Dr. Amy Klinger on Good Morning Washington

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Boston Herald's Threat Assessment Management Discussion Features ESSN Expert

Dr. Amy Klinger was a featured expert in a recent Boston Herald analysis of the value of threat assessment management in preventing violence. The article discussed the need to allocate resources for training, not just hardware, and examined the effectiveness of threat assessment management as part of a school safety plan.

Read the full article here.

Dr. Amy Klinger Featured in NBC News Discussion of School Safety

In the wake of recent school shootings in Florida and Texas, NBC News interviewed Dr. Amy Klinger as part of their discussion of reactionary school spending on safety and security hardware.  The articles raises important questions about how schools can most effectively spend school safety funds and resources. 

Read the full article here.

Dr. Amy Klinger Participates in Harvard University Public Health Forum on Gun Violence

THE GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC: Protecting the Public’s Health
Presented jointly with Reuters

Inspired by students across the country, the gun violence prevention movement has gained new momentum. But can it last or lead to substantive change on the Congressional level? This Forum brought together experts in mental health, violence, and gun policy to discuss a variety of proposed gun violence and school safety measures. What is the status of background check laws? What is an appropriate way to discuss mental health in the conversation — without creating stigma or a chilling effect on people seeking care? What skills and training should educators have to spot warning signs and respond in crises? And, in light of restrictions around federally funded gun-related research, do policymakers have the information that they need to study these questions effectively? In this time of turbulence, our panelists looked at the evidence for — and possible unintended consequences of — today’s hotly debated measures to stop gun violence.

Amanda Klinger Interviewed on Continued Escalation of Threats Post-Parkland

A recent article in The Christian Science Monitor explored the difficulties inherent in balancing school safety and justice - including First Amendment rights. ESSN's research data was featured in the article. 

Post-Parkland Data on Violence in Schools Expressed as an Infographic

ESSN's research data on threats and incidents of violence in schools in the wake of the Parkland tragedy was recently demonstrated in info graphic form by TrustEd. To view the info graphic, click here.

ESSN Research Data Featured in CBS News Story on PA Thwarted Shooting

Data from ESSN's on-going research on school-based violence and threats was featured in a recent CBS News story on a school shooting plot that was thwarted in Pennsylvania.  See the full story by clicking here.

Amanda Klinger quoted in WHYY NPR Philadelphia story

Part of the problem is circumstantial, said Amanda Klinger with the nonprofit Educator’s School Safety Network. An attack from a gun-wielding human is simply harder to prepare for than a fire.

But she also believes the response to Columbine and Sandy Hook has been less coordinated than the response to the Our Lady of Angels fire in Chicago. As an example, she points to all the different types of drills schools do — intruder drills, active-shooter drills — many with their own distinct variations.

“How can we come to some sort of consistency so that everybody is increasing their level of preparedness?” she said.

Dr. Amy Klinger on K5 NBC news

ESSN data in Newsweek

In the week after, the Educator's School Safety Network found threats were being made on an average of 50 a day, according to an NPR report.  

ESSN research in TIME magazine

Educator’s School Safety Network has tracked an average of 73 threats and other incidents each day at schools across the country in the three weeks after a gunman killed 17 students and educators. The Educator’s Safety Network is a nonprofit group focused on safety training for teachers and staff who work in schools.

Amanda Klinger quoted in Blount Co. Daily times

“Most of our schools will not have a school shooting,” Klinger said. “Our schools now are safer than when I was in high school” 15 years ago.

However, she said, educators make thousands of decisions every day and must be trained to consider safety in every thing they do so they are prepared to handle any type of crisis.

She noted one school system that includes five minutes of safety discussion at every staff meeting.

“School safety is an education issue that happens to involve safety,” Klinger said, not a law enforcement issue that happens to occur in a school.

Dr. Amy Klinger quoted in the Washington Post

“The mentality has shifted in a very short period of time from kids being kids to this is very serious stuff,” she said. She expects consequences of post-Parkland threats to be harsher than before.

“They almost have to be,” she said. “Do we want to do this for the rest of the school year? Do we want to have this constant chaos and fear, and people being upset? How much learning is going on?”

Amanda Klinger quoted by KPIC

"You have sort of response fatigue," says the organization's Amanda Klinger, "so I might be very vigilant and I might be doing an assessment of, is this a substantive threat? What do we need to do? Do we need to search the building? By the time it's the fifth time, how closely are we really searching?"

Dr. Amy Klinger and Amanda Klinger quoted in Kansas City star

"We know that after an event an uptick in threats is expected but it's not expected at this level and this intensity and that it would continue for this long." said Amy Klinger, director of programs for the safety network.

ESSN data in the Portland Press-Herald

Amanda Klinger, director of operations at the Educator’s School Safety Network, said copycat behavior is common after incidents of violence, even after those less serious than the attack in Parkland. Widespread social media use and sustained media attention on the attack could also be contributing factors to the spike, she said.

ESSN data in the tri-city herald

Since the Florida shooting, the Educator’s School Safety Network reports that nationally there have been on average 71 threats and incidents reported each day. Those 638 reports equal nearly two-thirds the number of threats the organization found from September to December.

ESSN data in the NY daily news

The group found 638 threats were made after the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The threats prompted 33 school closings and 15 lockdowns, according to a USA Today review of the incidents.

Amanda Klinger on KTVU

Amanda Klinger on WGN