Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Can technology contribute to student safety and well-being?

  • By Richard Fuller
  • 03/01/19

Student safety is a top concern. Colleges and universities want solutions that will help them to support students’ mental health and well being, as well as guard against potential threats. Often the first area of consideration is physical enhancements, such as security cameras and bulletproof glass, which can make a real difference but can inhibit the educational mission. Now many schools are turning to solutions that address student mental health and well-being, which are often at the root of school safety issues, with more extensive use of digital safeguarding.

Digital safeguarding can provide valuable insight into students’ mindsets and can also alert staff if students make—or are discussing—threats of violence to themselves or to others. As the use of mobile technology in the classroom grows, digital safeguarding can be one of the best ways to detect potential safety concerns. Early notification allows schools to investigate and address concerns before they get out of hand.

A recent survey of school counselors found that paper-based record keeping is the most common practice to record information on student well-being and mental health issues. Experience suggests that the era of informal record keeping is being replaced by auditable recording of student safety incidents and the actions taken by schools. Schools can also look for solutions that allow them to integrate, analyze, and store student safety data digitally in order to improve efficiency and inform counseling sessions or other interventions.

Campus administrators can play an active role in addressing safety through policy, funding, and implementation of digitized safeguarding solutions or other technology.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management March 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Richard Fuller is Executive Chairman of Impero Software (www.imperosoftware.com/us), which provides student safety and device monitoring and management solutions. He can be reached at 844/346-7376 or [email protected].

Featured

  • Arizona District Breaks Ground on Community Training, Learning Center

    The Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) in Tolleson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Training & Learning Center (TLC) for both district professionals and the community at large, according to a news release. The 90,000-square-foot facility has an estimated completion date of spring 2027.

  • nursing students talk while studying in a hallway

    Elsevier Launches VR Simulation Solution for Nursing Students

    Elsevier has introduced Shadow Health Lab with Virtual Reality, a simulation platform that allows nursing students to interact with virtual patients and build clinical judgment skills in a safe, realistic environment.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.