School safety dogs promote productive learning environments
James Bailey |
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Utilizing trained safety dogs to detect harmful substances in schools is not a new concept. But now, schools are finding ways to integrate the dogs into the school community, building a relationship of respect with students that means more than just interrupting the school day.
While an effective way to catch offenders bringing harmful substances to school, safety dogs can often cause disruptions throughout the school day for both students and teachers. These visits can also create anxiety for students when encountering breeds associated with more aggressive behaviors that are frequently trained for other purposes.
To help address these concerns, Traverse City Area Public Schools decided to take a different approach. Through a partnership with Interquest Detection Canines, a team of experienced school safety trainers and dogs, the school system is proactively maintaining safe learning environments while minimizing the interruption to the educational process.
The school safety dogs are introduced to students at assemblies held at the beginning of the school year. Students watch as handlers demonstrate the labradors’ keen abilities to detect items that are unwelcome in schools. The dogs, Dash and Sydney, are friendly, lovable labradors. They are also very effective.
“The Interquest canines and their handlers are welcome additions to our school community,” says Colleen Smith, principal of Traverse City East Middle School. “They are professional, respectful and efficient in their work. We appreciate their expertise in educating students and deterring prohibited substances from entering our school campuses.”
The other key difference between the traditional police K-9 searches and the partnership with Interquest is the frequency of the visits. The school safety dogs visit each of the district’s secondary schools multiple times throughout the school year, becoming a common sight in the buildings.
Traverse City West Senior High School Principal Joe Esper says, “The Interquest Detection Canines have allowed us to have more frequent visits to keep the school safe, while minimizing the disruption to the entire school or individual students.”
Now in its second year, the partnership is beginning to show results. Students talk positively about the school safety dogs and know that they can be in the buildings at any time, helping to promote deterrence and build healthy school communities.
“Student safety is our top priority,” says Christine Guitar, director of marketing and communications for TCAPS. “School safety dogs are an important tool that helps us build a safe, orderly and respectful environment for students, which is the necessary foundation each learner needs to reach their fullest potential.”