Episodes
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Strength Trainer Drew Baye | Is Student Fitness Sapping School Safety?
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Drew Baye has been teaching and writing about exercise for over twenty years, during which time he has personally instructed hundreds of clients, including elderly people and people with physical disabilities, one-on-one through tens of thousands of workouts. He maintains the number one blog on high intensity strength training baye.com and has been featured in several books about exercise including The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results by Ellington Darden, PhD, Heart Strong by Ken Hutchins, and The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferris. CALIFORNIA SUSPENDING PHYSICAL EDUCATION. Antonia Noori Farzan of the Washington Post (February 7, 2020) wrote about pending state legislation in California that would drastically impact physical fitness instruction, assessment and guidance for students. “For generations of students, running a timed mile around the track as part of a mandatory fitness assessment has been a painful rite of passage. To some, it can be downright embarrassing and humiliating. But that could soon be changing in California, where officials have raised concerns that annual physical performance tests can lead to body-shaming and bullying, and that they discriminate against students who have disabilities or identify as non-binary." PRESIDENTIAL PHYSICAL FITNESS. In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was horrified to learn that European schoolchildren were acing a fitness test designed by competitive rock climbers, while the majority of American kids failed. The fear that the United States was falling behind on the world stage led to the introduction of the Presidential Fitness Test, which rewarded the students who could do the most pull-ups and run the fastest miles. In 2012, the Presidential Fitness Test was quietly replaced by a program that focused on students’ overall health rather than arbitrary fitness goals. FITNESS. Drew defines fitness as, “Your ability to perform various physical tasks without fatigue and without injury.” He notes that strength training benefits muscles and also the heart – explaining the misconception that the heart is solely responsible for circulating blood throughout the body as many muscles are involved. EXERCISE. Per Drew, most people are unable to accurately define exercise. He defines it as, “A process by which the body performs work of a demanding nature in accordance with muscle and joint function for the purpose of creating tension and fatigue in the targeted muscles to stimulate improvement in muscular strength and size and through the stress in the muscles to place a demand on and to stimulate improvements in all those supporting systems.” NUTRITION. Ultimately, nutrition is a significant component of student fitness. Drew debunks the popular argument that kids of previous generations had similar diets as kids today – and they were more active decades ago. In fact, he notes that the higher level of activity kids had in the 1950s and 1960s decreased opportunities for them to consume extra calories – as they were out doing things and not sitting in front of a screen. STUDENT FITNESS IMPACT ON SAFETY. Drew identified 4 benefits of physical fitness specific to student safety (1) Students able to quickly get themselves to a safe location during a crisis: (2) Students being able to better recover from a physical injury; (3) If you’re stronger, you are better able to aid other people (which is also part of the FEMA Teen CERT program); and (4) Students maintain sharpened thinking skills and decision-making during a crisis due to the connections between physical fitness and improved cognitive functioning. IS ELIMINATING PHYSICAL FITNESS DISCRIMINATING AGAINST STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES? Dr. Perrodin asserts that California’s draconian measures to limit physical education are based on inaccurate perceptions that students with disabilities don’t enjoy, or don’t benefit, from physical education – an assumption he argues discriminates against students with disabilities and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (Chapter 7, Addendum 2). FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 119.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.baye.com
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Vincent LaRosa | Founding of Masculine Geek and Urban Exploring
