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More preparation needed to stem school violence, expert says

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By Kareem Elgazzar, Staff Writer Updated 10:44 PM Friday, March 11, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — The problem in addressing school violence is denial, not financial resources, said retired Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.

Speaking to an audience of nearly 250 law enforcement officials and school educators Friday at Miami University Middletown’s Finkelman Auditorium, the nationally recognized Grossman stressed the importance of providing school personnel with necessary, inexpensive training and tools to combat school violence.

“The single most economically and psychologically devastating thing (criminals) can do is target our schools and children,” Grossman said.

He said school educators should look for clues in detecting possible attacks, such as understanding the greatest fear among criminals: failure. To avoid failure, Grossman said, criminals perform reconnaissance to determine the level of security at possible targets. The less security, the higher the likelihood of success, he said.

“If someone calls a school and asks questions about security, that should be an immediate red flag to anyone,” Grossman said. “There are many simple, legal, moral things we can do to keep our kids safe — our problem is not money, it’s denial.”

Training educators and school personnel how to handle a weapon, for example, will deter criminals from carrying out attacks. Easier ways are to lock doors within schools and use fire hoses to prevent loss of life when fighting attacks at schools, he said.

Instead of fumbling around with keys in a high-stress situation when a teacher needs to lock a classroom door, Grossman said magnetic locks are a faster way to protect students.

“In our schools we prepare, prepare, prepare for a fire, but no school kids have been killed by fire in the last 50 years in America,” Grossman said. “Lock-down drills cost nothing, keeping the classroom door locked cost nothing, but the thing to understand is that interpersonal human aggression is incredibly toxic.

“One serial killer or rapist can paralyze an entire city.”

Middletown police Officer Wayne Birch, who attended the presentation along with dozens of other police and school officials, said Grossman offered much needed advice on keeping school children safe.

Birch called Grossman’s presentation eye-opening. He said while police and educators are always concerned about the safety of school children, Grossman’s expert advice provided the “continuing education” officials need to do their jobs effectively.

“I thought it was a great presentation. It was very educational,” Birch said after Grossman spoke.

“I think everybody can see things a little differently after hearing him speak.”

There is a complicated resistance and obsession with violence in the United States, Grossman said.

“We obsess violence in our movies and media, but real violence we flee from — the death penalty, animal rights and anti-hunting issues,” he said. “As a society, we’ve hit this level of simultaneous repression and obsession with violence, and it’s become quite pathological.”

Staff writer Tiffany Y. Latta contributed to this story.