Some schools have experimented with canine programs, as both allies in special needs classrooms and to calm, in some cases, the emotional trauma of refugee children incorporated into our crowded schools. Some walk in hallways between classes. Some simply provide a presence that reduces tensions as a young child pets a friendly face that does not judge or bully. A few principals even keep them in the office to help defuse students with anger issues.

​Many educators have noted the loss of empathy in their students. Dogs are now rescued from shelters to take on new roles where their integration into a school population provides the opportunity for emotionally distraught students to find joy in feeding, brushing, and even walking a school’s furry mascot. Can it really work? Yes.
New York City has its own Comfort Dog Program.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/nyregion/school-comfort-dog-program.html

These success stories do not magically appear. It takes integrated planning across a school district’s operations, from the janitors to the superintendent, not to mention the Board and the PTA. There are always concerns to face, but the benefits far outdistance any real or imagined risks. In a time when marginal special needs students are often streamed into regular classes, dogs can be an essential tool to promote a peaceful atmosphere, especially for autistic students who may not immediately respond to other students offering caring, or a concerned teacher’s touch.

Dogs also provide the basis for a plethora of basic life lessons and skills. This is explained in detail in a terrific article in Education World: http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin559.shtm

​This trend is international. It is time that every school district should consider this option, as a reduction in tension and anxiety increases a feeling of safety in a classroom. If students feel safe, they feel safe to learn. That is our belief at Safe to Learn.

Let dogs help make your school a safer place to learn.

​The vast majority of all school students are working hard, regardless of every negative story the press pedals. Yes, there are dropouts. Yes, there are crimes and disrespect…but there is a sea of great minds and dedication in those schools we all hear too little about, unless we read the school newspapers or have kids in their classrooms. These kids also move on to our local colleges and universities. Their positive exploits there are also often masked by news stories of protests and dissent, not the heartwarming efforts of discovery and public service they carried over from lessons learned in public schools.

The following three recent stories are of particular value in emphasizing how terrific our kids really are…and just a sampling of the powerful victories they bring to other people’s lives each day.  And note that these stories are from across the country. That’s a clear indication these aren’t just pockets of brilliance—they exist right next door to all of us.

Invention: A Small, Lightweight, Motorized Wheelchair for Two Brothers
​Suffering from a Genetic Disorder, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)   

A second example comes from across the country at Utah’s Brigham Young University. Here five undergraduate mechanical engineering students produced a small, lightweight, motorized wheelchair for two tiny brothers suffering from a genetic disorder, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).  The amazing invention was also produced for under $400, easily a tenth of the cost of expensive models which are made for larger children or adults. Again, the lives of these needy children were enhanced through generous efforts of our young generations. And their efforts have ongoing benefits. Now, using their model as an open-source device, anyone can order the parts online and construct this wheelchair themselves, saving huge costs. It could be constructed easily even in the most destitute parts of the globe.
https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-students-make-worlds-lightest-least-expensive-motorized-wheelchair

Invention:  Helping A Wheelchair Bond Paraplegic Mother Move Her Infant

Finally, here is another high school student, this time from Detroit, who addressed a problem for people with mobility limitations—this time wheelchair bound mothers who needed a way to move their infants with them while in a chair. His brilliant application of engineering design, at low cost, and easy use, is breathtaking. His design helped a real paraplegic mother with an immediate need.

Now his portable stroller solution needs to be launched. Surely, someone who has seen this product will support his efforts and help promote his creation. Like the other two products, these are all applications with worldwide implications to improve the quality of life for many after young minds applied themselves to challenges others had left wanting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ8uZT6LyS8

These are only three examples of solutions being designed and applied by young students throughout the United States. We can all promote a safer learning environment for students with disabilities if we share these new discoveries in our communities. Who knows, we might just find other amazing inventions and breakthroughs in our own local schools, for there are many young brilliant minds about us if we only take time to look closely.

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​Recently I have read articles about the origins of current policies of measuring student growth and performance by use of standardized testing and, of course, the CORE directives. I rest in the camp of many teachers and parents who dislike CORE, the ‘teach to the test’ mentality, and the poor skills capacity of so many graduating and of the still attending students. Though I am a devoted Deming fan, Deming’s work was focused on inanimate product quality and consistency, not so much the spirit and soul of a human. We’ve unfortunately taken the yardstick away from corporal correctness and turned it into a barometer to evaluate human sausages being pressed like mute Play Dough out of the various shapes of a Play Dough Factory. The famed Stanford educator, Elliot Eisner, has written, “Not everything that matters can be measured, and not everything that is measured matters.”

