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 School Safety Topics

School Safety Topics encompass emergency preparedness, bullying prevention, internet safety, fire drills, campus security, mental health awareness, and substance abuse prevention. Resources for dealing with School Safety Topics are crucial for raising awareness, fostering preparedness, and empowering individuals to respond effectively to potential threats. They enhance community involvement, promote a safer environment, and ensure a collective effort toward the well-being of students, staff, and the community.

MCSS disseminates information from state and national school safety organizations.​​ Together, let's educate ourselves on emergency preparedness, promote anti-bullying initiatives, and prioritize mental health awareness. We can create a safer environment for our students, staff, and community by taking action and sharing resources. MCSS aims to empower our community by embracing School Safety ​ Topics.​

Listen to discussions of school safety topics with various expert guests, hosted by the National Center for School Safety:​ PodcastsGraphic Design (1920x1080).png​​​​

Disclaimer: The sharing of any non-MCSS information does not constitute an endorsement of products or services on the part of the MCSS.​​​​

School safety topics & resources are listed be​low​​​ :

Adult Sexual Misconduct

 
youth.gov is the U.S. government website that helps you create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. Included are youth facts, funding information, and tools to help you assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and keep up-to-date on the latest youth-related news.

REMS TA Center aims to help education agencies, with their community partners, manage safety, security, and emergency management programs. The REMS TA Center builds preparedness capacity (including prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts) of schools, school districts, IHEs, and their local, state, and Federal community partners. It also serves as the primary source of information dissemination for schools, school districts, and IHEs for emergencies via the REMS TA Center Website.

For further information on these topics please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​

Bullying and Cyberbullying​

 

​​Free Digital Resources - Online Safety for Kids & Families

NetSmartz is NCMEC's online safety education program. It provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children be safer online with the goal of helping children to become more aware of potential online risks and empowering them to help prevent victimization by making safer choices on- and offline. ​

​​​National Center for Missing & Exploited Children​

NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children. 


The Cyberbullying Research Center has information and presentations broken out into many school safety categories, including cyberbullying, social media usage, and more. 

Not In Our Town 

This movement was created to stop hate, address bullying, and build safe and inclusive communities. The site contains information on how to start a campaign and resources regarding diversity, inclusion, hazing, and mental health. 

​Preparing and Responding to Cyberbullying: Tips for Law Enforcement

This tip card, jointly prepared by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), includes more than 20 recommendations from subject-matter experts working in law enforcement, youth trauma, mental health, computer crimes, victim services, and education. It provides guidance on cyberbullying prevention, preparation, response and investigation to law enforcement administrators and first responders.

StopBullying.gov

Managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this website provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying. 


Bullying Prevention Resources from the Comm​​ittee for Children

Dedicated to promoting the safety, well-being, and success of children in school and in life, this resource is meant to empower kids and the adults around them with information and resources to help them understand what bullying is, who is affected by it, and what you and your community can do to prevent it.


Maryland State Department of Education - Bullying Prevention

​The Student Services and Alternative Programs Branch staff provide leadership and technical assistance to local school systems to promote a safe environment conducive to learning and free from bullying and harassment.

National Association of School Psychologists - Bullying Prevention

The National Association of School Psychologists is committed to supporting accessible, high-quality education that prepares our children for college, work, and citizenship. Creating safe and supportive schools that are free from bullying, discrimination, harassment, aggression, violence, and abuse is essential to this mission. This resource can assist families and educators in bullying prevention.​


For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​​​​

Dating Violence

 

LoveIsRespect.org

LoveIsRespect’s purpose is to engage, educate, and empower young people to prevent and end abusive relationships. Highly trained advocates offer support, information, and advocacy to young people who have questions or concerns about their dating relationships. They also provide information and support to concerned friends and family members, teachers, counselors, service providers, and members of law enforcement.

A free online course is available to educators, school personnel, youth mentors, and others dedicated to improving teen health. Follow a school administrator throughout his day as he highlights what teen dating violence is and how to prevent it through graphic novel scenarios, interactive exercises, and information gathered from leading experts.

