Danger on school grounds can be prevented, tech company says

A physical security company says schools should take action to prevent, rather than respond to, safety risks and security breaches on school grounds.

Catching students vaping, bullying or vandalising early, before it becomes a bigger behavioural issue, can mitigate any negative effects on learning, it says.

Security solutions organisation Genetec's ethos is to use technology to be proactive towards safety disasters, rather than reactive.

The company provides security services like CCTV, license plate scanning, vape and smoke detectors, access points and school bus monitoring to education providers across Australia.

Bad behaviour, drug-taking and violence in schools has increased post Covid-19 pandemic, especially in NSW and South Australia.

"It's the first line of defense or detection. It is working actively in the background to pick up threats or unwanted visitors, such as vehicles or cars entering when they shouldn't be," national sales manager William Glasson said.

"This is the technology that will help you understand the threat, then create an alert or the action. It's more of an active security rather than being in the background."

He said a heightened security network, that has elements that "talk to each other," can improve the experience for teachers in the classroom through easier communication between classrooms, more efficient roll-marking processes and easy-to-access standard operating procedures.

"Teachers have a role in fostering a secure environment through communication. So, understanding what the security plans are, safekeeping action plans, locking the classroom door, and also understanding and practicing drills, like an evacuation drill," Mr Glasson explained.

"Also, in making sure students can also report anything that they see as a threat or security risk as well, and make sure that there's open dialogue being fostered as well, because that's good information coming in from many eyes."

He said the future of physical and electronic safety is akin to pollen detectors in classrooms for asthma safety, gas leak detection and live roll-marking apps.

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"Electronic security by itself isn't quite enough, and needs to be part of a broader safety plan. So, when something is detected, schools can ask, 'What's the next step? Who's taking ownership? What's the response?'" he asked.

"Understanding what those procedures need to be in certain scenarios is really important."

When asked if increased security could make students more fearful of threats that aren't necessarily there, like intruders at school pick up times, Mr Glasson said it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the small number of actual threats to student safety that exist.

"The threats that we're addressing here are much more serious than some banter on the playground," he said.

"Ninety-nine times out of 100, the person that's on school grounds when they shouldn't be is sometimes just cutting through to get to the shops or something like that. No big deal. It's that one per cent we're looking at."

Read more: Why has Clare invested in private teacher training?  –  opinion | In Norway, students get grades for their behaviour – could this work in Australia?

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