​If our goal as a culture is to simply produce ‘hire worthy’ graduates, with the CORE as their only instituted capacity, we miss the fact that computers can now do all the functions of mathematics, writing, and reading. Computer speakers read text back to us, while creative software takes our spoken words and translates them into cogent memos, directives and policies. However, the computer does not delegate human qualities or values, including dignity, foresight and common sense. The creative element of humanity is also removed from our schools as we reduce funding for arts and other after school extracurricular programs. Instead, we have been reduced to an administrative zeitgeist of “dollars for heads…students in the seats.” Continuing this model will result in assembly-line output of mannequins; but beware, for the mannequins we see rising in the grades are sometimes angry and bitter. 

Should you be unaware of the current undercurrent of violence and disrespect rumbling throughout numerous classrooms, at every grade level, then you, dear reader, are bereft of a full picture of reality. Assaults between students are epidemic. Numbers of assaults (acts of school violence) against students, teachers, staff are rising into the stratosphere, with some districts afraid to release the actual numbers as those might drive parents even further from their embattled halls. 

If you want a blunt insight, spend some time over coffee with a police officer assigned to one of your local middle schools. There are many cited reasons for this wave of disrespect and outrage, but one, often missed, is that the “mannequins” have a soul and they realize they are being squeezed into wrappers they didn’t design. There will be a price far greater than dysfunctional adults from this generation if we don’t tilt the rudder back to a deeper humanitarian perspective…it could easily be rocks, bottles and tear gas in our streets.

Steps that parents can take on their own
to foster brighter futures for children
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But our perspectives at Safe to Learn include reaching for answers to the conundrums we face. There are no silver bullets, but there are some steps that parents can take on their own to foster brighter futures for children caught in the Catch 22 of today’s pedagogical paradigm. Here are some suggestions, including those that truly relate to safety:

• Take a first aid and CPR course with your children, including first-aid for pets
• Teach your children (and yourself) to swim
• Practice stop-drop-and roll for fire safety
• Develop and practice a home evacuation drill, including safe places to rejoin if separated
• Take your child to a police station and a fire station so they meet real first responders
• Give your child the gift that keeps giving…a library card…and teach them how to use the library
• Take nature walks with your child, and teach them which things they can and cannot touch
• Teach your child how to safely cook a simple meal
• Teach your child how to safely use a dust mop, vacuum cleaner, and to not touch cleaning chemicals
• Teach situational awareness to your children when you shop for food or at the mall, or in crowded places
• Share a letter writing experience with actual handwriting, including stamping and mailing…not just e-mail on a computer

Many of these are real life skills and experiences they may not learn from school classes or programs, but each of them opens a plethora of growth and development that will make a child more than a robot or ““mannequin” and will expand their horizons and excite their imagination.

​If you have not seen children (and some adults) using the small, spinning toys held in one hand…well, you must have been on a secret Mars expedition for Elon Musk. These three-sided little wonders (yes, some have more ‘blades’ and are large) have been characterized by school districts in a spectrum from the Devil’s plaything to an urgently needed relief for children with ADHD and other distractive disorders. Most parents I have talked with tolerate them and find them valuable for their children…except in some cases where the more expensive ones cost as much as last month’s summer utility bill or even, believe it or not, the cost of a used car. (See the most expensive spinners at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0RIhmATXd8).   Luckily, for most people, even $1 versions are easy to find at the local gas pump stations or low cost stores…but their design and safety decreases on the cheaper models.
SafetoLearn is all about safety in school systems, no matter what grade level. Surprisingly, the fidgets are now common in every grade. Even pre-K students have them. This blog will not explore fidget origins or explosive appearance in 2017, but instead propose a balanced view to their use and accommodation. 

I remember ten years ago when stress balls started to appear in classrooms. Many school districts forbid their use when some parents complained that teachers were bringing toys into the classroom, and not focusing on teaching. The basis of the problem then, as it is with fidgets now, is management of resources within the teaching space. I heard the same arguments about safety then as I am hearing now about fidgets…that they would be thrown in class, they distracted from teaching and they could be the source of slips and falls. Today the presence of stress balls is so common that most school districts have forgotten about past battles over their use. Many teachers could not survive a class without them as more children fall under the pressures of a driven culture. Besides, if we tried to take away everything in a classroom that could pose a danger in our children’s hands…we would have to take every scissors (even the safety ones), pens and pencils away as well as their cell phones that might set on fire in their backpacks. We would also have to put giant balloon pads around their hands so they didn’t poke, pull, punch, twist and pinch each other. It all comes down to management. We have some ideas to help with that challenge for fidgets to promote classroom safety and discipline.

