The Unthinkable Challenge

I think we can all agree that managing a school, with all its attendant issues is hard enough. Now, with recent events, we may also agree it’s going to be a daunting task for school administrators to face the additional challenge of preparing for school shootings. It is an "unthinkable" national tragedy and it must be stopped.

Saddened by this phenomenon, solid citizens become activists, attending school board meetings to learn more. What we learn is that there is a nexus of competing interests, which justifiably delay quick cures. Parents and students are interested in answers on how districts will handle this unprecedented threat to safety. Teachers are interested in answers on how districts are going to manage the sheer volume of social and societal preparedness, missing out on reading, writing and arithmetic. There are only so many hours in a school day. State and county bean counters are anxious to learn what cuts they need to make, in order to hire more School Resource Officers (SRO’s) and keep the calculous books updated at the same time. There is a need for careful reflection, before we start making radical changes.

Before any changes should be implemented, it would be helpful to realize that this nexus isn’t a new phenomenon. It's a warning sign. Other chronic harms to our way of life, "unthinkable" in their own rights, bubble up with warning signs of stress, prior to a full-on eruption or costly intervention. For example: Prior to 9/11, we had the “golden age of airline hijackings”. Prior to the Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, we had the Conway Theater Fire in Brooklyn. Prior to the tragic events that lead to the film, “A Cry for Help”, we had a long standing plea for advocacy from a nation full of wounded women and children, suffering from domestic violence. Prior to the formation of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), we had the record numbers of widows and orphans of the 60’s and 70’s begging us to do something about drunk driving.

Five Signs

The warnings were there. We could all see them. We could all see the five signs that tell us we are dealing with a societal unthinkable waiting to erupt.

• First, we see the press referring to prior precedent, in order to help their viewer, understand what they just heard or saw. When reporting on the Parkland Shooting, a network news anchor commented that “It wasn’t long ago, we saw another tragic outcome at Sandy Hook.” Similarly, while we were watching the flames coming from Tower One, in 2001; we saw the news footage of the big gaping hole in the parking garage from 1993.

• Second, we see the activists rise up from the rubble to try and change things. When the cameras panned over to Parkland father of victim Meadow Pollock, Andrew Pollack (speaking to the US President, in the oval office), we could all somehow feel his pain as he stated with a firm voice, “Fix it!”. Pollack went on to organize “Americans for C.L.A.S.S.”, an awareness organization dedicated to make sure “it’s fixed”. We saw massive demonstrations in Washington DC and walkouts by students, all over the country. Similarly, there was Candy Lightner, who started MADD, telling us; “I didn't start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving.” She had mom’s outraged all over the country.

• Third, the leaders in our society begin to make public speeches, promising change. After Columbine, then Colorado Governor Bill Owens is quoted in the Denver Chronicle, saying: “We are afraid something has gone profoundly wrong in our state and in our nation.” After Sandy Hook, Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy said at the Press Conference following that tragedy, “When it comes to preventing future acts of violence in our schools, let me say this: more guns is not the answer.” Similarly, when we listened to Jimmy Carter talk about the Iranian Embassy Takeover, we heard him say, “Every available means.”

• Fourth, companies start to invent products to help us resolve the problem. Again, after Columbine, one company found that during a school "lock-down", teachers had to go back out into the hallway, find and fumble with their keys, to lock their doors. So to eliminate the need for that to happen, he invented a small metal latch that would allow the door to work normally, during normal school days, but with a simple flick of the latch, the door would close and lock, protecting the people inside the classroom and eliminating the need for the teacher to find keys and go into the hallway to lock the door. Similarly, the fire protection and prevention industry has a whole host of devices that help people stay safe during a fire or prevent fires all together. Things like the fire escape and the fire extinguisher.

• Fifth, law makers start to get involved, intending to change the rules or invent new rules. They start small with local law makers putting out press releases. Then it becomes bigger and more calls for government intervention is clear. This is the final sign that a problem is breaking out with a full blown “unthinkable status”. More signs come when the people in Washington start talking about making things change.

The Incident that Changed Everything Happens

Relatively speaking, looking back, the final mass shooting unthinkable, has not happened to "sponsor" a national legislative or procedural change. We are close, but not there yet. In contrast, we already know that the NTSB’s report on the fact that drunk driving caused 60% of the highway fatalities during the 1970’s, changed the legal drinking age. We already know that the attack on the World Trade Center changed the cock-pit doors. We already know that the Iroquois Theater Fire changed fire codes throughout the land. We already know that the rape and attempted murder of Tracy Thurman inspired lawmakers to strengthen zero tolerance domestic violence laws.

Unthinkable School Shootings

Now our nation seems to be wrestling with mass murder, the most recent of our “unthinkables”. Since the mass shooting at yet another grade school in Uvalde Texas, I am still left with the shock that we still haven’t seen the “incident that changed everything”. What surprises me, is that I thought we would have seen it, like 5 shootings ago. I am scared - what it is it going to take?

If history repeats itself, school shootings are going to continue to be lost in the noise of the nexus. However, now is not the time to allow history to repeat itself. The time to work out a solution that will resolve the issue from a school administrations perspective – practically protecting students and staff within the educational system’s constraints is at our door step, now. We can’t allow the solution to come after the “Pearl Harbor” of mass shootings. PRIMME was created because too often, we get the "fixes" POST-unthinkable! We build things we know we should have built, after the tragic outcome we warned you about.

Solve it Now – with Us

My name is David Phillips, LPC, a board certified security professional. We want to help you solve this practically and now – not later – not waiting till legislation mandates what you must do to solve this issue.

Our team wants to design, test, and standardize, then certify, the best, most practical solutions. Help you implement; guide you – so you know which solution is the best one out there, for your district. So you don’t have to spend extra resources in an area you are not an expert in.

Below is our team:

· David Phillips, LPC (DLPS – Owner and Founder of PRIMME) dared ask the hard questions of the whole security industry.

· (Your name here?)

We’d like to hear from you. Help us guide this conversation. Bring it to a solution quicker. We don’t have to solve gun control, cure mental illness or make it more acceptable to report suspicious behavior; before we define, practical best practices, today, for you and your school….

Also, thank you to the former leadership team who lent their names and reputations to give this program a shot. Started a lot of valuable conversations and "stirred the pot".

PRIMME

Prevent Rapidly Involved Mass Murder Events. Our value proposition is this:

Providing organizations with a nationally recognized cost-effective set of solutions that prevents rapidly involved mass murder events using a full spectrum of pre-emptive and responsive control-measures.

Please donate to our project, today. You asked how you can help. Now you know. #NowYouCan https://www.gofundme.com/primme

Version No. 7.01 (07/28/2022)