First off.  Honesty.  I was a victim of severe and repetitive bullying throughout my childhood and even into young adulthood.  I haven’t shared that fact with anybody.  Nobody!  However, since Chapter 6 in my book chronicles my tale in detail, soon anyone who picks up a copy will know.  The fact that I am 76 and am just now sharing that truth should tell you – if you don’t already know -the bottomless damage bully can do to a child.  My bullying covered every level available, and I speculate that it uncovered and entered areas beforehand unknown.

Maybe someday I will write a novel-length true story about Eugene Fassbinder and me.  Eugene was a beautiful person.  An artist.  All I am going to write here is that Eugene – or, as I called him, Gene-the-Machine (in school, he was Gene-the-Fag, Gene the Freak), shot himself to death after running a half-mile on a freezing night and waiting at the end of his lane for a girl he had a crush on, a girl who never intended to pick him up as she promised, and seeing pictures of himself the next week of him waiting in the cold, blowing into his hands and one of him crying.

This is not what I had intended to write when I began this post.  But, you see, this is what happens, even though centuries have gone by since the last anyone had the temerity to bully me.  Still, it remains, as if it happened yesterday.  Maybe since I was strapped to a huge cement cross on Easter and left all alone.  Since I was tackled and stripped of my shorts after I had sunk a 25-footer during basketball practice, in front of scores of student onlookers, and forced to walk across the gym only in a jock strap.  Since I was pulled over the back of my seat on the school bus – that fu**ing hell-on-wheels – by the hair by a much bigger kid and beat mercilessly by a gang of students once I landed.  Or maybe it was when I was tackled by half the boys in my gym class, thrown to the hardwood floor and beaten and – once again – stripped of my clothing and then laughed at for reasons to humiliating to go into here.  Often, it is a matter of which one of these unspeakable assaults will wake me up tonight and not allow me to again find sleep.  Sixty-some ludicrous years later….

Still, I remember.  I also remember that almost every mind-numbing attack occurred in the presence and/or the knowledge of a teacher or responsible adult.  None came forward,  None as in no one.

Let me finish by saying what is obvious.  Bullying may easily be the worst thing that happens to our children in school and in the community.  It happens even in the home.  Over the next few posts, then, I will go into this in more depth and talk about how parents, teachers, administrators, and fellow students can intervene on this.

Until then, stand up for yourself and

Never Give up.

The Hammer

DE-ESCALATION TECHNIQUES & STUDENT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES.

How about a few common sense strategies that can help teachers maintain a safe and productive classroom?

• Know what you want and what you don’t want.  I know:  Dog crap simple.  But bear with me; by adhering to the basics is at the heart of defusing problems before they escalate.
• Show and Tell.  Simple.  Show & tell your students what it is you want from them.  Show & Tell when you first engage your class(es).
• When You Get What You Want, Acknowledge.  Give appropriate and specific praise..as opposed to general, unearned praise.
• Now, When You Get Something Else, Act QUICKly & APPROPRIATELY (more on this in pursuant post).
• SET EXPECTATIONS & COMMUNICATE THEM:
• Post Rules, Protocols.
• Explain School-wide Rules Carefully.
• Monitor Compliance Constantly.
• Don’t establish rules you are unable or unwilling to enforce.
• Important Tip:  Clearly & specifically define what unwanted actions, behaviors and attitudes are and be clear about the consequences of non-compliance.

A FEW TIPS ON MANAGING TOXIC BEHAVIOR

1. Early Detection of Disruptive Behavior Crucial.
2. Move closer to Offending Student(s)/Make Eye-Contact/Give Non-verbal Signs Designed to Discourage Behavior.
3. Call the Student By name and/or give instructions to stop (I know, easier said than done).
4. Redirect Offending Student’s inappropriate behavior to the Desired Responsible Actions:  My De-Escalation Course suggests something like:
5. “Everybody, please direct your attention at the white board (or screen) and read it along with me.  I need to see everyone’s eyes looking here…”  Now, folks, that is pretty clear, don’t you think?  Not only clear, it is considerate, positive and task-oriented.  It is positive reinforcement and it is not only easy to do, but it is a task every student should know is required of him/her/them because when you first started your class you discussed what you want and what you do not want!