One Love educates young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships, empowering them to identify and avoid abuse and learn how to love better.  Love is the most important thing in our lives, yet we are taught little about it. One Love is on a mission to change that. They educate young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships, empowering them to identify and avoid abuse and learn how to love better.

Building off a long history of research in the area of intimate partner violence, the National Institute of Justice is now looking to relationships during adolescence to understand the factors that put individuals at risk for involvement in abusive romantic relationships as adults. NIJ is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. They are dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. They provide objective and independent knowledge and tools to inform the decision-making of the criminal and juvenile justice communities to reduce crime and advance justice, particularly at the state and local levels.

Check out Speak Up. Speak Out. to learn how you can help prevent sexual violence in your school and community.  Sexual assault in schools and at colleges and universities is a major concern. This resource provides information on the needs required for schools to set up prevention programs in schools and communities successfully.

Operating around the clock, seven days a week, confidential and free of cost, the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides lifesaving tools and immediate support to enable victims to find safety and live lives free of abuse. Callers to The Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) can expect highly trained, experienced advocates to offer compassionate support, crisis intervention information, educational services, and referral services in more than 200 languages. 

This resource provides information and additional resources to women and their children facing domestic violence. The House of Ruth group leads the fight to end violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors, and systems that perpetuate it, and by providing victims with the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear.

Safe Place is a national youth outreach and prevention program for young people under the age of 18 (up to 21 years of age in some communities) in need of immediate help and safety. As a collaborative community prevention initiative, Safe Place designates businesses and organizations as Safe Place locations, making help readily available to youth in communities across the country. Safe Place locations include: libraries, YMCAs, fire stations, public buses, various businesses, and social service facilities. 

A fact sheet for schools and other resource links.

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​​​
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​Digital Literacy & Cyber Security

 

​Parents Guide to Internet Safety

An informational pamphlet provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that helps readers understand the complexities of online child exploitation.

This fact sheet focuses on addressing threats to a school’s or school district’s network and systems, also called cybersecurity considerations. Another fact sheet addressing threats to the human element, called cyber safety, can be found on the REMS TA Center’s Website.

Safe Online Surfing
Created for students in third through eighth grades, the resource provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) covers age-appropriate topics, such as cyberbullying, passwords, malware, social media, and more. The program also provides teachers with a curriculum that meets state and federal Internet safety mandates.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Education Training Assistance Program (CETAP) equips K-12 teachers with cybersecurity curricula and education tools. 

Common Sense is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a rapidly changing world.

A nonprofit organization based in Silicon Valley, California, dedicated to educating users of connected technology about safety, privacy, and security. Here, you’ll find research-based safety tips, parents’ guidebooks, advice, news, and commentary on all aspects of tech use and policy.​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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Emergency Planning​

 

​Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) - AWR 148 Crisis Management for School-based Incidents: Partnering Rural Law Enforcement and Local School Systems

This resource provides training and resources for emergency first responders with an emphasis on rural areas. This course is designed to educate rural law enforcement personnel as well as school administrators and personnel, on the elements that must be in place to effectively respond to an emergency at a school building or an entire school system. 

This guide focuses on how institutions of higher learning can collaborate with their local government and community partners to plan for potential emergencies through the creation of a school Emergency Operations Plan. The guide is prepared by the U.S. Departments of Education, Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the FBI.

FEMA's Multihazard Emergency Planning for Schools Toolkit is designed to help schools develop comprehensive emergency response plans to address a variety of potential hazards. The toolkit includes templates, checklists, and other resources to guide schools through the process of developing, implementing, and refining their emergency plans.​​

The foundation has long been a conduit for research-based best practices that help people in schools and other public spaces respond to crises. Today we feel called upon to use this core competency in the new context of COVID-19 as many of our stakeholders deal with shutdowns, delays, meal distribution needs, and more.
*MCSS provides this information in order to include useful content for stakeholders.  To the extent that any of the organizations listed also offer training courses or materials for sale, MCSS does not endorse or otherwise recommend those classes or materials.

MEMA is consistently improving Maryland’s emergency preparedness through augmenting the efforts and skills of our partners and providing resources and tools that residents, communities, and stakeholders need to better prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from disasters.