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Vincent LaRosa is a network administrator, Masculine Geek and adventurer. He’s an enthusiast of ancient areas and fascinated with urban decay - including the death knell of the American mall. In this episode, Vince discusses the genesis of one of Internet’s top shows - Masculine Geek, writing, urban exploring and an intellectual hike through the woods of life and mortality. REMEMBERING OOLOO. Decades removed from the bright lights, fans still remember Ooloo, a supporting character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although a brilliant actor, the writer’s delivered few opportunities for LaRosa's Ooloo to shine other than late in season two when Ooloo played a yeoman purser - a role that was functionally eliminated when the starship went cashless after convoluted storylines involving currency conversion practices that became ridiculous when Captain Picard authorized purchase orders for parts for the starship, curiously not stocked by Star Fleet, by bartering the equivalent of a sack of russet potatoes with the Narphwelens. WAS OOLOO A “B” CHARACTER? Although a “B” character, many, including fellow actor Levar Burton, and confidant Angela Lansbury, felt that Ooloo would have smoothly transitioned to the role of core cast member in a similar fashion to Jamie Farr’s “Klinger” replacing Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff) on the TV series M*A*S*H. In a 2016 interview, Burton acknowledged the writers’ colossal mistake by terminating LaRosa’s character in a reckless cafeteria accident. Respected in Hollywood, the talented LaRosa passed on countless offers for auditions and instead closed the chapter on acting and moved to the East Coast. FOUNDING OF MASCULINE GEEK. Masculine Geek has become a Wednesday night staple for a loyal, growing tribe of very cool people seeking honest, unscripted discourse that harkens to all things masculine: motorcycles, rock bands, history of ancient civilizations, battlefields, and Dungeons & Dragons. Vincent’s concept for Masculine Geek took shape when Rob Says and TJ Martinell took the oath. Curmudgeon Aaron Clarey was a periphery member of MG, but amicably departed the show after its late (8PM Aaron’s time) start time interrupted his four hour naps. Vince, TJ and Rob meet up in the virtual campsite to deliver the Masculine Geek podcast live Wednesday Night’s at 9PM EST on YouTube and the show is landing some of the Internet’s prominent figures and boasts a highly interactive chat room. TIME TO LEVEL UP. The motto of the Masculine Geek is “Time to level up.” That’s right, you’re now part of the team - so do your part. Masculine Geek offers a discerning (free) weekly newsletter, masterly essays such as “Rise of the Lone Wolf” and “The Everyday MG’s Commandments”, paid content, merch and consulting. URBAN EXPLORING. Urban exploration is the act of entering, experiencing and photographing abandoned buildings or areas. The rule is to leave sites as you found them. Many of these places are dangerous due to a lack of maintenance over a long period of time. And, unless you have permission from the owner, you’re probably trespassing - so a cool geek hobby, but don’t go solo and always get permission. Vince shares accounts of urban exploring, including his intention to capture photos of a decaying mall and then pair those images with narratives for a book. David, relatively new to urbanex, attempts to describe the emotional experience of a long-abandoned farmhouse that still had clothing buttons tossed on a rotting floor. MEETUP.COM Vince underscores that people need to find others with similar interests and engage in a shared activity, such as building a house for Habitat for Humanity, hiking, or urban exploring. Although an online platform, Masculine Geek held its inaugural “Village By The Sea” in-person gathering last fall in October -- and future in-person meet-ups are planned. Check out the website masculinegeek.com FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 118.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.masculinegeek.com
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Morgan Ballis Interview | Preparing for an Active Assailant on Campus
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
As a school crisis develops, more time means more options. This episode’s guest works to put seconds back on the clock by teaching people steps to improve their chances for survival during a chaotic situation. ABOUT MORGAN BALLIS. Morgan Ballis is the Director of Strategic Planning & Training with Campus Safety Alliance which is a network of emergency management professionals, law enforcement trainers, and educational leaders providing evidence-based safety solutions for PreK-12 facilities and faith-based organizations. He is a firearms instructor, United States Marine Corps veteran, and is currently completing a doctoral degree in Emergency Management. ACTIVE SHOOTER DATA is CONFUSING. The number of school shootings over the past 20 years depends upon the source of the data. Morgan advocates for using data curated by the FBI which includes: number of attacks, locations of attacks, relationship of the shooter, timelines, and casualties. WHAT’S THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM LOCKDOWN? Lockdowns have become commonplace in today’s schools. Morgan shares that the origin of lockdown drills is rooted to 1970s Southern California when the threat was that someone driving by would shoot at a school. Imagine getting beneath window-level and pulling thick curtains on exterior windows. He noted that early lockdown drills where informally known as “Drive-By Drills” as the threat was external to the school. