APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Before school begins for students, it was teachers and staff in class Friday.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice made its way to Appleton to talk about safety in schools as part of a statewide tour.
The courses help staff deal with many different types of violence in schools such as bullying, cyberbullying, physical threats, weapons, and suicide.
Susan Whitstone, program and policy analyst advanced with the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety says an alarming 80% of the time, other people knew or have known about a violent incident within a school before the staff did.
Part of these classes is to help break the code of silence among students.
“If they have a trusted adult that they can tell that adult about concerning behavior, then we can be preventative in our approach with how we handle that act of violence,” Whitstone said.
The courses are funded through a grant from the 2017 Wisconsin Act 143.
