leaders within this country. And when I go around the country talking about Alyssa's Law, I talk about Florida being that leader. And just every day, we're gonna do what we can do to help make our schools as safe as possible. Yeah. Do you have anything to say to the parents or the naysayers who say they don't want their schools to become, like, a prison? You hear that a lot, especially I know there was a lot of controversy when the metal detectors were being put in. Right. So I would say this. My daughter Alyssa should be here today. Alyssa should be graduating from college. She should be 21 years old. And I wish that all these layers were put into place. You know, we go to the airports. We go to Taylor Swift concert, and we go through metal detectors or Disney World. And and just nobody thinks twice about it because they just want to be safe, go in, and and so schools, not really any different. The metal detectors, they don't even look like the airport metal detectors. It's like 2 poles. Yeah. And so, you know, there's we have cameras and things like that. Like, people don't even realize the security measures that are in place, but they're but they're there. And and I'm happy with a child within Broward County Public Schools now that that my child is safer because we have been proactive since 2018 to implement these layers of school safety protection. And we passed the referendum here in in Broward County, and that referendum also helped to put in place more security, more SROs and guardians and the blue shirt security guys you see now manning the gates and at the doors. That's amazing because at the end of the day, it's the humans that are going to help to also make school safer. Sure. Yeah. Alright. Well, we are so grateful for you being with us today. So sorry that, like, brought this horrible tragedy for your family to put you in a place to then have to and want to really do something to help parents, schools, children all around the United States, but we are so grateful that you do. And we're honored that you took some time for us today. And if you will you know, we'll provide everyone with the links that you brought up. I'd also like you to share the bulletproof backpack link so we could have that available for all of our listeners. And, Jessica, you have any final words? No. You actually said what I was going to say, but just on behalf of all of the kids out there, thank you, and just know that you're making such a big difference. Thank you. Alright. Thanks for being with us.