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LOCKDOWNS IN THE 1970s and TODAY. Unlike the drive-by threats of the 1970s, contemporary active assailant threats are manifesting within the school. Morgan shares data that these incidents are shorter in duration (3-5 minutes) and more often completing before the arrival of law enforcement – especially in rural areas. These changes in the profile of an active assailant event are rationale for Morgan’s support of an options-based response. SITE-SPECIFIC TRAINING. The school is the unit of measure. Morgan stresses the importance of addressing each school setting within a school district and going beyond quantitative data to interview students, staff, and stakeholders. He revealed that some prominent school safety firms deploy architectural engineers who assess the school environment from a design, hardware and software approach. This creates a conflicted interest as the company conducting the safety assessment will subsequently market solutions that it will sell and install, such as cameras – despite other priorities of defining safety terminology, equipping staff with reliable 2-way radios and teaching standard communication protocols. A TEAM OF EXPERTS. Morgan embraces building a team of content experts to work with him – a group that is matched to the needs of the location. This is known as small group theory and is similar to how the CDC operates when faced with a potential pandemic. IF MORGAN HAD JUST ONE HOUR IN A SCHOOL. Schools seldom have more than ten days of contracted non-student time during a school year. This time is quickly carved into bits for developing curriculum, mandated training on blood borne pathogens, grading, setting up classrooms, ... School safety has secured its place at the table of professional development, but there’s never enough time, right? Morgan advises schools to identify how much time they will allocate to staff training for school safety. The first priority is defining terminology and establishing inter-rater reliability. The second priority is a reliable communication system with 2-way radios for all staff. Morgan’s emphasis on communications aligns to this 2013 interview with communications expert Fred Varian: https://tinyurl.com/Varian-Interview-ComSec LEARNING OBJECTIVES. Threaded throughout this interview was the need to cultivate learning objectives for school safety activities. Are we testing the school’s 2-way radios? Are we measuring the mass communication system that alerts parents? How might a few learning objectives completely change the tone of a school district and outside agencies conducting oft-controversial intruder exercises? And, what do most schools overlook? FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 117.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.campus-safety.us
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Building Your Legacy | Interview with Rob Says
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
What is legacy? What isn't legacy? Is a Danish a donut with no hole? Listen to guest Rob Says from Robsays.net as this episode of The Safety Doc Podcast addresses agency, purpose and legacy. YOUR ANCESTORS ARE NOT YOUR LEGACY. Defining your legacy by either your ancestry or by your children is a faulted scheme. First, lineage is certainly meaningful as it offers a sense of the family crest and greater tribe, but your pedigree affords you no bragging rights. Don’t waste your time on a mail-in DNA test in hopes that you’ll discover you’re faintly related to someone famous and by some transient properties that instantly makes you a “somebody.” You’re the great, great, great, great cousin of J.D. Rockefeller – that’s handy for trivia and useless for helping anyone to learn who you are and how you are making your mark on the world. YOUR CHILDREN ARE NOT YOUR LEGACY. As for children, they are frequently tagged as one’s legacy. I Googled “Children” + “My Legacy” and surfaced 838,000 results. The first was an article by Forbes titled, “Your Children Are Not Your Legacy” and the second was an article by Huffpost titled, “My Children are My Legacy.” People are autonomous and everyone has the right to a unique agency and purpose. Affixing the legacy saddle to offspring robs them of agency and purpose. I could go on, but instead, listen to the episode. MORE REASONS YOUR KIDS ARE NOT YOUR LEGACY. As written by Rob on Robsays.net, “I've seen "legacies" end up behind bars. I've seen them drink themselves to death or overdose on heroin. I've seen them join gangs. Your legacy can't be your family as far as I'm concerned because they don't owe you anything and they aren't obligated to you. They can walk out of your life legally the moment they hit the age of majority and never look back. They are autonomous beings with thoughts, feelings, and desires of their own. Give them the space to explore that without the pressure of trying to live up to your legacy.” YOUR JOB IS NOT YOUR LEGACY. A job is a means to an end. All employers and employees are interchangeable and organizations have short memories – especially for good things. As Rob notes, this isn’t an excuse to be a responsible, diligent worker. But, be cognizant of the influence your job has over what you do, how you act, what you think – that pause before you say something or do something as although it might fuel you legacy, it might not blend in with the vanilla