More on de-escalating toxic behavior in next post.

Until then, Stay Safe.

The Hammer

Okay, now the country gets a few days of peace.  A respite.  But, then, last night, here we go again.  The Borderline Bar and Grille in Thousands Oaks, California.  What could a crowd of line dancers happily dancing have done to inspire murder?  I have to ask myself (and you).  People young and old, literally lined up to be easily massacred.  A cop is shot and killed trying to intervene.

In between we had two black people shot and killed by a madman after he tried to enter a church but was rebuffed by locked doors.  The maniac simply walked next door to a 7-11 and shot the people.

I think the tally is 275 mass shootings in 2018.  There may be more.

What I believe and fear is that there will be more and more of these coming if we don’t do something soon.  In my next few posts, I will discuss what I think we must do.

Hint.  A killer was rebuffed by locked doors.

Stay Safe.  It is getting harder to do.

Harry The Hammer     

To identify threats, school officials are advised to:

• Focus on individual’s thinking & behavior as indicators of their progress on a pathway to school/workplace violence.  Remember:  individuals who commit violent acts do not match pre-established profiles.  If you peruse my past posts, you will find various ways to relate “thinking and behaviors” to this paradigm.  Briefly, though, observe what they do, how they do it, the level of (dis)comfort of those around him or her, etc.
• Focus on those who pose a threat, not only on those who explicitly communicate a threat.  Prior to launching an attack, he or she may provide evidence that they have engaged in thinking, planning, and logistical preparations.  My studies show that shooter-killers cannot help but communicate their intentions and plans in numerous ways.  Like communicating to a trusted friend(s), or someone whom they believe is a like-thinking person (a hater).  Most write in diaries and journals and inevitably take part in attack-related conduct.  Remember, they must decide on a victim(s), an ideal time and location, securing the right weapons, secreting the weapons, practicing on improving their marksmanship, purchasing and gathering ammunition and bringing both into the school or workplace at the pre-selected time!
• Think of it.  In my mind, it would be a rare phenomenon that no one had a clue that the shooter-killer is “thinking and behaving” like someone who is about to launch a serious attack!  I mean someone, a parent(s), a friend, a fellow student(s), a teacher, a police officer, the head of a gun range – SOMEONE – if communications between the school and the community is open, so someone(s0 can tell other someones and stop this Killer Shooter!

There is indeed more to the Secret Service’s assessment paradigm.  And more to my studies.  Later Dudes and Dudettes!

Until then, Stay safe.

The Hammer

Well, maybe not entirely based upon gut feelings, dogs.  There is the shooting during an e-Sports competition in Jacksonville, of all things. A few days ago, a competitor (who lost during the competition) up and sprays the place with a dozen or so rounds, killing at least two, wounding several others, and then turns the gun on himself.  The shooter wasn’t a terrorist, mind you.  Just some pathetic soul lugging around more than his share of pain and tribulation.  Since he was also carrying a gun, I have to believe he had planned to unleash this travesty upon innocent people, probably for a long time.  Kill every-fu**ing one, get yourself some closure on all your problems eating away at your soul, and, what the hell, shoot yourself for good measure.

Typical Active Shooter Thinking, by the way.

E-Sports, I am told, will be addressing the issue of (increased) security probably for the first time.  What do schools need to do, if anything?  Well, for starters, here are a few general suggestions.  But there is more.  Much more, of course.

• Develop a Crisis Management Team, if one has not been incepted.
• Develop and/or intensify Critical Incident Training (Scenario Related).
• Seek to strengthen communications between administrators, teachers, students and parents.  Shooting incidents rarely propel themselves out of nowhere.  More often than not, parents and/or students have intel aboit a potential shooter long before the incident occurs.
• In the next post I will be addressing some of there, and others.

Until then, Stay Safe.

