Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. There are a lot of people who come together to make students' safety a top priority in our schools. It is a combined effort on behalf of many people who care. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk with school resource officer Mike Ashley, better known as Officer Ash about his role keeping kids safe and how students can help. We also share some ideas on student safety when it comes to their mental health and wellness.

We are here with Officer Ashley from the Riverton Police Department. He's one of our S.R.O.s - School Resource Officers. Officer Ash, thanks for spending some time with us.

Officer Ashley:
Thanks for inviting me. I'm glad to be here and I hope I can help out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us what are some things for us to be thinking about as we look to keep kids safe at the beginning of the school year?

Officer Ashley:
Well, first of all, if they're grade school kids, we want to make sure that, if they're walking, we want to make sure that they know the route of how they got to school and the time it takes for them to get to school and back. Also with the bus, the bus schedule and to make sure they know what buses they're getting onto. Even the bus driver's name is always kind of nice to know. And when they're expected to be home from their bus, either going to school or coming back from school.

Anthony Godfrey:
So know the route, know the bus, and know the bus driver. What are some other tips, particularly for those students who are walking to school, what are some tips for staying safe that way?

Officer Ashley:
The other thing is know your phone numbers. Not just your mom, but your dad's, maybe your brother and sister, older brother and sisters. Know the neighborhood. Know what houses are probably safe to stop at if for some reason you feel uncomfortable with somebody, or somebody seems to be following you, or a group of kids are, you feel like they're bullying you. Somewhere you can go. Find those routes, those houses that you can maybe go to if you can't make it home.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which is something that we look at whenever we're establishing those safe walking routes in partnership with the city. Is there someplace that a student could go if they had some trouble on the way home, which is a fairly rare, but you always want to know that you have a refuge available to you.

Officer Ashley:
Yes, that's correct. If it's a home, that's great. If it's somewhere else, a business, a business that you know, that's a good place to stop. Calling a parent is always one of the best things to do. Go back to the school if the school's close enough. Just turn back and go back and talk to one of the teachers or the principal, or even the hall monitors. They're always out and about around the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
And if there is a problem, then students can report that to parents or the school or the police, really anyone who can then follow up.

Officer Ashley:
Yes, that's correct. If they call the parents, which happens all the time, they call the parents, the parents usually hopefully know the SRO, they call the SRO. If they don't, they'll call a patrol officer, the patrol officer will refer it to us.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about students maybe reporting concerns that they have, or things that they'