Today is Stop the Violence day...

With a focus on stopping violence before it happens. BUT, are we prepared to invest time - instead of money - to do just that, stop violence before it happens?

Billions, yes billions, has been spent on school safety, namely fixed assets like cameras, metal detectors, ballistic doors and windows etc. but bad people show us, on an all too regular basis that they still think schools are easy targets. Take metal detectors as one example. We spend anywhere from $5K to $30K on a metal detector that will identify someone trying to bring a weapon into school so, we are safer - right? But would YOU buy one if we discussed the fact that if someone is bringing a weapon into school they might ALSO be planning to use it then and there and they really couldn't care less about a detectors reaction to a weapon. So how valuable is a metal detector.

So, why do we keep throwing BIG dollars at perceived solutions without discussing the effectiveness of those solutions BEFORE scant budget dollars are spent?

A good example. We know that threats do not evolve into active events overnight but we rarely notice them until it is too late. So taking that fact into account shouldn't threat awareness be an active (and very cost effective BTW) component in any discussion around school safety?

Being aware was part of our natural thought process for centuries in order for people to perform tasks effectively or simply to survive. Prehistoric man undoubtedly needed to be cognitive (aware) of their limitations, strength, ability to make fire and weapons while also being aware of their environment in order to successfully hunt and keep themselves from being hunted in return.

Today, we don’t need to be aware of the possibility of a T-Rex chasing us because they simply don’t exist,

BUT, we do have predators of different kinds and while we might not be aware of them, they are very much aware of us and our weaknesses. In recent years having good (cognitive and or situational) awareness was largely a matter of necessity, training and experience but, being aware for the average person is simply not a priority. The Israeli’s activated this sixth sense if you will in every citizen, quite simply because they had to, and they did so to the point where it is now second nature for them to sense "hiccup's" in the daily rhythm of life around them.

A hiccup is a great analogy. When you are in a restaurant, you may not notice a terrorist with a bomb or a weapon but, if anyone within earshot gets a case of the hiccups we notice straight away and have a little giggle at their expense. Why? Because hiccups are an innocuous part of our lives and non-threatening in nature. On a psychological level we really don't want to notice or talk about things that bring us down - a homeless person, death, disabilities, suicide, mental health and guess what - threats of violence.

Bad people "hiccup" many times before they act and it is these signs that can be identified, assessed and acted upon long before they become tragic events...

When you think “wow, I didn’t see that coming” the chances are you did but your mind didn’t differentiate that hiccup from the white noise that you see and hear each and every day. When you reactive this dormant sense, you will find that you start noticing things that are out of sync with the daily norm and once activated this skill will stay with you for life and it will save lives.

Millions of people now know CPR thanks to a national/global campaign to educate the masses on how to save lives. Sadly, we are a long ways away from that sort of campaign (Israel is a little smaller) but we can teach a whole lot more people in our schools, churches and corporate campuses on how to be aware and how to stay aware...

Ask us how we can help you not only feel safer but be safer... www.Pre-eVention.com