School safety: empathy and risk awareness
A local school division official said the recent school shooting in Florida and sentencing hearings for the La Loche school shooter have highlighted the need for safety in schools.
Robert Bratvold, director of education at the Sask. Rivers Public School Division, said school safety is always on the minds of administrators, who are constantly assessing risks.
“That’s one of the key things,” Bratvold told paNOW. “There are things we can do before a crisis rather than responding.”
Bratvold said school staff are trained in violent threat risk assessment in order to help identify risk-laden individuals and those in potentially threatening situations. He also noted community building inside classrooms helps improve student-to-student connections and mutual support, starting when students are young.