The Hammer

THE ALL-IMPORTANT FUNDAMENTALS OF CROWD MANAGEMENT

1. ADVANCED TRAINING AND PLANNING ARE CRUCIAL.  Leaders and venue hosts should do their pre-event homework.  Of course, all venues are different and require different levels of research and planning, including who will be doing the entertaining, controversial issues that performer(s) usually present, etc.    Research previous if any crowd problems or issues, anticipated crowd size, expected crowd demographics.   Obviously, leaders should assure that there will be adequate coverage.  I understand that your security organization might not have the capability of providing hands-on training before all events (or, in my experience, any events), but I believe it is important that leaders, planners, administrators…
2. DOCUMENT AND CIRCULATE THEIR FINDINGS AND PROTOCOL(S) TO THEIR STAFF.  Too often security personnel report to events with little or no idea the nature of the venue.  Often it is just an address and maybe a terse description of the nature of the event and the crowd.  “Top Forties rock and roll band at Johnson Hall.  Six P.M. until t6he end of the event.”  Once the staff reports there is a meeting led by the leader(s) where instructions and roles are discussed and questions answered.   If I know anything about law enforcement and (providing professional) security it is this:  Proper Documentation Rocks!  Documentation provides legal justification, limits of authority, worst case scenarios, and what I love best, clear instructions regarding crowd control, exits, barricades, etc.
3. PUBLIC AND CROWD AWARENESS.  For many security operations, informing your crowd may be difficult, but to the extent that you can accomplish this the safer you and your venue (and the people in the crowd) will be.  Basically, public and crowd awareness requires the security operation (and the venue host, maybe) to educate its patrons on the type of conduct that will be required and the consequences of failure to adhere to venue policy, rules and regulations.  This is important in that you are communicating in a professional way how their behavior impacts their safety and that of others.  Venue rules, therefore, should be posted as clearly as possible and areas of security should be made public.
4.   A WELL TRAINED STAFF IS A SAFE STAFF AND A PROFESSIONAL STAFF.  I will keep this brief, but I have been involved in staff development for decades (research, development and training) and I know this to be relentless and true as a draftsman’s pencil:  Dynamic training leads to total threat management skills.  Whenever possible agencies should conduct role play and/or scenario training where staff experiences realistic crowd management scenarios in a safe environment.  
5. A CROWD MANAGEMENT PLAND AND EMERGENCY PLAN SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO SECURITY STAFF!
6. CPR AND FIRST AID TRAINING IS SUGGESTED FOR OFFICERS DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC.
7. ALL VENUE SECURITY STAFF SHOULD HAVE THEIR NAMES & IDENTIFICATION CREDENTIALS CLEARLY DISPLAYED.
8. FINALLY, SECURITY OPERATIONS AND STAFF SHOULD BE ABLE TO LEARN FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE(S) by meeting after an event and discussing what might have gone wrong, what they might do differently at future events, etc.  I call this Post Event Intelligence, and, in many instances knowledge gained in these sessions can be as important to staff and venue safety as our Pre-Event Intelligence Sessions!

Until the next post, stay safe.

The Hammer

• “Code.”  “Coding,” to me, is an important 1st step.  This means that security can connect with a crowd by thinking like the crowd.  When dealing with aggressive and/or disturbed individuals, this is called empathy, a crucial step in de-escalation.   Understand that congestion causes tension.  Add in other factors like hot or cold weather and stay aware of the shifting or escalating emotions of the crowd.  Stay aware of these emotions and be prepared to verbally assuage feelings, relieve congestion when possible, and/or adjust your tactics to deal with encroaching violence.
• Coding Step 2.  Understand that, as a uniformed symbol of authority, you and your team have the ability (and responsibility) to prevent the eruption of mob behavior.  Coding, Step 2 dictates that you maintain a visible presence and follow the following guidelines.

ACT PROFESSIONALLY – do not swagger, strut, or swear. Minimize physical contact with the audience.

STAY FOCUSED ON THE CROWD, NOT THE EVENT.

ELIMINATE ANY PERSONAL RESPONSE/REMAIN PROFESSIONAL, SHOWING MINIMAL EMOTIONS.  A key rule in defusing a crowd or individual is not to take words or actions personally.  Do not respond to taunts, profanity or insults.

BE COURTEOUS & CONSIDERATE, BUT NEVER SUBSERVIENT.  YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF SCENARIO AND YOURSELF (PERCEPTION IS REALITY).

SPEAK IN AN EVEN TONE OF VOICE.  DO NOT TRY TO “OUTSHOUT” AGGRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS.

