NCS4 Thinks of Ways to Keep Students Safe and Discuss The Recent School Shooting in Florida

HATTIESBURG, MISS. - Wednesday’s school shooting in Florida devastated the entire country, which is why school officials all over the country are incredibly concerned about the safety of their facilities. Thursday morning, representatives from districts across the nation were here in Mississippi attending the National Interscholastic Athletics Safety and Security Summit (NCS4) to learn about new safety measures. “Schools are a mirror of society,” NCS4 Advisory Committee Member, Guy Grace said. “What's going on in society is going in the schools. So, it's our job to keep the kids and staff, safe and secure when they are in those buildings.” During the summit, NCS4 members watched President Trump address the nation about Wednesday’s shooting. “Well, if takes place in a community everybody is impacted,” Grace stated. “You're seeing what happened in Florida yesterday and everybody in this room from all over the country is impacted by that.” Impacted and learning from Wednesday’s shooting, school representatives discussed new safety techniques and tools that could be used to save someone's life in the event of a mass shooting. “We went through some stop the bleeding training,” Chief of Police for the Petal School District, Gavin Guy said. “A tourniquet situation which is very important for officers, but they are trying to teach it throughout the country in schools to kids.” School representatives believe these could be life-saving techniques students should know in case of an emergency. Also, another big topic at Thursday’s summit, how do we prevent these attacks? “We need to focus on the mental health aspects,” Grace said. “We need to notify families and the community when somebody is making threats, or calling out for help. We need to empower our students or our children, we need to empower our community to take the appropriate actions and look out for one another.”