profile embraced by the folks over in human resources. As the Internet never forgets, people, especially younger career-driven people, are measuring their expression and probably repressing their expression. Is this compatible with building your legacy? ARE WE PAYING TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE ATTENTION TO OUR LEGACY? There are two ways to look at this question. When we are addicted to extrinsic feedback in the form of likes, thumbs up and digital high fives, then yes, we are paying too much attention to our legacy. It’s like we are opening the oven door every 3 minutes to check on the cake. So, as we confuse social media attention with authentic content creation, then yes, we are paying too little attention to value-added content creation such as blogs, podcasts and articles and instead snapping photos of ourselves and our possessions – all of which are the building blocks of your legacy. You are the composite of what you do, not the aggregate of what you possess. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 116.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.Robsays.net
Sunday Dec 15, 2019
Nick Schulaner | The Jagged Intersection of Marketing and School Safety
Sunday Dec 15, 2019
Sunday Dec 15, 2019
Nick Schulaner is a 21-year-old guitar-playing Digital Marketer and Mechanical Engineering Student. He has taught in 2 programs teaching people how to do digital marketing so they can either promote their own small business or get jobs marketing for other people. He also has his own YouTube channel where he interviews other successful marketers and business owners. Because he’s so young, Nick has been able to see firsthand the type of fortifications schools invest in, as well as how those fortifications are perceived by the students themselves (spoiler alert: it’s not a pretty picture). GOING ALL-IN FOR HIGH SCHOOL SAFETY. During the 2013-2014 school year, Nick, (then) a student at a high school of 2000 students in Washington State, observed sweeping safety overhauls at his campus, including the installation of bullet-resistive window films and metal detectors at “some” of the entrances. Let’s examine the concept of “all in.” In American usage, the phrase “all in” began as a colloquial expression meaning to be in a bad spot—exhausted, worn out, and spent. In the game of poker, it refers to the moment when a player—whether out of bravado, recklessness, or desperation—bets all of his or her chips on a single hand. In other words, Nick’s school leaders were implementing a flurry of expensive and difficult-to-maintain safety measures with the presumed hope that these steps would satisfy panicked parents and perhaps increase school security. TEACHER ADMITS FACULTY UNABLE TO PROTECT KIDS. Per Nick, “Yet, even after all those things were implemented, I distinctly remember one of my teachers telling my class something to the effect of ‘I really hope we don’t have a school shooting here because we (meaning the faculty) have pretty much no way to protect you kids if we do.’ If anything, you could argue that all the fortifications actively made things WORSE by lulling people into a false sense of security.” NO STUDENT INPUT. Nick didn’t recall any time when school leaders asked students about safety concerns on campus or sought their input on what practices or devices might increase school safety. His friend who served in student government discovered that the collective student voice wasn’t of interest to administrators and ignored on serious matters, such as school safety. Nick shared that fights were a much more common occurrence at this school, noting a time when two girls duked it in a hallway over a cupcake. Yes, a cupcake. And, don’t even ask what was happening in the woods next to the school! WHAT MADE NICK FEEL SAFER AT SCHOOL. Nick shared that the metal detectors made him feel that his school was safer…until a few weeks into the school year when, due to long lines and other obligations of the SRO, the fidelity of metal detector checkpoints waned and students were able to enter and exit buildings unchecked at the schools approximately dozen entrances. PBIS AT HIGH SCHOOL “BEAMER BUCKS” Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is a formal program for teaching students positive and appropriate behaviors. A form of PBIS was in place at Nick’s high school and students received “Beamer Bucks” that could be redeemed for school apparel. He noted that the PBIS program was vague and the incentives would have been valuable if for things like pizza. Again, a “code of conduct” program implemented without student input. MARKETING SCHOOL SAFETY. Nick identified two reasons why people buy something. The first is to acquire pleasure and the second is to escape pain. In schools, the relentless pressure of parents to “do something” to improve school safety is the “pain” applied to the school board. Social proof, as Nick explains, is another powerful construct for selling safety. If you can show another school that has purchased a product, then the argument becomes, “That school made the investment to keep its schools safe…why aren’t you also choosing to keep kids safe?” FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 114.
