New panic button system in Palm Beach County Schools is designed to promote school safety
The new panic buttons provide many parents with the reassurance that their children are safe. “It’s really comforting to know that the teachers have an effective and reliable way to contact the right people during a certain situation,” Bharat Purohit, Bak parent said. Photo by Yashvi Rajpurohit
New panic buttons were added to teachers’ IDs all across the School District of Palm Beach County to establish a safer school environment for both students and teachers.
“This is one of the best investments the district has made in a while,” Michelle DeSilva, social studies teacher, said.
The school district made this decision and it has been in effect since the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. The teachers now have a way to immediately notify administration if there is a problem in the classroom or on campus.
According to West Palm Beach Florida News (WPBF), the badges are connected to 911 If a teacher sees a threat, by pressing the button, a 911 center and an officer on campus will be alerted to where the threat is.
For this reason, if a teacher pressed the button outside of their classroom, then the officers would know exactly where they were located.
“It is basically an immediate alert system,’’ DeSilva said. “It’s so much faster than pressing a button and then communicating with the office about what the problem is.”
Having such a simple system would be helpful because, even under stress, the teacher would be able to communicate the threat.
According to icrisisalert.com, the panic buttons empower educators and administrators to have confidence in all situations, from the daily to the dreadful. Having assurance of safety helps students focus on their studies and allows teachers to focus on teaching.
Misha Shah, seventh grade communications major, said, “I feel a whole lot safer, knowing that with a simple push of a button, there is help on the way.”
