Poisoning as a weapon in schools: a new threat scenario

 
On January 21, 2026 *, a seventh-grade student, aged about 14, brought a chemical education kit (such kits are freely available in stores) to school. He selected one of the dangerous and toxic reagents, mixed it into a carbonated drink, and then offered it to his classmates. Three teenagers drank the beverage, felt severely ill, and were hospitalized at the nearest hospital with a diagnosis of toxic poisoning. Thanks to the competent actions of the medical staff, the teenagers' lives were not in danger, and they were discharged from the hospital the next day.

Unfortunately, attempts by schoolchildren to commit mass murders of their classmates or cause harm to their health are not uncommon these days. In this case, what is of interest to experts is not the fact of the crime itself, but the method chosen by the perpetrator. The use of toxic chemicals as weapons in mass killings in educational institutions is not the most common method, but it is not unique either. Since 2000, there have been five** recorded cases of this kind:

November 20, 2006, Emsdetten, Germany
attack on a secondary school, using chemical poisons (smoke grenades) as secondary weapons; 37 victims (0 killed, 37 injured); perpetrator – male, age at the time of the crime – 18, former student of the school;

November 12, 2019, Kaiyuan, China
attack on an elementary school, using chemical poisons (toxic powder), 54 victims (0 killed, 54 injured), perpetrator – male, age at the time of the crime – 23;

December 2, 2024, Berlin, Germany
attack on an elementary school using chemical poisons (tear gas), 44 victims (0 killed, 44 injured), suspect fled, crime unsolved, identity of perpetrator unknown;

February 4, 2025, Erebro, Sweden
attack on a secondary school, using (as an auxiliary weapon) chemical poisons (smoke grenades), 22 victims (10 killed, 12 wounded), perpetrator - male, age at the time of the crime - 35 years old;

December 16, 2025, Odintsovo, Russia
attack on a secondary school, using (as an auxiliary weapon) chemical poisons (tear gas), 4 victims (1 killed, 3 wounded), age at the time of the crime - 15 years old, a student at the school.

As can be seen from the description, the criminals mainly used tear gas or poisonous smoke; in one case, the criminal sprayed toxic powder in the premises. In three out of five cases, the attackers used poisonous substances as additional weapons and only in two cases as the sole weapon.  I have not found any cases of attacks on educational institutions involving the deliberate poisoning of food or drink as a means of committing a crime, although I fully admit that they may have occurred but were not reported to the police or the media.

I would suggest that in this case, we are dealing with a new method of committing crimes such as deliberate mass harm to health or murder. Given the active discussion of this fact in the media, social networks, and forums, there is a high probability that a similar scenario could well be repeated in the near future.

I invite everyone who is involved in or simply interested in the field of applied criminology, such as the security of schools and other educational institutions, to participate in the development of effective, practical methods for preventing and suppressing threats committed in the following manner: deliberate poisoning of food or beverages with dangerous chemicals (or naturally occurring components) with the aim of mass murder or causing harm to human health.

You can contact the author in any convenient way listed on his page.

Author – Roman Grishin.

 

* The crime took place at a lyceum in the village of Kuyuki, Pestrechinsky District, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

** There is partially confirmed data on a series of attacks using poisonous substances in schools and higher education institutions in Iran in 2022-2023. Unfortunately, Iran's information secrecy does not allow us to obtain accurate data on the circumstances of the crimes (if they occurred at all) established by law enforcement agencies for analysis and publication in the handbook.

 

#SchoolSafety #assault #poisoning #threat #chemicals #murder #harm #children #schools #safety #criminology

Safety of educational and childcare facilities in 2025, preliminary results, new threats, forecast for 2026

Note: it should be borne in mind that the author lives and works in Russia, so in this article, he considers the situation on the example of his country. Measures to ensure the safety of schools, other educational institutions and places with a mass stay of children that he proposes are developed by him for use in Russia, taking into account the existing law enforcement system and the situation there.

Work is currently nearing completion on an updated version of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions, which will include some corrections and additions for previous periods, as well as statistics for 2025. Taking into account the opinions and wishes expressed by colleagues, the form for submitting certain statistical data will be supplemented. I will provide more details about the new edition of the Handbook in an accompanying article to its publication.

Some preliminary conclusions about the security situation in schools and other educational and childcare institutions can already be drawn.

1. The negative trend continues.

Even for the incomplete year of 2025, crime rates have increased compared to both 2024 and the average for the most recent period (2020-2024). The increase is observed both in the total number of serious and particularly serious crimes and in incidents with signs of mass murders and terrorist acts.

2. The level of security in educational institutions remains low.

The vast majority of crimes are committed directly on the premises of educational institutions using weapons or explosive devices. This circumstance clearly indicates that the criminals entered the premises of the educational institution unhindered, carried weapons with them, and carried out their planned crime.

