A former US education secretary is warning that American schoolchildren are at risk from terrorist attacks.
Dr. William Bennett told a Heritage Foundation seminar audience recently that the shocking massacre of children at the Russian school in Beslan by Muslim terrorists is a scenario that could easily take place in the United States.
“Our schools are very vulnerable — and our most vulnerable schools are the places where the most vulnerable people are, and those are our elementary schools,” Bennett said. “There's almost no security in elementary schools, even if you think that security could make much of a difference.”
Security officers, he said, would stand no chance against a group of hooded Islamic terrorists. And he stunned the audience with what he called “scary” information gleaned from several sources.
“There have been attempts — not exactly like Beslan, but similar to Beslan — on American schools. But these attempts have been thwarted,” he stated. “It's tantalizing [but] that's all I know, that's all I can tell you. I've had three or four people who are in the know tell me there have been such attempts and they have been thwarted.”
The former education secretary said the nation's elementary schools are the most vulnerable targets on terrorists' hit lists — and that America needs to wake up to that fact and get behind the war on terror.
Overcome Fear with Preparation
Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland, Ohio, is a widely-quoted national expert on school safety who has more than 20 years of experience in K-12 school-specific security and crisis preparedness training. Whereas school officials and parents may be reluctant to address the issue, Trump's organization feels the possibility of terrorist attacks on America's schools must be considered.
“Many school and elected officials are afraid to talk about, and prepare for, terrorist attacks upon schools out of concern that it will create fear among parents and the broader school community,” the group's website explains. “The exact opposite, however, is true. Fear is created by a lack of information and conflicting messages.”
Keys to managing fear, the group says, are education, communication, and preparation. “By not addressing these issues, we are actually creating more fear and panic among parents and school officials,” the group says.
National School Safety and Security Services has conducted school security and emergency preparedness training, as well as school security assessments, in more than 40 states and in Canada. Among the topics addressed during school workshops are the concept of terrorism, school emergency guidelines relevant to acts of terrorism — and schools as future, potential targets of terrorism.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
