Identifying real threats and then disrupting them will always be the primary preventive measure for targeted school violence. When these efforts fail to prevent a planned attack on a school, attention often turns to evaluating how firearms were accessed and renewing calls for stricter gun controls. Yet, if such attempts fail to stop active shooter incidents, the priority must shift from preventing an attack to implementing effective physical safeguards at schools. Protecting students and staff then relies entirely on the school’s ability to defend itself.
Before the Next Tragedy explains how high-reliability safety practices from high-hazard facilities can strengthen K–12 school capabilities when efforts fail to foil a premeditated attack. It identifies areas in current methods where more attention to safeguards is required and emphasizes the need for deeper understanding of the risks to better protect students and staff.
School safety can be significantly improved by a safety culture that emphasizes harm prevention over damage control. Current guidance lacks this focus. Before the Next Tragedy calls for a cultural move toward comprehensive risk management in schools, emphasizing effective safety designs and policies that protect all individuals during incidents, regardless of their location in a school assault. It is my belief that school safety still has progress to make in these areas.
John Menna
Read the latest critique from Midwest Book Review:
https://www.midwestbookreview.com/lbw/jan_26.htm#Education
Critique: “Before the Next Tragedy: Preventing Harm in School Shooting Scenarios” by John Menna should be absolutely required reading for all school administrators, school board members, parents of school aged children, political activists, governmental policy makers, and State/Federal Department of Education personnel. Informed and informative, exceptionally ‘reader friendly’ in organization and presentation. “Before the Next Tragedy” should be a part of every K-12 school library, college/university library, and community/public library School Policies/Issues and School Safety collections and supplemental Crisis Management Counseling curriculum studies lists.