SET REASONABLE AND ACTIONABLE LIMITS FOR DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR AND ALWAYS, ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN OR ACTION IN MIND.

There are other suggestions and protocols I can suggest, of course, but time and space restrict me.  However, the following key principles of de-escalation might be wise to consider whenever facing a hostile crowd or person:

THE “DEFUSE” EQUATION

Don’t Lose Your Cool & Depersonalize (Don’t Take It Personally).  Practice Cycle Breathing and Mental Conditioning to remain calm/more on this in future and past posts.

Empathize & Ego Suspension.  Ego, along with bad tone, is a destructive force when a professional takes words and resistance personally.

Find out the Facts (don’t assume/ask artful questions).

Understand Feelings (Empathy again).

Show RESPECT (BAD GUY DOESN’T HAVE TO DESERVE RESPECT, BUT WE MUST SHOW IT!).

End on a Positive Note & Empower those who cooperate.

Until the next time, Stay Safe

The Hammer

Me, I have spent considerable time observing and researching issues which occurred in our schools in recent years.  Episodes I think of as Critical Incidents.  Which are emergency events involving (threats of) harm to students, educational personnel, and/or facilities requiring immediate and effective responses.

Obviously, the most harmful – to say the least – are the catastrophic active shooter events where scores of innocent students and teachers are killed or seriously injured.  Ruining the lives of families and scarring survivors forever.  However, all you have to do is scroll back through my over 200 posts on Keep Schools Safe to view my suggestions on planning, preparing, practicing, and even performing to minimize the damage these miscreants (shooter/killers) do.

But what about bullying?  Safely separating fighting students?  Hostage scenarios?

All these and other issues coming starting next week.

Until then, stay safe?

Hammer

]]> http://www.keepschoolssafe.org/preventing-a-weapon-related-assault-in-your-school-or-workplace/ Tue, 03 Jul 2018 13:19:53 +0000 http://www.keepschoolssafe.org/?p=987 Howdy, friends.  Thought today I should opine on preventing weapons assaults in our schools.  Perhaps like you I was bothered by the horrendous recent active shooter event at a Maryland newspaper where five innocent workers lost their lives at the hands of an irate crazy person.  As usual, this inspired me to once again encourage our school’s (and workplace’s) Security Staff to redouble its ability to prevent another such shooting by honing our awareness and prevention skills.

Thing is, students and visitors can easily carry & use weapons on any campus if school officials are not alert to issues surrounding detection & prevention.  For the sake of my credibility, allow me to add that, for over 30-years, I trained educational, health care, law enforcement, criminal justice, security and military professionals (and non-professionals) on the Art of Detection (of concealed & unconcealed weapons).  I think I posted some articles here entitled Develop Uncanny X-Ray Vision.

WEAPONS CONCEALED IN CLOTHING

With a little practice and a lot of what I call Situational Awareness (or, Intelligence), teachers, administers, security personnel, other students (whose lives may be endangered) and even parents can detect when an unauthorized student or visitor is toting a concealed firearm (edged weapons are a little different, but I can teach you how to detect them some other time).  Guns can be concealed in a pocket, in a waistband, in a purse, in book bags, practically anywhere.  Here is how to be your own Metal Detector:

• He or she will walk differently if a weapon is concealed in a waistband.  Here is a key.  If you are aware of how a student walks “normally,” you will be immediately be capable of detecting the difference now.  Because of the gun’s location, the subject will short-step going up or down stairwells.  Going up or down stairs, a gun secreted in a waistband will cause the leg on the side of the weapon to short step.  If you are paying attention – and I hope you are – it will look like the person has just now developed a “hitch in his giddyup.”  A limp.
• If it is in his or her pocket (pretty common), he or she will generally try to double-conceal the weapon by wearing a coat.  If it is in the pocket of a coat, look for the collar to be super-tight on the side of the concealed weapon.
• If it is concealed in a pocket of the coat, you can detect the weapon easily because he will unconsciously touch that pocket from time to time.  This is called “Indexing,” an act to assure himself that his weapon is still there.  If he or she runs or moves a little quicker, he or she will hold that coat pocket because that pocket-side will “fly out” as he or she moves!
• If it is secreted in the pocket of a jacket or coat, you will see that the collar of the jacket or coat will be very tight against his or her neck on the side of the gun!t
• If he or she takes a seat, the person will sit carefully (to avoid the gun making a telltale sound), and, again, will hold that pocket.  The same things go if the person has a gun concealed in his waistband.
• Here’s something else.  The very last thing the potential shooter does not want is to be detected.  The thing is, though, that this conscious decision to (A) carry a weapon into a no-gun zone, and (B) unleash hell on students, teachers and others, forces the brain to communicate to its host (the body) to commit itself to a “Detection Dance.”  Whether the shooter knows it or not, when walking past a teacher or security, he or she will unconsciously sidle (blade his or her body so that the gun, although hidden, cannot be detected.  That is a lot of words to warn teachers and security to watch for the “Body Blading.”