Teachers with the most success in using these types of stress reducers have followed some basic tenants:

• Set rules early and often regarding a clear definition of use, abuse and consequences
• Students should only use the tools with permission, not open, free choice (including times when child has been under severe stress and requests additional access)
• Select times and places for their use (e.g., only when seated, only during last five minutes of class, etc.)
• Use their use as rewards for good behavior
• Set parameters about sharing
• Consider their use in morning home room with similar guidelines…not open use
• Send guidelines to parents, post them on teacher websites, and post them in the room
• Work towards continuity of guidelines throughout a district, and in each school

The outright banning of fidgets will probably not work. I know this from the many failed bans on food and drinks being present in classrooms, rules against use of profanity by middle school children and warnings about bullying.  Prohibitions simply do not work well in a culture where parents discuss at home how they cheated on taxes, stole things from work…or blithely let their children watch them roar through red lights or around school buses when stop arms are out.  We exist in an “I can get away with it” society. The best plan is to manage the fidgets in our schools in a productive and useful manner, consistently, as other restrictions will simply result in confrontation and conflict.

​As a final note, the fidgets may be a fad—a fancy like mood rings, wrist rubber bands and mullet hairdos. However, in the meantime, they should be properly evaluated for both value and any distraction to the educational process. I can only quote from one school bus driver I know who said, “Yes, I don’t want them flying around while I’m driving, either, but I’ve seen the stress level and bad behavior drop in many students since the fidgets showed up. They know I’ll take them away if they misuse them, or they can be banned off the bus. This year they respected that…and the bus got noticeably quieter, even in the afternoon runs on Fridays.”

Recent violent acts involving children and young adults worldwide give parents pause and restless nights. We are not so blind to the dangers of our world. All civilizations have faced forces of danger, whether from other humans or the wrath of Mother Nature. Childbirth alone, until the last hundred years, remained a compelling peril. Parents so often prayed, “I just want it to have all its fingers and toes.”

Now we find ourselves in a paradigm of deliberate targeting of children through acts of thoughtless violence, terrorism and trafficking. Not that some of these acts just now appeared, but never in such blatant scales of bravado, challenging every parent to hold their child tighter each day. When we see a school attacked or a public venue exposed to violence, the scenes of terrified parents rushing through the streets, desperate to find their missing youngsters, will not soon leave our memories. I remember discussing the evacuation protocols for a nuclear power plant accident with a local sheriff. When I asked how he planned to manage all the parents rushing to the schools to gather their children, instead of following directions to wait outside the evacuation zone, his response was that he would have armed officers block the roads. He was shocked when all the women in the room wagged their heads in agreement when I told him he would have wounded and dead officers if they stood between rural ranch women and their  cubs. He just didn’t get it, since he had not been a parent.

The scar from the loss of a child in any family cuts deep and long. That shadow can deaden emotions for a generation, no matter what mental health or religious interdictions are applied. When we see the glassy-gaze of a refugee mother in a dreary camp, surviving the loss of her children to war, drought and disease, we know that woman’s soul has been tested to its limits. Her hope is lost. She was left on her own in a desert of loneliness and despair.

What can any one person do to climb out from the horror of these losses? The answer is usually little. There needs to be a blanket of support to catch and recover the parents, brothers and sisters, and so many others in a community after losing children before they could reach their potential. In cases where many fatalities occur, it takes a regional and even national outpouring of support. Donating funds is helpful. Bringing signs of support at the scene of the tragedy has some value…but usually not for those directly impacted. The real recovery is a continuous effort of remembrance and caring. Some of these are best expressed through the formation of non-profits to prevent further losses. Some are provided by public monuments or the naming of parks, streets or memorial areas. Another way is through funding educational activities from the publicly donated funds, so that other children may move on and blossom, knowing their success was partially due to the memory of others who were taken too early.  Finally, public officials can pass laws and ordinances that address the threats that caused the loss, or mitigate the risks through other actions such as infrastructure improvements or better public safety planning.
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When a culture and its leaders take a “that’s just life” approach after the loss of children, instead of a proactive agenda, then hope is tossed down a dry well…and the glassy gaze begins to grow across the land.

Hope can return when there are outcomes that make other children safer, promoting better continuity of youth survival. If nothing changes, when changes can be made, the wounds deepen, sarcasm grows and a culture begins to decay. 

Why did you even start a tough challenge like teaching? Did a relative of yours teach? Did a teacher change your life so you joined to improve kids’ lives, too? Maybe you read the book, Today I Made a Difference. Perhaps you watched movies like To Sir with Love or Goodbye, Mr. Chips. No matter what stirring ideas brought you to this beloved but troubled profession, you know when success fills your heart with joy, while failures keep you awake nights. Yet, you have secret needs for teaching success no one else seems to know.

I’ve discovered four secret things all teachers crave right now.  Principals and parents may not instantly identify these…and they are not improved hours or more pay. Far from it. So, what are these four secret needs?