CDC is the Nation’s leading science-based, data-driven, service organization that protects the public’s health. For more than 70 years, they've put science into action to help children stay healthy so they can grow and learn, to help families, businesses, and communities fight disease and stay strong, and to protect the public’s health.​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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Gun Storage Safety

 


Project ChildSafe

The firearm safety education program serves as the official firearm safety initiative of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Its aim is to offer effective firearm safety solutions tailored to every community.


Maryland Safe Storage Map ​​
Out-of-home, voluntary, temporary gun storage locations to reduce firearm access.


Researchers from Johns Hopkins University, along with advocates at the Center, have championed safe storage practices nationwide. They have produced studies and resources analyzing the effects of Child Access Prevention laws on gun-related injuries and fatalities among youth.


Firearm Safe Storage & Youth Suicide Prevention​

The Maryland Department of Health provides guidelines on safely storing firearms to prevent youth access and outlines strategies for suicide prevention.


​Red Flag Laws

Red flag laws are Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), which are designed to prevent gun violence. They allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed a threat to themselves or others based on credible evidence of danger. 


The District Court of Maryland

The District Court of Maryland provides in depth explainations on what ERPOs are, how they are used in the state of Maryland, the process to file a petition, and more. 


The National ERPO Resource Center

The National ERPO Resource Center is a U.S. Department of Justice initiative that provides resources, training, and guidance on Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs).





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For further information on these topics please visit the News and Notes Page.​​



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Mental Health

 
Since 1990, this organization's experts have assisted hundreds of schools and communities in the U.S. and abroad to cope in the aftermath of tragedy, playing a vital role in helping to foster resilience after crisis events. This resource is dedicated to helping schools support their students through crisis and loss.

National Association of School Psychologists is committed to supporting accessible, high-quality education that prepares our children for college, work, and citizenship. Creating safe and supportive schools that are free from bullying, discrimination, harassment, aggression, violence, and abuse is essential to this mission. This resource can assist families and educators in bullying prevention.

NAMI provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives. Undiagnosed, untreated, and inadequately treated mental illnesses significantly interfere with a student’s ability to learn, to grow, and to develop. Since children spend much of their productive time in educational settings, schools provide a unique opportunity to identify and treat mental health conditions by serving students where they already are.

This website offers ways for educators to assist students and their families with mental health problems.

The Center is dedicated to promoting access to high-quality mental health services for children and adolescents across Illinois and nationwide. They also have a resources page for parents and providers.

Housed at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the National Center for School Mental Health is a technical assistance and training center with a focus on advancing research, training, policy, and practice in school mental health. School mental health has, at its foundation, strong family-school-community partnerships with a shared goal of promoting positive academic and social-emotional-behavioral outcomes for all students.​

Maryland’s only volunteer nonprofit citizens organization brings together consumers, families, professionals, advocates, and concerned citizens for unified action in all aspects of behavioral health. The association envisions a just, humane, and healthy society where each individual is accorded respect, dignity, and the opportunity to achieve their full potential—free from stigma and prejudice.

The coalition works with caregivers and other loved ones to help them access needed support and services for their families, support and amplify the youth voice, and empower family members to advocate for improving services in all systems of care for children, youth, adults, and families.​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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School Climate

 

Safe and Sound Schools

Founded by parents who lost children at Sandy Hook, Safe and Sound Schools is a national non-profit school safety advocacy and resource center that provides research-based tools and support for crisis prevention, response, and recovery. Safe and Sound Schools is committed to protecting every school and every student every day.

A report from the National Institute of Justice’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative looks at the impact and importance of a positive school climate on school safety.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools. The National Center of Safe Supporting Learning Environments offers information and technical assistance to states, districts, schools, institutions of higher learning, and communities focused on improving school climate and conditions for learning.

Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors, and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued, and welcome participants.

This site provides information and resources about the social and emotional climate within schools. Addressing the social and emotional climate is an important part of creating healthy schools that support student health and academic performance.​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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School Resource Officers (SRO)

 

​School Resources and​ Violence Prevention - Part One

This resource offers help to SROs and other LEOs working in kindergarten through 12th-grade educational settings. Part one addresses considerations in establishing such a partnership, including potential challenges.

