{"id":10552,"date":"2025-04-09T21:01:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T21:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/ai-vs-human-connection-which-do-schools-most-need-to-thwart-threats\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T21:01:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T21:01:25","slug":"ai-vs-human-connection-which-do-schools-most-need-to-thwart-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/ai-vs-human-connection-which-do-schools-most-need-to-thwart-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"AI vs. human connection: Which do schools most need to thwart threats?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Four years ago, a sixth grader in Rigby, Idaho, shot and injured two peers and a custodian at a middle school. The tragedy prompted school officials to reimagine what threat prevention looks like in the approximately 6,500-student district.<\/p>\n

Now, student-run Hope Squads in Rigby schools uplift peers with homemade cards and assemblies. Volunteer fathers patrol hallways as part of Dads on Duty. A team of district staff, counselors, social workers and probation officers gathers to discuss and support struggling students. Thanks to a new cell phone ban, students are off screens and talking to each other. The positive results of these combined efforts have been measurable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve helped change \u2026 lives,\u201d says Brianna Vasquez, a senior at Rigby High and member of her school\u2019s Hope Squad. \u201cI\u2019ve had friends who have been pulled out of the hole of depression and suicidal thoughts because of [the Hope Squad].\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why We Wrote This<\/h2>\n

As more schools use technology to monitor student threats, educators weigh how to balance it with human-led solutions. Part 2 in a series. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

School shootings like Rigby\u2019s have driven America\u2019s educators to try to prevent similar harm. Many districts in the U.S. have turned to technology \u2013 especially digital surveillance \u2013 as the antidote. Not everyone is sold on that approach, as there can be issues, including with privacy and security. Without broad agreement on which strategies do work best, some districts are trying a braided approach \u2013 using a combination of technology, on-the-ground threat assessment teams, and other mental health supports.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re sitting in the shoes of a district leader, taking a multi-pronged approach is probably very sensible,\u201d says Jennifer DePaoli, a senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, who has studied school safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about culture\u201d<\/h2>\n

In Rigby, educators lean toward human interaction. Artificial intelligence and digital surveillance systems are perhaps less likely to identify who is eating alone at lunch or withdrawing from friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about culture,\u201d says Chad Martin, the superintendent of Jefferson County School District in Rigby. \u201cIt starts with that \u2013 just having a friend, having a group of friends, having a connection somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jefferson County School District Superintendent Chad Martin poses for a photo in Rigby, Idaho, Feb. 5, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Rigby school leaders use technology to detect threats, including an app, STOPit, which allows students to anonymously report safety concerns, and surveillance software that monitors students\u2019 keystrokes and looks out for troubling terms. Mr. Martin says those are helpful, but must be used in concert with human-led initiatives.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s version of a threat assessment team, which meets monthly, has been one of the most impactful tools, Mr. Martin says. In those group conversations, school staff may realize that a student who\u2019s been missing class has a parent who was recently arrested, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has a little piece of information,\u201d Mr. Martin says. \u201cSo the goal is to put those people in the same room and be able to paint a picture that can help us support kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Idaho does not mandate the use of in-school threat assessment teams, 11 states in the U.S. do. In 2024, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that 71% of U.S. public schools have a threat assessment team in place.<\/p>\n

A leading model, used by thousands of school districts, is the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). These were developed by forensic clinical psychologist Dewey Cornell after he spent years studying homicides committed by children or teens, including school shootings. He says digital surveillance technology can offer school districts \u201can illusion of safety and security.\u201d<\/p>\n

With CSTAG, school-based teams use a five-step process when threats emerge. The team includes a school administrator, a counselor or psychologist, a social worker, a staff member focused on special education, and a school resource officer. In serious situations, the group might suspend or move a student elsewhere while conducting mental health screenings, a law enforcement investigation, and development of a safety plan. Ultimately, that plan would be put into effect.<\/p>\n

If implemented correctly, Dr. Cornell says, this type of approach is less punitive and more rooted in intervention. Instead of relying only on technology, Dr. Cornell and his threat assessment guidelines recommend adding humans who can make decisions with schools as situations emerge. He points to a recent study in Florida, one of the states where threat assessment teams are mandatory. Threats investigated by those teams \u201cresulted in low rates of school removal and very low rates of law enforcement actions,\u201d according to the report authored by Dr. Cornell and fellow University of Virginia researchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a school counselor and you can work with a troubled kid and help get them on the right track, you\u2019re not just preventing a school shooting, but you\u2019re more likely to be preventing a shooting that would occur somewhere else and maybe years in the future,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Students plan out activities for Hope Week during a Hope Squad class at Rigby High School in Rigby, Idaho, Feb. 5, 2025. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Threat assessment teams \u2013 whether using the CSTAG model or another form \u2013 haven\u2019t been immune from scrutiny. Complaints have emerged about them operating without student or parent knowledge, or without staff members to represent children with special needs. Criticism has also included concern about discrimination against Black and Hispanic students.<\/p>\n

