It is essential that that schools know the incidence of school violence and youth suicide and be up to date on the best safety and prevention practices. This presentation will review numerous state and national initiatives that have focused on school safety and suicide prevention. Additionally, the recommendations from a variety of foundations started by parents who lost their children in tragic school shootings will be shared. Many school shooters died by suicide and this presentation will outline the major theory of murder suicide. The presenter has a wealth of practical experience responding to school crises and participants will learn many lessons from school tragedies and practical strategies to prevent future school violence and youth suicides. Numerous case studies will be presented and participants will be provided an opportunity to discuss the cases.

 Program Objectives:

1. Identify key factors that increase school safety and especially how to get students more involved in school safety
2. Improve the schools’ ability to assess threats of violence and determine whether a threat is substantial or transient
3. Become familiar with specific instruments that can be used by school mental health professionals to assess the potential for violence
4. Learn lessons from a number of school shootings and from numerous reports written about school violence
5. Learn the lessons from a number of legal cases where schools were sued in the areas of crisis intervention, school safety and suicide
6. Understand the incidence of youth suicide and the relationship between school violence, bullying and suicide
7. Learn how to develop a comprehensive youth suicide prevention program that includes best practices in prevention, intervention and postvention.

Presented by:

Dr. Scott Poland is a Psychology Professor and the Co-Director of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office at Nova Southeastern University.

The presenter is an internationally recognized expert on school safety and school crisis and has authored five books and numerous chapters on the subject. He previously directed psychological services for a large Texas school system for 24 years and is a past President of the National Association of School Psychologists. He was also a founding member of the National Emergency Assistance Team and has assisted schools/communities after 15 school shootings, suicides and acts of terrorism in Oklahoma and New York. He has been an expert witness in a number of legal cases concerning school crisis. He is very dedicated to prevention and has testified about the needs of children before the U.S. Congress on four occasions. 

HOW TO REGISTER:

Select the Region your district resides (if your school district/nonpublic school is not within the regions provided select Other Region option).

 REGISTRATION FEE:  

• $25.00 for districts within Region 5 (Member districts of Capital Area IU15, Lancaster-Lebanon IU13, or Lincoln IU12) and college students
• $125.00 for districts/organizations attending outside of Region 5

IU13 INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY:

In the event of inclement weather and IU13 is on a delayed start or cancellation, all events at IU13 facilities will follow suit. These announcements will be available on IU13’s website at www.iu13.org (click on Weather Delays and Cancellations)

Questions regarding the policy should be discussed with your IU13 event coordinator.