- Learn more about guest Nick Schulaner at www.nickschulaner.com
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Spelunker Atham Aldecua | Psyche, Soma & STEM
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Atham Aldecua's safety advice is to assume that you are always alone and that anyone else that can help you during a crisis is a bonus. Trust gut instincts and rely upon yourself to make decisions and find options within chaos. A caver, climber, hiker, and snowboarder, Atham’s forded the divide from self-similarity to chaos and skillfully navigates both physical and psychological terrain that would overwhelm most people. It’s a value-added mindset and Atham imparts pragmatic wisdom during this interview. RECONNAISSANCE & SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. Perpetually honing his situational awareness, Atham shared that while living in Mexico, Taiwan and the United States; he watched the natives, studied their behaviors and attempted to predict what they would do next. He advises people to seek similarities across situations as they are more prevalent than differences and enable you to quickly pick up predictable patterns. WANDERING THE DESERT. After deciding computer programming wasn’t his jam, an 18 year old Atham gained crucial work experience as a call center representative, restaurant assistant manager, window washer and hotel night audit. He smiled when sharing a time at the call center when he asked the caller to close his windows. The man rushed around his house closing his windows instead of closing the windows on his computer. Although hectic, the call center was relevant training for learning to successfully interface with people who were overwhelmed. Another story was when several people checked into a hotel at night after being delayed by a winter storm. The only person at the desk, Atham maintained his smile and got everyone situated for the night. He often states, “It doesn’t help to feel sorry for yourself or ask, ‘why me?’ – just do what needs to be done.” PSYCHE. “You know what needs to be done, so do it!” Atham attributes his success to a combination of family and friends, saying “yes” to new opportunities, and embracing hard work – which for him is a combination of 80 hour work weeks, a full-time course load in chemical engineering and exploring caves. SOMA. With guidance from a trainer, Atham has shed 40 pounds since spring, enabling him to hike with ease and be more efficient with caving. He added that he weighs all of his food portions and that 40 grams of sugar in a soda is eye-opening when 40 grams of sugar is scooped onto a scale. SPELUNKING or CAVING? Atham explained that spelunking is associated with novice cave explorers and that traditional and more serious enthusiasts refer to themselves as cavers. Caving for 3 years, Atham became interested in the hobby after watching a YouTube video. He went to caves.org and found a local chapter of the National Speleological Society. He is now vice-chairman of his caving club and also trained in basic cave rescue. THREE CAVING RULES. Always have 3 sources of light. Atham stated that novice explorers over-estimate their capabilities and have poor situational awareness. These folks use their cell phone light to wander through a cave, experience hypothermia or become disoriented. Another rule is to never explore a cave on your own. The third rule is to avoid running in caves as the terrain is damp, inconsistent and unforgiving. While GPS doesn’t function in a cave, Atham shared that, curiously, he’s had intermittent cell phone reception. ASSUME NO MALICE. A member of his climbing team skipped safety protocol and unfastened a rope which resulted in Atham falling 16 feet and dislocating his elbow. Rather than becoming angry or emotional, Atham maintained his composure and was able to direct others to facilitate his rescue. His ability to find control in chaos comes from a mindset of not becoming occupied with emotions. Per Atham, “Assume no malice when people are giving you a hard time. Or should I say... pretend like you are assuming no malice even though you are seeing it. This makes them look bad in public if they keep pushing it. It’s a technique that has worked for me a lot of times.” FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 113.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
Interview with Max Eden | Education Policy Expert and Coauthor of Why Meadow Died
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
In this episode of The Safety Doc Podcast, I talk with the co-author of Why Meadow Died: The People and Policies That Created The Parkland Shooter and Endanger America’s Students. He discusses student discipline reform, student disability policies, abeyance agreements, and pressures on institutions to ‘look as though they have no problems,’ and more in light of recent school shootings. ABOUT MAX EDEN. Max Eden is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Before joining MI, he was program manager of the education policy studies department at the American Enterprise Institute. Eden’s research interests include early education, school choice, and federal education policy. He was coeditor, with Frederick M. Hess, of The Every Student Succeeds Act: What It Means for Schools, Systems, and States (2017). Eden’s work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets, such as the Journal of School Choice, Encyclopedia of Education Economics and Finance, Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, National Review, Claremont Review of Books, and The Weekly Standard. He holds a B.A. in history from Yale University. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF STUDENT SAFETY? 