Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Are the 2nd floor windows in your child’s school safe?
March 8,2015
Boyd A. Loving
6:04 PM
Ridgewood NJ, Are the second floor windows of your child’s school configured to prevent a child from either falling, jumping, or being pushed out?
If you don’t know for sure, please ask the principal/head school administrator to check.
The life you save could be your child’s
I saw Boyd taking this picture yesterday at Somerville.
Strange.
One kid makes the tragic and impulsive split-second decision to take his own life by jumping from a school window. Now, the suggestion is to spend a fortune modifying all out school windows (other than the ground floor ones) so that the suicide cannot be repeated. You know, there are thousands of ways to commit suicide. Jumping out of a school window is actually one of the rare kinds. What else should we do? Put barriers up along every sidewalk to prevent would-be suicidees from running in front of a bus?
There was absolutely no suggestion made to spend a “fortune” modifying all school windows; none whatsoever. Get your facts straight.
So Declan, I guess you’re an opponent of the plan to erect suicide prevention barriers on the Golden Gate Bridge? No need to spend all of that money to save lives?
In the past I would know for sure 100% that the inital post to talk to the principal was a sarcastic joke.
Now-a-days, sadly (pathetically) it is more than likely a serious concern.
We should put our children in cages to keep them safe.
8:51 – (I am not Declan) but yes, I am opposed to making the choice to spend part of the finite amount of money in the SF budget erecting those barriers when it could be spent on other projects which would save more lives.
1. there is not an infinite supply of money
2. it is impossible to fully protect everyones life 100% of the time.
The windows could be made safe for little money. They could be prevented from opening too many inches. This is a simple and low cost solution. It should definitely be done. Just what $$$ are you people suggesting is so essential above the lives of our children?
Fresh air will save more kids than nailing shut windows to prevent a statistically non-existent threat.
I agree with 10:11; not a lot of money would be required to make any unsafe windows safe.
9:17
You sound like someone who is not a parent, or someone whose kids are grown and gone so you feel secure that you did everything right.
An upstairs window that can easily be flung open is a hazard. Children do not understand all the risks, they see super heroes flying on TV, they are melodramatic. It is the job of adults to protect them in reasonable ways. Making windows difficult to open wide makes complete sense, and it should be done at the schools. This horrible tragedy could have been prevented. This poor child’s impulsive fatal act would never have happened. Let us learn from this . I can guarantee that if this had been a Ridgewood incident, windows would be secured immediately.
Brian: No suggestion was made to “nail the windows shut.”
What evidence does Brian have to support his assertion that this is a “statistically non existent threat?” So the incident in Dumont did not happen? A story made up by the press?
To answer the question about suicide barriers at the GG Bridge, no I’m not against their installation. The rationale to erect them is based upon the location being a commonly-used suicide venue. Jumpers there are not the split-second impulsive kind. They appear to have made the decision to end their life at some prior time, and then go to the bridge to carry it out. Why the bridge? I guess it has a more spectacular effect in their desire to send a message. That does take an element of planning, even in their seemingly unbalanced state. This school jumper seems like a one-off. As for costs, you know it would cost a fortune to make modifications to existing school windows. Heck, it cost about $70,000 just to re-paint the underpass by the train station.
Running to retrofit every second-story school window in town to prevent them from opening more than a few inches, or installing prison-like window bars, in order to minimize defenestration risk is a gender-based reaction to a regional news event. Had this tragedy happened in the Midwest, West, South or Southwest, would it have caused even a ripple locally? The principals and the Board of Ed should calmly review applicable building code and carefully confer with the fire and building departments, as well a few qualified child psychologists, before deploying an army of district custodians with nails, screws and L-brackets in hand.
A “gender based” reaction?
12:01
And which gender are you maligning?
We should ban Chess.
Better safe than sorry.
Its a low cost preventative option.
Do it for the kids.
We should ban pencils and paper.
– a definite safety measure and a green one too (save the trees)
Paperless classrooms are safe classrooms.
Do it for the kids.
The windows will never be nailed shut (or have their openings reduced).
The teachers would never put up with this.
… unless….
yes, that’s it – restrict the windows, then let loose the RWEA, NJEA, NEA on the village and demand air conditioning in EVERY SINGLE WORK SPACE in EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL.
Shove the bill on the RW residents via a “modest” tax increase.
Do it fer da kidz – safety first.
Never let a tragedy go to waste.
2:34pm: The ironically-named PR firm White Horse Strategies called. They said they like the way you think and said they would like to get a look at your resume. It looks as if you have a bright future in this field, should you choose to accept!
If windows are nailed shut there can be carbon monoxide poisoning or some poisoning.
Let’s everyone just stop having children. Kids are too much stress.
11:48–a single event does not a statistically existent event make. 5000 kids a year fall out of windows. That includes teens sneaking out for a beer/tryst, kids in apartment buildings, etc. Lets say, generously, that 1000 kids a year fall from school windows. There are 74 million school kids in America. 1000/74,000,000 is not statistically significant.
When we over-react to incidents we create unexpected harms and we create tax burdens. In fact, were it an event we should react to, it would likely not even be a news story. Suicide, obesity, drug addiction, car accidents. These events really kill kids. Falls from windows?–Not so much. Spend those precious resources where they do the most good, not where the latest news story points.
Here’s an idea. Let’s have all kids just stay at home in their protective cocoons. The Village will provide private tutors for all of them. That way, they are completely safe. No more snow days. No threat of abduction by pedophiles. Yes, let’s continue to bubble-wrap our kids. I didn’t make the “gender” comment, but I think the writer was of the opinion that it’s another example of the femininization of society, where women have this instinct to protect us.
4:34 Brian –
If 100% of those 1000 kids who fall from windows die, then this is pretty significant. A child’s life has been lost. Be grateful it was not your child.
7:22… clearly not a math major.
We should ban cafeteria food also.
Do you have any idea how many children suffer needlessly day in and day out, for what? Tater tots…..hoagies……mystery meat…
Completely senseless …….
Do it for the kids……
If someone truly wants to harm themselves, they will throw themselves in front of a car or walk on thin ice, or drink poison, etc. If they can’t get out of a window they will think of another way. I would think that there must be some underlying problems to begin with to kill oneself.