Schools shouldn’t be scary places, apart from the sometimes social dynamics, occasionally unpleasant teachers or frightening amounts of homework.

Unfortunately, as much as teachers and parents try to make sure educational institutions are free of “real world” intrusions that can disrupt learning, these influences sometimes make their way in.

Safety is a big one. Due to school shootings nationwide over the last 20 years, more schools are taking additional security measures to protect buildings and inhabitants from unauthorized, violent visitors.

These efforts can take the form of everything from emergency text alerts to locks on doors, plus cameras and metal detectors. Some school communities even encourage teachers to come to school armed – provided they’re properly trained.

The text school alert systems are especially innovative because they are easy to send and can reach high numbers of people quickly, rather than relying on phone trees or the media to alert people and hoping everyone gets the message. They also can be customized for any situation, from security threats to severe weather events like snowstorms or tornadoes.

They also becoming increasingly popular. In 2007, after two prominent college shootings, dozens of universities began investing in school closings alert text systems and hundreds of schools were looking into the concept. By 2010, more than 800 colleges had text notifications.

[Tweet "In 2007, after two prominent college shootings, dozens of universities began investing in school closings alert text systems"]

In some cases, like in Del Norte, Calif., the whole community adopted an emergency notification system, and the schools helped spread the word to invite people to sign up.

Other reasons why these kinds of school alert systems are successful include:

• It’s easy to sign up. People are supposed to subscribe, which if you work with a texting service, can be done automatically. Sometimes all it takes to sign up is to text a certain number or clicking “subscribe” on a school’s page or email link. Schools can also share the subscription process with parents in online and off-line materials, everything from a classroom hand-out to an email or text. In Fauquier County, Va., the district sent all parents one text promoting the service.Parents could respond with a “Y” or “OPTIN” if they wanted to subscribe, a “STOP” to discontinue, or “HELP” for more info.
  
  
• It’s easy to customize. When people subscribe, they can designate their status, which will put them into different databases for future texts. In an emergency, staff/faculty may be sent different messages than students or parents. Subscribers can also indicate what types of texts they want to receive, which could be everything from emergencies only to regular bulletins/important events to routine info like hot lunch menus.
  
  
• Everyone can be notified quickly. In an emergency situation, managers won’t have time to sift through the database and choose different groups – they want everyone to get the message at once. Unlike email blasts which delivery sometimes must be staggered to avoid triggering spam filters, mass notification text messaging can go out to the whole list in seconds. Likewise, people will receive texts on their mobile devices, which often are already in their possessions, and they may already be texting. In the past, not everyone received messages: students weren’t at their personal computers to receive emails or by their landline phones to hear an automated evacuation order.
  
  
•  Different messages can be targeted to different groups. Once the initial command/situation alert has been sent to everyone, administrators or security staff may want to send out separate instructions for the different texting groups. Faculty may receive extra details how to keep students safe and campus buildings safe, while parents may receive instructions about the status of their children. College students may be told what areas are safe and which should be avoided, while K-12 students can receive info about how and when to connect with their parents. Different instructions can also be sent when a lockdown is lifted.
  
  

Schools that have looked into emergency text alerts have come up with different modifications. For instance, the system in Goshen, Utah, goes beyond simple instructions to students and staff. Here, students are encouraged to use their phones to text authorities if needed.

[Tweet "Here, students are encouraged to use their phones to text authorities if needed."]

Subscribers to the Phoenix Valley School District’s Emergency Broadcast Plan in Arizona can sign up multiple phones to receive the texts, rather than one phone per household.

In Los Gatos, N.M., parents can sign up for emergency texting. But they can also sign up for a larger system that provides voice, text and emails during emergencies, with a system that claims to be able to send out as many as 2.5 million messages per hour.

The interest in student security and the increase in general vigilance is likely to continue. Institutions also need to continue to modernize their system – an investment in 2005 may require updates on a regular basis as technology increases. For more details on critical alert texting options visit www.trumpia.com.

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