43 states have laws for school safety plans, but there is minimal accountability. Schools submit logs to denote that drills were conducted and nobody at the state-level offers feedback. It’s the difference between completing a requirement and learning from an activity. DISCIPLINE POLICY. Mr. Eden has written extensively about the complexities of inconsistent applications of discipline policy. He discusses what gets reported and considerations of the perceived interplay of personal and institutional biases in discipline and consequences. Dr. Perrodin iterates the absence of inter-rater reliability between states and notes the examples of North Carolina having more than 100 possible reporting codes for school discipline infraction - including affray which is defined as an instance of fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace. Administrative discretion versus zero-tolerance policies were also scrutinized in this episode. Policies are applied differently for students identified with disabilities due to certain legal protections. BUYING ACCESS. David sought Max’s response to the article Superintendents Association Recommends School Security Companies — for a Fee. Safety Experts Call It ‘Buying Access’ and Decry Lack of Transparency (by Mark Keierleber of the74million.org; October 21, 2019). Are national and state school organizations selling out to vendors? In Keierleber’s article, he writes, “[The] company and others like it pay $18,000 a year for the right to call themselves “School Solutions” partners with AASA, The School Superintendents Association — an arrangement that has raised ethical questions among some security experts. THE SILENT SHAME OF ABEYANCE AGREEMENTS. Schools have a tool, often per the guidance of their attorney, to deliver a lesser form of discipline that isn’t reportable to any local, state or federal entity. What is an abeyance agreement and how is it undermining student safety? PRESSURES TO PORTRAY A GLOWING SCHOOL IMAGE. In the modern age of open enrollment and government shaming for reporting “authentic” discipline figures, schools are actively managing their public image. School-shopping parents, local realtors, businesses and powerful local interests want “good” schools and not “honest” schools. Dr. Perrodin shares his own account of this as a school administrator and how perception was valued over reality. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 111.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Wednesday Oct 16, 2019
Wednesday Oct 16, 2019
In 2013, A 7-year-old Maryland kid chewed his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun at school and wound up with two days suspension. The pastry in question was not named, but it's gotta be a Pop-Tart, right? This dubious outcome, and others like it, are often the result of what is known as Zero-tolerance school safety policy. . WHAT ARE ZERO TOLERANCE POLICIES? Zero-tolerance policies were written into school handbooks in the 1990s, created originally to be a deterrent for bringing weapons into schools. Many students under strict zero-tolerance policies are punished without a second thought. School administrators are not afforded discretion to use professional judgment to match a consequence to a violation of the code of student conduct. This type of disciplinary procedure has been proven in research to have an overall negative effect on students, and a disproportionately negative effect on minorities. ABOUT RESEARCHER ANN MARIECOTMAN. Ann Marie Cotman is a doctoral student researching school policing at Texas State University. An educator since 1995 and a mother since 1998, Ann Marie fully respects and underscores that schools' first and most important obligation is to creating and maintaining a safe learning environment. As a researcher she is determined to make sure that safety driven policies truly support the safety of ALL students and are not unexamined practices that instead produce poor and inequitable outcomes. When not reading, writing, and researching, Ann Marie loves to play analog games with her three children and create art. She also gets to know the coolest kids in Austin Texas through her summer camp program and private tutoring! FOUR WAYS ZERO-TOLERANCE DISCIPLINE POLICIES UNDERMINE SCHOOL SAFETY: (1) prioritizes compliance over self-management/critical thinking; (2) undermines students' development of and confidence in their own decision making; (3) hides race (and gender, and other) inequities under the fig leaf of equal treatment; (4) discourages and interrupts the relationship building that is critical to creating a culture in which all community members want to come forward with concerns. ZERO-TOLERANCE PRETENDS TO REMOVE SUBJECTIVE DECISION MAKING THIS A PROBLEM FOR TWO REASONS: (1) Why would we want to remove the human element from addressing discipline problems? (2) We know both in design and application that it does NOT create an objective decision process. BETTER OPTIONS. Ann shifts the discussion to looking at the safety priorities of the school. Is it worth the time and investment to maintain polarizing Zero-tolerance policies at the detriment of cultivating relationships with students and families? And, for policies to be effective across the hundreds of thousands of school buildings in America, they need to be melded to each school setting. That involves affording the principal discretion to interpret and apply policies to best fit the setting. It’s not capitulating – it’s sensemaking. Ann also shared an example of a school that invited four students to serve on its safety committee and simple, potent positive changes that resulted from a group of educators and students working to solve the problem of chronic vaping by youth. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 110.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America.
