Report Examines School Safety and Threat Response Tech Solutions
- By Kate Lucariello
- 11/09/22
Parks
Associates has released a new report, “Leveraging Tech to Improve
Security and Safety in Schools,” an overview of how technologies
utilizing AI and machine learning can initiate a rapid response to a
threat situation and how legislation and training can support that
goal.
The
paper notes that there is no standard or mandate uniformly applied
across the nation’s 130,930 public and private K–12 schools,
based on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data. During
the 2019-20 school year, one or more violent events occurred on 70%
of school campuses, and 25% experienced serious violent incidents,
NCES
found.
Looking
to move beyond only lockdowns as a response to such incidents, the
paper explains how AI and machine learning (ML) work, with two
primary ML techniques, human-supervised and unsupervised. Automated
AI responses such as “situational awareness” video cameras,
gunshot detection, panic buttons, and automated calls can help human
response in an emergency. The white paper examines tech such as
personal emergency response systems (PERS), smart tags, audio/visual
monitoring technology to screen visitors, firearm detection, visitor
counts, teacher-controlled remote door locking, two-way wireless
protocols, and software systems that integrate existing security
measures and can be easily incorporated in a building’s existing
construction. Recent federal and state legislation and funding
sources that can make the process of purchasing such measures less
burdensome on schools are also outlined.
Parks
Associates is a market research and consulting company specializing
in researching emerging technology and partnering with companies that
provide tech solutions for consumer and small to medium businesses
and education. Go
to this page to access the white paper. For more about
Parks Associates, visit
their home page.
About the Author
Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.