Who's in the Watchtower for Our Kids?
Who's in the Watchtower for Our Kids?
As another school year approaches, classrooms are being cleaned, buses are being inspected, lesson plans are being finalized, and teachers are preparing to welcome students back for another year of learning.
But there is one question every superintendent, school board member, principal, and parent should be asking:
Who's in the watchtower for our kids?
Throughout history, communities relied on watchmen positioned high above the city walls. Their responsibility was simple but critical—to identify danger before it reached the people they protected. They weren't accountants, carpenters, or merchants asked to "help out" for a few hours. They were trained professionals whose sole responsibility was security.
Today's schools deserve the same mindset.
Schools Face a Different Reality
The threats facing schools have evolved dramatically over the past decade. Administrators are expected to manage education, staffing shortages, budgets, mental health concerns, behavioral issues, social media, emergency planning, cybersecurity, parent expectations, and increasingly complex safety concerns.
School leaders are carrying more responsibility than ever before.
Unfortunately, many schools continue to approach security as another item to check off a list rather than a professional discipline requiring specialized expertise.
Safety cannot simply become another assignment.
It must become a strategic priority.
We Appreciate Those Who Step Up
Across the country, we continue to see gym teachers, classroom teachers, coaches, custodians, school resource officers, and administrators volunteer to lead active attack response training for their schools.
Their willingness to help is admirable.
They care deeply about protecting their students and coworkers, and they deserve recognition for stepping into difficult conversations.
But we also need to ask an uncomfortable question:
Should they have to?
The answer is no.
Teaching mathematics, coaching basketball, leading physical education, or managing a classroom does not automatically qualify someone to become an expert in school security, crisis management, workplace violence prevention, or active attack response.
Those are separate professions requiring separate expertise.
The Hidden Risk of "Train-the-Trainer"
At first glance, the train-the-trainer model makes sense.
- Train one employee.
- Have them train everyone else.
- Reduce costs.
- Increase efficiency.
In practice, however, it can create significant organizational risk.
- Security is not static.
- Threats evolve.
- Best practices change.
- Laws change.
- Lessons are learned after every major incident.
Eventually, every class begins to look slightly different than the one before it.
Then ask yourself this:
If an active attack occurred tomorrow, could your organization confidently defend the quality, consistency, and accuracy of the training every employee received?
If the answer is uncertain, so is your liability.
Good Intentions Don't Reduce Liability
One of the most dangerous assumptions organizations make is believing that good intentions provide legal protection.
They do not.
Following a critical incident, investigators, attorneys, insurance carriers, and potentially a jury will ask difficult questions:
- Who developed your training?
- What qualifications did they possess?
- Was the training based on current best practices?
- How often was it updated?
- Was it delivered consistently?
- Can you demonstrate competency?
The individual standing in front of the classroom suddenly becomes far more important than anyone imagined.
When schools rely on volunteers with limited security expertise, they unintentionally assume the risk associated with every piece of information being delivered.
That is a burden those educators should never have to carry.
Let Teachers Teach
Teachers entered education to inspire students. Coaches build confidence and character. Physical education teachers promote healthy lifestyles. Administrators lead educational communities.
None of these professionals accepted their careers expecting to become security consultants.
The responsibility for preparing schools against today's threats should rest with professionals who dedicate their careers to understanding violence prevention, physical security, emergency management, behavioral indicators, crisis leadership, and organizational preparedness.
- Schools deserve experts.
- Teachers deserve experts.
- Students deserve experts.
Preparing Before the First Bell Rings
The weeks before students return provide one of the best opportunities to strengthen a school's security posture.
Preparation should extend beyond reviewing emergency binders or conducting a single presentation during teacher orientation.
Schools should ask themselves:
- When was our last comprehensive Threat & Vulnerability Assessment?
- Have our Emergency Operations Plans been reviewed and updated?
- Does every employee understand their role during a crisis?
- Have we practiced realistic scenarios through tabletop exercises?
- Are staff confident in evacuation, barricading, communication, reunification, and recovery procedures?
- Have we identified physical vulnerabilities before someone else does?
Preparedness isn't built during an emergency.
It's built long before one ever occurs.
Who's Standing in the Watchtower?
Every school has people who care. That has never been the issue.
The question is whether the people responsible for protecting our schools have been given the professional resources, guidance, and expertise necessary to succeed.
Security should never depend on whoever volunteered. It should never depend on outdated presentations. And it should never become an additional responsibility placed on already overworked educators.
Professional school security training, comprehensive assessments, realistic exercises, and expert guidance are investments in people—not expenses on a spreadsheet.
Because when the first bell rings this fall, every parent deserves to know someone is standing in the watchtower.
- Watching.
- Preparing.
- Protecting.