3. Using teenagers to carry out terrorist acts.

So far, this phenomenon is more common in Russia. Teenagers, following instructions from anonymous «curators» in messengers and social networks, commit arson or mine energy facilities, transport, cars, and police premises, as well as other law enforcement agencies. There are no exact statistics, but according to Russian media reports, 47 such crimes were committed in the first quarter of 2025. The main motives for committing these crimes are threats of violence, blackmail, and the promise of financial reward.

Although most of these crimes are committed in Russia (although there are isolated cases in other countries), this practice is rapidly spreading to other countries. Terrorist organizations and criminal communities are quick learners and closely monitor such «cutting-edge criminal experience».

Earlier, in my articles on PMC Ryodan and Red Dolphin, I expressed my opinion and made predictions that such crimes would be committed more often, that these cases were only a test and assessment of the possibilities of using teenagers, both individually and in groups, to commit crimes and terrorist acts with the possibility of anonymous, remote control of their actions. Unfortunately, as practice has shown, this experiment has been successful.

4. Dangerous precedents have been set in Nigeria.

In November 2025, within a span of four days, two organized, group, armed attacks on schools were carried out in Nigeria. In both cases, the aim of the attacks was to take hostages.

In the first case, on November 17 in the city of Magha, during an attack on a school, the deputy director was killed and a security guard was wounded, and 25 students were taken hostage.

In the second case, on November 21, in the city of Papiri, there were no deaths or injuries during the attack on the school, but more than 300 students and 12 teachers were taken hostage.

These cities are located in border states, less than 200 kilometers apart. After the first kidnapping, the Nigerian government launched a police operation and tightened security measures. However, this did not prevent the criminals from carrying out an even more daring attack four days later and taking 10 times more hostages.

Similar attacks have been carried out in Nigeria before, but not on such a scale. The last similar case (in terms of the number of people kidnapped) occurred there 11 years ago, in April 2014, when militants from a terrorist group kidnapped 276 high school students, 94 of whom have still not been released.

All this indicates that educational institutions have been and remain an easily accessible target for criminals and terrorists. They perceive children as a resource (a tool) with which they can commit crimes and terrorist acts with impunity, while remaining hundreds and thousands of kilometers away.

Forecast: The current situation clearly shows that the existing system for containing this threat is not working, and no effective system for actively countering it has yet been created. This means that in 2026, we should not expect any positive changes; at best, the situation will remain at its current level.

Author and Editor-in-Chief of the project - Roman Grishin.

#schoolsafety #crime #terrorism #victims #threats #safety #security #children #schools #college #kindergarten #university #statistics #summarizingresults #forecast #future

The impact of the availability of firearms on the safety of schools and other educational institutions

 

This issue has been a topic of debate for many years among both specialists and ordinary citizens, each side has its supporters and opponents, and no consensus has been reached yet. I belong to those who believe that weapons are only a tool in the hands of criminals, not the motive for their actions, and strengthening controls on the legal circulation of weapons complicates the lives of law-abiding gun owners, not criminals. Recently, in the course of analyzing statistical data, I received confirmation of my opinion.

Active statements and actions of public authorities of different countries, as well as their police services and other law enforcement agencies to strengthen control over the circulation of weapons began mainly in the last 5-7 years. These measures were prompted by a large number of high-profile crimes related to attacks on schools and other educational institutions committed in previous years.

While working on the new edition of the handbook on crimes and terrorist acts in educational institutions (the new edition will be available soon, follow the announcements on the blog, social networks on the website), I conducted a comparative analysis of crime statistics for the period from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, in comparison with previous periods and in dynamics since 2000. Studying the statistics for the period from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, I noticed that measures to increase gun control did produce results, the proportion of crimes committed with firearms did decrease. In the total list of serious crimes committed in schools and other educational institutions, the share of firearms use decreased slightly, by 2.4% compared to the previous period (2015-2019), in the list of crimes falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts, the decrease was already 10.9%, and amounted to less than half (44.3%) of the total number, and this is already a significant indicator. However, the total number of such crimes, especially serious crimes, falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts did not become less, on the contrary, it increased by 17.9%, criminals began to use rifles and pistols less, but began to use knives, axes and hammers more often, their share in the commission of crimes increased by 10.1%.

Skeptics will say that comparing the statistics of two five-year periods is not enough to draw conclusions. I agree, to give another example. China is a country where the availability of firearms is negligible, legal gun trafficking is based on personal permits and is under strict government control.  However, despite such measures, in the period from 2000 to 2024 inclusive, in educational institutions in China were committed 48 (a share of 15.8%, worldwide in this period were committed 303 crimes), especially serious crimes falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts in which suffered 715 (164 killed, 551 injured) people. Of these 48 crimes, in only 2 cases (4.2%) criminals used firearms, in the remaining incidents they used:

- cold weapons (knives, axes, hammers, etc.) - 40 cases;

- explosive devices - 3 cases

- incendiary mixtures - 3 cases;

- vehicles - 1 case

- chemical poisoning substances - 1 case.