Tuesday Sep 24, 2019
Interview with Effin' Birds Author Aaron Reynolds
Tuesday Sep 24, 2019
Tuesday Sep 24, 2019
AARON REYNOLDS is a humourist, professional speaker, and the man behind the @EffinBirds and @swear_trek Twitter accounts. When he’s not on Twitter, you can find him producing a series of podcasts and at ComicCons dressed as George Lucas. He has been a baseball writer, a fine art printer, and a mall Santa Claus photographer. Aaron was raised in Mississauga, Canada, a suburb where they cut down all the trees and named the streets after them. He currently splits his time between Toronto and Ottawa. HUMOR ACROSS AGES & CULTURES. David began this episode by identifying the role humor has in personal and situational awareness. People in touch with humor are better-equipped to identify and react to the nuances of life. In safety situations that can be the difference between life and death. David stated, "Humor is observed in all cultures and at all ages. Historically, psychologists framed humor negatively, suggesting it demonstrated superiority, vulgarity or, per Freud, was a defense mechanism. But, modern research offers strong evidence that humor activities. People that appreciate humor report greater life satisfaction than those who don't see the humor. Clinical psychologists are using humor to increase subjective well-being. Humor is an essential part of personal safety - as people receptive to humor tend to perceive the subtle nuances of situations and not to be too literal and linear - which is difficult to do in a world that can punish you for laughing." WHAT IS EFFIN’ BIRDS? A compact, comprehensive, and very silly field guide featuring more than 200 of the rudest birds on earth. Effin' Birds is the most eagerly anticipated new volume in the grand and noble profession of nature writing and bird identification. Sitting proudly alongside Sibley, Kaufman, and Peterson, this book contains more than 150 pages crammed full of classic, monochrome plumage art paired with the delightful but dirty aphorisms (think "I'm going to need more booze to deal with this week") that made the Effin' Birds Twitter feed a household name. Also included in its full, Technicolor glory is John James Audubon's most beautiful work matched with modern life advice. Including never-before-seen birds, insults, and field notes, this guide is a must-have for any effin' fan or birder. EFFIN’ BIRDS INTERNET MEMES. Effin’ Birds memes have infected the Internet – in a good way, with some type of powerful condition that invokes belly laughs, smiles and a re-conditioning of personalities. David and Aaron discussed the witty comments social media users routinely post whenever an Effin’ Bird meme appears on their screen. A common theme is for people to see the reflections of their own lives within the memes. A stoic bird above the caption, “Frankly, I Expected More,” describes the majority of work meetings, right? You can’t say it, but you’re thinking it – and yep, there’s an Effin’ Bird meme for that! WHEN WILL THE BOOK BE AVAILABLE? After crowd-funded the first printing of the 208-page “A Guide To Field Identification – Effin’ Birds,” Ten Speed Press asked Aaron to refine his original work. There was a sticky point, however. In order for the book to release for the Christmas season in America, Aaron had only 3 months to render the final version. He met the deadline and Effin’ Birds releases through Ten Speed Press on October 15, 2019. Due to strong pre-orders, it is already debuting as the #1 new release in Bird Field Guides. EFFIN’ BIRDS MERCHANDISE. Find me the person that doesn’t relish in a deck of Effin’ Birds playing cards! Go to effinbirds.com for your stocking stuffers and everyday supply of clothing, mugs, pins, cards and the Effin’ Birds book. WHAT IS THE FIRESIDE? Throughout this interview, Aaron shares his strategies for turnings negativity and stress into positive creative energy. He attends and presents at the Fireside Conference at rural (no WIFI) Camp Walden in Canada. As one attendee wrote, "It’s tempting to describe Fireside as an innovators version of Woodstock. However it wasn’t Woodstock – or Coachella, Glastonbury, Afrika Burn, or even Burning Man. It was all of them and none of them at the same time." FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 108.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: Schools of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Tragic Truth About Bahamas Hurricane Devastation with Katie Pechon and German Parodi
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
