What Can *We* Do?

In 1984, I was a 1st grade student in Mrs. Butterly's class at Morris Street Elementary School. That's 12 miles from Sandy Hook, where the horrific events of last Friday took place and 20 first graders and 7 adults lost their lives in a senseless act of violence. In previous events, the names of places seemed so far away, but Newtown, CT is my childhood backyard. My father was a firefighter in Wilton, CT and my mother was a emergency room nurse at Danbury Hospital. I feel a more personal connection to this tragedy. Perhaps it's also because I've grown up now and have a 1st grader of my own.

In the President's speech last night during the vigil, he called upon all of us to help keep our children safe. He offered all of the power of his office to prevent this from happening again. And while no legislation can stop evil entirely, we can all do something.

What can IT do? How can school sysadmins, network admins and support personnel help affect change? For starters, be vigilant and alert. Every school employee is a set of eyes and ears, and no amount of electronics or computers can take the place of human intuition. As they say, if you see something, say something. Take notice of unusual behavior or strange visitors in or around the school, and let someone know.

The most powerful tool that any IT department has is information. Getting that information to the right people, and quickly, can make all the difference in a crisis. Knowing where students are, and the ability to take an accurate impromptu attendance can help first responders get help to where it needs to go quickly and efficiently. Having a system in place that's device-agnostic and relies on as little internal infrastructure as possible can save time where seconds count.

Managing the crowds is usually the realm of a school administrator or first responder, but our IT departments can help equip that group or individual. A rapid messaging system can disseminate accurate, timely information into the hands of worried parents with explicit directions, and this can prevent a situation from escalating. I've used tools such as School Messenger and School Reach and been very pleased with the results.

I'm humbled by the heroic sacrifice of the six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It's difficult to wrap your head and heart around the loss the community is experiencing, and like schools across the nation and around the world, we grieve with them. But there's no doubt in my mind that the selfless actions of  Principal Dawn Hochsprung, school psychologist Mary Sherlach, therapist Rachel D'Avino and teachers Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Victoria Soto helped to ensure that many more of Sandy Hook's 700 students returned home to their parents that day.