As a principal or superintendent, you must keep your children safe. This not only eases your students’ minds but also makes their parents trust you and your school. How do you make your students feel safer at your school? We’ll go over some methods here.
Create a School Safety Plan
A school safety plan ensures your students stay safe, especially in case of emergencies. It outlines procedures and protocols you should put in place, including fire drills, active shooter drills, or natural disaster drills.
Random drills will tremendously help students and staff handle emergencies. Describe various changes you can make to help your children in an emergency. Where are all the entrances and exits? If you bought a used school bus, ensure it is safe if something happens. Additionally, you should create a reporting policy so students can report to adults if they notice anything suspicious. Students must know they can rely on you and the plan to feel safe at school.
Help Your Students Cope
Learn how to challenge the thoughts that make students anxious about school shootings and other emergencies at school. If they say they don’t feel safe at school, direct them to the plan your safety plan and encourage them to focus on what they can control and know that everyone works hard to ensure their safety. When we feel a lack of control, we feel more anxious, so it’s important to teach kids to respond appropriately to various events, including bullying, teasing, and fighting. You might want to consider seminars and workshops for this reason.
Be There for Them
Don’t sugarcoat or automatically dismiss the needs and concerns of your students. Remember, they are your student body, and their opinion matters. Address their questions, and be honest if you don’t know the answer. Involve parents if you notice something is off like the children are anxious when sitting in class or reluctant to come to school in the first place. Build your relationship with them, and you’ll be surprised how far it will take you when making your students feel safer at school.
You can make your students feel safe and at home in your school in many ways. If you follow our tips above, you’ll be well on your way to a good working relationship with your students.