Disguised Weapons

Of course, firearms aren’t the only weapon type that can threaten your safety.  Students also have easy access to a mind boggling array of inexpensive, disguised weapons.  A razor disguised as lipstick,  ball point pen knives, and pocket calculators containing hidden knives, to name just a few.  The damage-value of each weapon can be measured in their disguises, their difficulty to detect.

Next Post.  What to do once you detect a weapon(s)?

Until then, Stay Safe.

The Hammer

School staff should understand that certain situations and scenarios can be precursors to a physical assault.  One of these precursors is Verbal Abuse.  There are other significant Red Flags or Signatures of Danger – and I will address those in a pursuant post – but let’s stay on this one for the time being.

ON DEFLECTING VERBAL ABUSE

As my regular readers are aware, I am an Advanced De-Escalation Techniques (and a former Advanced Verbal Judo Instructor) instructor and a great deal of my de-escalation training programs concentrate on dealing with and managing verbal attack patterns (VAPS) and how to effectively manage verbal abuse.  It is especially important in this context (teachers facing first verbal abuse and seconds later a physical assault).  Safely defusing or managing (deflecting) verbal attacks is simple, easy and effective over 98% of the time (me, I think 100% ofr the time, but why be greedy?).  Here’s how we can do it:

• Step 1, Stay Cool.  Do Not Take These Attacks Personally.  Respond Professionally, not Emotionally/Personally.
• Step 2, Depreciate the Verbal Icon, meaning attribute zero emotional merit to the student’s profanity, insults, attempts to intimidate (take threats seriously though/more in a later post).
• Step 3, Mirror Calm.  Calm is contagious, just like anger and rage and fear.
• Step 4.  Deflect rather than Absorb these insults, et al.

To deflect the VAP, we must first Strip the assault of any and all merit (depreciate) with a cool Strip Phrase, which will effectively jump over or depreciate the VAP or attack.

(1)  Strip Phrases might include one of these:

“You may be right, but….”

“I ‘preciate that, but…”

“I hear that, but…”

“You got some bad date there, but…”

“I understand what you are saying, but…”

(2)  Use the word “but”  Every word after “but” is designed to achieve your professional objective.”

(3)  Always remember and never forget that this deflection equation sounds and looks Professional, not personal (and vindictive).

A REAL INTERACTION (that happened to me) USING THIS DEFLECTION TECHNIQUE

• Bad Guy (A three-time parole recidivist).  “Listen, you faggot asshole, take one step toward me and I will light you and your fu**ing posse up once and for all!”
• Good Guy.  “I hear that, Virgil, you got some bad data there, BUT for your safety and ours, we still need you to turn around nice and slow and put your hands behind you.  You understand that if you cooperate, you won’t get hurt.  It is all up to you, Virg…”
• Bad Guy.  Looks at me and the two other parole officers with me, looks around and sees no one is stepping in to help him (this went down on a street corner)), shakes his head and mumbles that someday, Harry, it’ll just be me and you and then we will see.  Then he slowly turns around and gives us his hands to cuff.
• Good Guy.  I record the threat in my memory (the confrontation never happened/he was selling “wolf tickets”) and remain professional.  “Thank you, Virg, for cooperating.  I will mention it at your hearing.”

In conclusion, in the above exchange, I added Peace Phrases to absorb the tension and keep from knocking over the Dignity Domino.  These Peace Phrases included “for your safety and mine;” you understand that, if you cooperate, you won’t get hurt;” and “it’s all up to you.”