HOPE
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Brighter tomorrows; isn’t that a target every teacher imagines possible? Yes, of course, yet in the last two decades too many teachers have seen the light vanish in children’s eyes. A dull film covers their stares. Not every child. Not every age group. But, the glassy gaze is moving into elementary children and is often present in seniors, struggling to start a new life beyond high school. These students were pummeled with trials and tribulations most of us could not imagine in average American households just twenty years ago. Drugs, gun violence, cyber bullying and broken family turmoil infiltrate their existence.  A general ennui creeps through children we dare to prepare each day. Teachers encounter childhood depression frequently, leading them to lose their hope to be healers of despair. We labor to inspire those in our classrooms to rise above darkness. That is the first, deeply seated need teachers seek right now—hope. We need to truly hope there is a better future if we all strive for together, using education as a foundation.

​We, the classroom leaders, need to know that our school administrators are guided in this belief and driven to support all teachers to help achieve a greater future. We need confidence in our school boards, parents and community leaders. We pray for it to be the hallmark of our national politicians…but we are losing our grip on that belief.

What we need are great stories of success instead of continuous dark reports of teachers who prey on students, violence on school grounds and school board members being dragged to jail for corruption. Safe to Learn is going to foster a journey for hope by publishing more stories at this site about positive, powerful victories that educators and students achieved together. Hope is the engine of success.

TRUST

How often have we taught children that integrity comes down to saying what you mean, and meaning what you say? We cannot shield our students from the current culture of lying and deception reported in almost every profession and walk of life. Whether it is false advertising, fake news on the Internet or even rumors in our school…each day is filled with fallacious information that degrades our continued trust in anyone or any source. How can our students accept our information and training if they think it is all frivolous, skewed, imaginary or tainted? The battle over textbook content is a powerful example. If adults cannot agree on what is valid or true in books our kids are required to read, how can our children be expected to rely on anything we bring to them for growth and development?

Teachers deeply crave trust from their students. We want them to know we have their best interests every day, inside and outside of the classroom. We also want administrators to trust our dedication and approach to support student’s needs, rather than squelch our insights, creativity and outreach. We want parents to support our suggestions for their children’s success, knowing we are partners in the same cause…a child’s future. Finally, we want civic leaders at all levels to know that our dedication and education have prepared us to manage and protect the most valuable asset in the world…children.

BELIEF 

If drivers ignore street signs, signals and markings on the roadway…horrible accidents occur. Some drivers are distracted. Some do not know how to read, yet drive without a license. However, some simply do not consider critical elements for their safety as their responsibility. They have lost belief. They become a law unto themselves without concern for others or the repercussions of their acts.

Teachers face classrooms filled with students without belief in many important forces, from the value of laws, personal responsibility for conduct, civility and even personal hygiene. The scariest loss is discovering children without belief in their own value. We see it so often in kids who no longer see any future path ahead. Their sense of personal worth is degraded to the point that nothing has value.

Teachers need the entire village to pull together to find pathways of belief to return. This can come from successful school projects and personal accountability. It can come from community support from faith-based outreach and other non-profit activities outside of the school system. Certainly, it arises from a base of improved parenting. Most of all, it must come from a strong, life-affirming curriculum that denies a catastrophic mentality of world collapse combined with promoting hopelessness for children’s future in a doomed world. That mindset must be turned around. Again, kids need to hear the same success stories SafetoLearn will promote. They need to believe they can forge powerful destinies. They need to know other kids succeeded even when faced with the same challenges they have in their lives.

VISION

Teachers are master navigators. We can see the dangers of the voyage ahead for our students. Sometimes it is a hidden special need that we recognize, which was somehow missed by previous schools or educational screeners, like autism or dyslexia. Often it is call for emotional support, from crisis counseling to anger management. We have the vision to identify issues so they can be managed, rather than leaving a student crushed simply because no one took the time to look a little deeper at their life’s map.

Teachers want the same vision for their profession. That means consistency in defining the most productive path forward so students get the best a community can offer. That may not mean they will have all the advantages of every school in the country. It means that policies and means are fairly distributed so that a community allows all boats to rise, not just a few. It also means having the foresight to clearly identify the fact that teaching to meet a standard test does not mean children are educated.

​Children cannot become fully competent adults without basic tools, including life skills, critical thinking and effective problem solving. Without skills to make their way forward, they can become confused robots designed only for the bidding of the powerful and greedy. Unfortunately, as they become more frustrated, they will become angry robots. That can lead to mob mentality and a fracturing of the social order. Teachers understand this and they want to foster student’s abilities to create paths to success based on well-honed skills. This includes capacities to identify challenges ahead of them so they can make sound decisions, avoiding bad choices. Teachers want to arm them to manage their futures to their best possible outcomes. That requires vision.
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Hope, trust, belief and vision are foundations in the Safe to Learn community of educators and safety specialists striving every day to ensure our classroom teachers can build a brighter tomorrow for all who enter their sacred space of learning.
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To learn more about Safe to Learn, and how we dedicate ourselves to educational excellence, please explore our vision and resources at www.safetolearn.com.