This resource offers help to SROs and other LEOs working in kindergarten through 12th-grade educational settings. Part Two focuses on targeted violence prevention strategies.

This guide from the FBI, contains practical advice gathered from experienced school resource officers on how law enforcement, school and districts can work together to keep schools safe.

The COPS Office supports safe schools by providing grant funds, technical assistance, and resources to help deploy school resource officers (SROs). Learn more about SROs and all of our projects and resources that support school safety.

This guidance document consists of thirty-seven commonly asked questions about schools and school districts’ responsibilities under FERPA relating to disclosures of student information to school resource officers (SROs), law enforcement units, and others, and seeks to explain and clarify how FERPA protects student privacy while ensuring the health and safety of students and others in the school community. 

Formed to promote law-related education and safety of students, The Maryland Association of School Resource Officers is a non-profit organization membership comprised of police officers, probation officers, school administrators, school counselors, parents, and teachers who care about maintaining safe schools in Maryland.  

This association is dedicated to making schools and children safer by providing the highest quality training to school-based law enforcement officers.

Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety (VCSCS), located within the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, focuses on improving and enhancing safety by addressing topics that affect Virginia law enforcement, schools, and institutions of higher education. The VCSCS is a resource and training center for information and research about national and statewide safety efforts and initiatives in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education.​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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Substance Use

 
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) collects information on thousands of state-licensed providers who specialize in treating substance use disorders, addiction, and mental illness. This resource allows users to find their nearest treatment facility by entering their zip code or city name.

This website advances science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and applies that knowledge to improve individual and public health.

MedlinePlus is an online health information resource for patients and their families and friends. Information about drug use and addiction.

MedlinePlus is an online health information resource for patients and their families and friends. Information about alcohol use disorder.

A national nonprofit committed to supporting the whole family as they address every aspect of substance use and addiction, from prevention to recovery.

A website designed to "expose big tobacco's lies and manipulation." The site also provides information on the opioid epidemic and cites standard publications popular in the tobacco control world and other official government publications.


An official US government website from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, HealthyPeople.gov, is designed to provide information, data, and links to additional resources in regard to substance use​. ​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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Transportation Safety

 

​Maryland Sa​​fe Routes to School

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are federal-funded, sustained efforts by community members and governments to enable and encourage children to safely walk, roll, or bicycle to school. Federal funds allocated to this program are reimbursable and available for infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects that benefit elementary and middle school children in grades K-8.

Through enforcing vehicle performance standards and partnerships with state and local governments, NHTSA reduces deaths, injuries,​ and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes.

​The State of Maryland's resource for information about school bus safety, including contact information for the Director of Pupil Transportation.

Maryland Local School System Transportation Pages
For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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Violence & Gangs

 
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The FBI is dedicated to disrupting and dismantling the most significant gangs through intelligence-driven investigations and initiatives and partnerships such as Safe Streets Task Forces, the National Gang Intelligence Center, and Transnational Anti-Gang Task Forces.​​

The National Gang Center (NGC) is an integral component of the Justice Department’s mission to provide innovative leadership in coordination with federal, state, local, and tribal justice systems to prevent and reduce crime. The NGC disseminates information, knowledge, and outcome‐driven practices that engage and empower those in local communities with chronic and emerging gang problems to create comprehensive solutions to prevent gang violence, reduce gang involvement, and suppress gang‐related crime. It is a project jointly funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
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This guide is designed to provide parents with answers to common questions about gangs to enable them to recognize and prevent gang involvement. 

A guide designed to provide schools and law enforcement with sound practices and collaborative techniques to identify, assess, and address gang activity in the school setting.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) is a federally funded resource offering justice and drug-related information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.

The Office of Justice Programs - Gangs
​The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides innovative leadership to federal, state, local, and tribal justice systems, by disseminating state-of-the-art knowledge and practices across America, and providing grants for the implementation of these crime-fighting strategies. Because most of the responsibility for crime control and prevention falls to law enforcement officers in states, cities, and neighborhoods, the federal government can be effective in these areas only to the extent that it can enter into partnerships with these officers.​

For further information on this topic, please visit the News and Notes Page.​​​
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​​For further information on these topics please visit the News and Notes Page.​