Putting the Spotlight on Security Services
Years ago, school security was not treated as a separate discipline but as an additional duty for teachers and paraprofessionals. Today, school security is more important than ever. Today’s schools face not only student violence, drugs, weapons and gangs but also a new threat of terrorism.
NEA in its “2002 Status of NEA K-12 ESP Membership Study” has accumulated the following data about security services:
• NEA considers the following classifications to fall under the security services category: guards, school resource officers, security workers and police.
• Security services makes up one percent of NEA ESP members. That translates to more than 3,300 people.
• Eighty-four percent of security service employees work full time.
• More than 71 percent of security service employees have attended professional development training in the past two years.
• The following topics represent the kind of training that security service employees are looking for:
Legal system operations and procedures for juveniles and adults
Human relations and cultural diversity
Overview of child psychology
Current school crime trends
Intervening with angry parents
Stress management
Security’s role in crisis preparedness
Media relations