What if...  Have you ever played this out in your head after a traumatic event? Perhaps you had an argument with someone then later started asking yourself, "What if... I had said, 'I am sorry' rather than all those hateful things?" Or maybe you were involved in an auto accident and later found yourself asking, "What if... I had waited another second before pulling out?" This is an excellent exercise for anyone to go through. It will help reassure yourself that you made the best choice at the time or it will help to take a better path the next time.

There have been serious issues of violent acts on school campuses of late and it would serve schools, communities and law enforcement well to ask ourselves, "What if..."

A young man died at a school recently. It received much press and air time as such events will. The initial reports have been voices of anger, grief, resentment, accusations and even self serving. As the dust settles and the emotions wane, it would be good if we looked at all the information that was available before the tragedy and try to determine if it was possible to see it coming. As you read this article keep in mind that there is no attempt to assess blame. The only focus is prevention. By careful examination of one incident, future tragedies can be avoided.

What if... a mother knew her son was having trouble dealing with a recent break-up between her and his Dad, even thought they were back together for now.

What if... a dad knew his son was having difficulty in school and had run away from home several times.

What if... a school employee had heard this student threaten to blow up a school bus, but dismissed it because she knew he did not have a bomb.

What if... the police knew this student from several encounters, all small but escalating in frequency.

What if... a student's brother knew that he was fascinated with guns and death and had modified a pellet pistol to look real.

What if... one of the few friends this student has, knew that he was talking about suicide and dying.

What if... the counselor knew this student was being picked on by others and that he had transferred to another school after an altercation then returned.

What if... other students at the school knew this student was talking about suicide almost daily.

Unfortunately all of the above are true statements about a real student who committed suicide at his school. There was danger that he might also kill other students. His chosen method of death was to force the police to shoot him. It would seem that there must have been some way to see how desperately this child needed help. All of the information above was available but in disjointed slices of isolated tid-bits rather than as a composite.

What if... the school had a system to observe early warning signs and a trained team who could assess the student in an objective manner to determine if he is in need of immediate intervention.

What if... the school had a decision tree that would show what actions to take and what services were available that was based on Nation Research.

What if...  schools in the USA, Canada & Europe had been utilizing this National and International program with great success.

Keys To Safer Schools.com can provide the training to your school to establish such a program. It is called Assessing the Potentially Dangerous Student. Contact Keys Today to avoid another violent tragedy. What if...the next suicidal or homicidal student is on your campus or in your classroom.

To Learn How "Keys To Safer Schools" Can Help.

To Learn more about Crisis Planning

Learning what to look for - "Early Warning Signs"

Map of School Shootings

If you have any comments or questions please Email us at keys@keystosaferschools.com.