Mobile Communication & Crime: Phones as a Safety Device in Schools
"In a perfect world, we would never have to
cover a school shooting again. Of all the stories I’ve covered from both the newsroom to the field, these always are the hardest and worst to cover. But the reality is, something will happen again involving teenagers and young adults, and because of this, we’ll see how the next great technology will impact the way we report on these stories."
- Kay Jones, AC360 Producer
Case Studies
The Columbine Massacre
Virginia Tech Shooting
VT Alerts
School Shootings Nationwide
..in our backyards: local issues
Local Shooting: Foss High School
01.04.07
Local Lockdowns
Lakewood Police Shooting: UW Alert texts warn students
Over 2,000 WSU students were diagnosed with H1N1
WSU does NOT have a mobile alert system
Instead, they have a hotline phone number to call in case of emergency
WSU Twitter: 206 followers
Recommendation
Establish Academic Emergency Mobile Alerts• Connect administrators, law enforcement,
students and parents with safety alerts and event updates• Could be managed by state or school district• Multiple channels of communication, including
SMS, Twitter and email
Existing program: Amber Alert
AdministrationParents &
Legal Guardians
Students Law EnforcementChallenges
Questions?
Presentation by Anita Beninger (@anitamedia)Paolo Mottola (@paolojr) Janna Quedado (@jquedado) Alvin Singh (@bookido)
Sources
• Jones, K. (2009, April 20) Covering Columbine – 10 years ago today. AC360, CNN. Retrieved Jan. 25 2010 from http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/20/covering-columbine-10-years-ago-today/.
• Columbine High School massacre. (2010, January 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:39, January 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbine_High_School_massacre&oldid=338494272.
• Virginia Tech massacre. (2010, January 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:39, January 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virginia_Tech_massacre&oldid=338039621.
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