Make Our School Safe’s ongoing initiative to take Alyssa’s Law national was featured last night on CBS Miami. The story highlighted Congressman Ted Deutch’s introduction of a bipartisan bill that would increase safety and security measures nationwide by mandating Alyssa’s Law. The primary objective of this piece of legislation would be to implement more structured and efficient processes that can be followed in the event of an emergency.
 

 
In these precarious situations, mere seconds can mean the difference between life and death. Bullets move fast, so our responses to emergency situations as a community need to be faster than they have been in the past.

Make Our School Safe’s response to the horrific tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas has been to search for lessons like this in a time of great loss and use that knowledge to shape a safer classroom for students. Alyssa’s Law has come at great cost to the Parkland community, but Make Our School Safe is dedicated to ensuring that the cycle of loss does not continue to perpetuate within our school systems.

Alyssa’s Law, which has already been passed in New Jersey, would require panic buttons to be placed within schools that would allow staff to respond quickly to intruders. Ideally, the buttons would be placed in every classroom and would either be worn by teachers, placed on walls, or implemented through a smart phone app.

The proposed legislation, called the School Violence Prevention and Mitigation Act, would establish grant programs aimed at both assessing security risks and making improvements based on those findings. Furthermore, it would fund the programs with $2 billion over a decade. This is a great stride towards our mission to make our schools safe, but we’ll need the help of our community to ensure it passes. Support our cause today by sharing the news with friends and family.