Dr. DePaoli, from the Learning Policy Institute, says more research is needed to determine whether they successfully identify threats and provide students with appropriate support. She suspects it boils down to implementation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are being required to do these, you need to be doing them with so much training and so much support,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are the solution\u201d<\/h2>\n

The Jordan School District in Utah uses the CSTAG model. Travis Hamblin, director of student services, credits the \u201chuman connection\u201d with strengthening the district\u2019s approach to handling threats and, as a result, boosting student safety and well-being.<\/p>\n

Earlier this school year, the district received an alert through Bark, a digital monitoring tool that scans students\u2019 school-issued Google suite accounts. It flagged a middle schooler\u2019s account, which contained a hand drawn picture of a gun that had been uploaded.<\/p>\n

The notification mobilized the school\u2019s threat assessment team. By using the CSTAG decision-making process, the team determined the student did not intend any harm, Mr. Hamblin says.<\/p>\n

The school leaders didn\u2019t unnecessarily escalate the situation, he says. After their assessment, they chalked it up to middle school immaturity and asked the student to avoid such drawings in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you say, \u2018Why did you do that?\u2019 And they say, \u2018I don\u2019t know.\u2019 That\u2019s the truth, right? That\u2019s the gospel truth,\u201d Mr. Hamblin says.<\/p>\n

He shares this example to illustrate how the district marries technology-related monitoring with human-led threat assessment. The district employs someone \u2013 a former school administrator and counselor \u2013 to field the Bark alerts and communicate with school staff. And administrators from every school in the district have undergone threat assessment training, along with select members of their staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cA digital tool for us is a tool. It\u2019s not the solution,\u201d Mr. Hamblin says. \u201cWe believe that people are the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Efforts in Idaho<\/h2>\n

In Rigby, one of those solution people is Ernie Chavez, whose height makes him stick out in a hallway streaming with middle schoolers. He\u2019s part of Dads on Duty, a program that brings in parents to help monitor and interact with students during passing periods and lunch.<\/p>\n

Throughout the school, students reach out to Mr. Chavez for high-fives. On one February afternoon, he was greeted with applause and cheers. \u201cI don\u2019t know what that was about,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n

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Ernie Chavez, a volunteer with Dads on Duty, poses for a photo at Rigby Middle School in Rigby, Idaho, Feb. 5, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Similarly, the district\u2019s Hope Squads, in place since 2021, have become an active presence inside the school.<\/p>\n

The student-led coalitions aim to foster connection and reduce the risk of suicide. Thousands of schools across the United States and in Canada have implemented Hope Squads, but in Rigby, the mission of violence prevention has become personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe refer \u2026 students every year to counselors, and those students go from some of the worst moments in their life [to getting help],\u201d Ms. Vasquez says. \u201cWe build the connection between adults and faculty to the student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the Hope Squad notice peers who seem down or isolated and reach out with a greeting, or sometimes a handmade card.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just reach out and let them know that people in the community are there for them, just to show them that we care and they\u2019re not alone,\u201d says Dallas Waldron, a Rigby High senior and Hope Squad member.<\/p>\n

The groups also plan assemblies and special events, including, for example, a week of activities themed around mental health awareness.<\/p>\n

Emilie Raymond, a sophomore at Rigby High, says the shooting made it clear \u201cthat people need to feel included and they need to find that hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another change at Rigby schools is a cell phone ban that was put in place this school year.<\/p>\n

Before the ban, students were \u201csitting in the corners, isolated, staring at a screen,\u201d says Ryan Erikson, Principal at Rigby Middle School. Now, \u201cthey\u2019re playing games, they\u2019re goofing off \u2026 they\u2019re actually conversing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Jefferson County School District\u2019s approach to stemming violence is robust, \u201cit\u2019s not perfect,\u201d Mr. Martin, the superintendent, says. \u201cIt\u2019s still life. That\u2019s just the reality of it, we\u2019re still going to have things come up that we haven\u2019t prepared for or weren\u2019t on our radar. But we address them and just try to do whatever we can to support kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part 1: Schools use AI to monitor kids, hoping to prevent harm. An investigation found security risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This story was reported by Idaho Education News and The Christian Science Monitor. The Education Reporting Collaborative, a coalition of eight newsrooms, is investigating the unintended consequences of AI-powered surveillance at schools. Members of the Collaborative are AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Hechinger Report, Idaho Education News, The Post and Courier in South Carolina, and The Seattle Times.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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