As Bahamian officials continue to sort through the widespread destruction left by Hurricane Dorian, confusion and uncertainty has been rampant during much of the initial recovery process. Guests Katie Pechon, German Parodi and Shaylin Sluzalis bring awareness and urgency to the untold stories of the Bahamas and the oft-overlooked impact disasters have on persons with disabilities. WHAT ARE THE BAHAMAS? The Bahamas extends 760 miles from the coast of Florida on the north-west almost to Haiti on the south-east. The nation consists of 700 islands, of which 30 are inhabited. The total population is 400,000 with 230,000 residing on the island of Nassau. HURRICANE DORIAN’S IMPACT ON THE BAHAMAS. On September 1, 2019, the eye of Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the Abaco Islands with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, making it the strongest hurricane on record to affect the northwestern Bahamas. The hurricane moved very slowly - just over a one mile-per-hour. As it was stagnant, the debris-laced winds and waves pulverized the islands in the 2 days it took Dorian to move toward the US coast. EVACUATION. German explained that the Bahamas, being a national of islands, didn’t have the infrastructure to evacuate residents. Lackluster, choppy emergency management responses from local and international governments coupled with profiteering by transportation companies (selling evacuation flights for $4500.00 per person) placed resident rescues as a low priority. Additionally, persons with disabilities, if rescued, might be separated from wheelchairs or other vital supports and not re-united with those items. GETTING RESCUE ITEMS TO THE BAHAMAS. Katie and German noted that the typical rescue assets of water, food, clothing and shelter were quickly brought to warehouses in southern Florida. Such staples are rapidly staged after a disaster. However, barriers to bringing the items into the Bahamas included clearing Customs and also having to break down items packed onto pallets to be transported on small planes. Decimated communication systems and damaged roads continued to keep many people isolated from population hubs – the places that will be the first to receive supplies. The number of missing persons has been reported in the thousands and it is likely most that are missing will be deemed losses. The risk of disease grows exponentially with each passing day under the sweltering, wrecked landscape. ITEMS NEEDED FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. Of course, water, food, clothing and shelter are needs shared by persons impacted by disaster. And, items for persons with disabilities, such as wheelchairs, walkers, catheters, insulin, trach components, etc., weren’t efficiently gathered and staged. These items also require collaboration with rescue coordinators in the Bahamas to ensure that they are matched with persons in need. German shared how he interfaced with civilian rescue forces in the Bahamas that work to support persons with disabilities. TRAUMA. German brought attention to the traumatic stress experienced by persons that endured Hurricane Dorian. Fear and anxiety manifested when it was known that the hurricane was projected to slam into the islands and such feelings will quickly rekindle with the next proximal tropical depression. The psychological shock is under-stated by the mainstream media. WHAT IS REAADI and DRMA? As we expanded the discussion to consider steps to improve domestic safety, German and Shaylin described the Real Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters Act (REAADI) and the Disaster Relief Medicaid Act (DRMA) that were introduced in the House and Senate on June 10, 2019. These bills include measures to improve outcomes for persons with disabilities during disasters. First, REAADI ensures that persons with disabilities contribute government rescue plans designed to bring persons with disabilities to safe location and support their needs during a sentinel event such as a hurricane in the United States. People will have input into the development of the plans that will be followed to ensure that they are supported during a disaster. DRMA fixes the existing problem of Medicaid funding terminating as a person crosses the state line. For example, if a person with a disability receiving Medicaid services evacuates Florida for Alabama during a hurricane, that person is not able to access Medicaid supports available to a resident of Alabama. Yep, that’s messed up and this remedy is overdue. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THIS EPISODE'S GUESTS. Katie Pechon: VP Triton Relief Group Kpechon@tritonrelief.org; Germán Luis Parodi: UNDRR Persons with Disabilities Co-Focal Point for the Americas and the Caribbean dart@disasterstrategies.org; Shaylin Sluzalis: Disaster Disability Access Response Team (DART) | Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies Shaylin@disastrategies.org; Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies portlight.org. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 107.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: Schools of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America