As I think the conclusion is quite obvious - a weapon for a criminal is just a tool, the availability of which does not affect his intentions. Without access to a rifle, shotgun or pistol, a criminal will use a knife, an axe, an improvised explosive device, a Molotov cocktail, a car, poison gas or a toxic chemical compound.

Controlling the legal circulation of weapons may be a useful measure if it is applied within reasonable limits, but it does not solve the problem, and the threat level is not reduced. Statistics confirm this, the number of attacks on educational institutions is not decreasing, which means that the problem requires a completely different solution.

Author - Roman Grishin

#SafeandSoundSchools #SchoolSafety #School #Safety #ChildrenSafety #ChildSafety #opinion #weapon #weaponcontrol #guncontrol #gun

Standardization of the security system of schools and other educational institutions - good or bad?

 

Attention: English is not my native language, the text is translated with the help of technical translation tools. I apologize in advance if the meaning of some phrases will be incorrectly conveyed.

Analyzing publications in the media, websites of law enforcement agencies, expert and scientific organizations, as well as specialized communities in social networks, I noticed some changes in the trends of statements, statements and comments from officials and specialists. Albeit with a great delay, but law enforcement services and other legislative and executive authorities of many countries are slowly beginning to recognize the fact that schools, other educational institutions and places with mass attendance of children have become objects of increased danger, that they have become an attractive target for criminals and terrorists*. There are also cautious statements that a special approach to their security is needed. There are few specifics in such statements, but the fact that the threat is being recognized at a fairly high level can already be called positive progress, albeit tentatively.  

Among those involved in the development of solutions in the field of security of educational and other children's institutions, especially in recent times, there is often expressed an opinion, which has a lot of support in the expert community, about the need to create the introduction of a single standard (format or template) of safety and security systems for educational institutions. There are even initiatives that such a standard should be made international. However, the question arises - how effective will such a «standardized» approach to the security of educational institutions be?

Proponents of standardization believe that it will be, arguing that such unified standards and templates are already used and quite successfully, for example, in terms of ensuring the protection of such facilities from fire or natural disasters in dangerous areas. They are developed on the basis of a long, deep analysis of real and probable emergency situations, natural and man-made, best practices of rescue services, as well as modern technical means of detection, warning and elimination of dangerous phenomena, such as fire, gas leakage (or other dangerous chemicals), earthquake, tornado, tornado, flood and others. The experience of using such templates is quite successful, it is indeed true.

However, in the above cases, we are dealing with unplanned and uncontrollable phenomena of natural or man-made nature. But let us consider the situation, in a different scenario. In any educational institution there is a detailed instruction on actions in case of fire, which is studied in classes, periodically repeated, drills and exercises are held, throughout the building hanging plans, information signs, signs of evacuation routes, main and emergency exits, sound warning buttons, sensors, water sprayers, fire extinguishers other elements of fire protection system. All this was calculated on the basis of the versions of the occurrence of fire due to natural causes, such as: short-circuited wiring, electrical appliance malfunction, lightning, careless handling of fire or even hooliganism. But, what if the cause of the fire will be the willful actions, of one or more criminals whose goal is to commit mass murder, using fire and smoke as weapons. They will have studied all the instructions and fire protocols in advance, and with this information in mind, they will develop their arson plan. What are the potential consequences of this scenario? When the perpetrator knows in advance every move of the potential victims?

Some may say that this is unlikely, I disagree, let's look at the statistics: in the world, for the period from 2000 to 2023 inclusive, in schools, kindergartens, colleges and universities, there were 249 crimes**, falling under the signs of mass murder and terrorist acts. Of these, 16 were committed using incendiary devices and mixtures as weapons, 252 victims (140 dead and 112 injured), most of the victims were children.

For comparison, in the period from 2009 to 2012, in Russia, in schools and other educational institutions there were 1,504 fires (not one of them was not related to mass murder), in which 42 people suffered (9 dead, 33 injured). [1]

This example, clearly shows that the use of uniform standards in the field of fire safety is really effective in emergency situations of unintentional nature, where the casualty rate is only 0.03. However, in cases where the fire was a consequence of intentional actions such a coefficient is already 15.8, a difference of more than 500 times. 

I have always said it and I will say it again, the biggest mistake law enforcement makes in dealing with criminals who commit mass murders in schools and other educational institutions is underestimating them. An analysis of mass murders and terrorist acts committed in educational and other children's institutions directly indicates that such crimes are very rarely committed spontaneously or in a state of passion. On the contrary, most of them are preceded by careful planning and long, painstaking preparation.

Consider the events at Columbine High School. If everything had gone according to the original plan of the criminals, it would have been a tragedy on a scale comparable to «Beslan» or «September 11». In total, the criminals' plan had three stages of implementation and it was designed with the school's security protocol in mind. Firing sectors, main and reserve firing points, were formed according to the directions of movement of people during evacuation. Yes, their plan misfired, poor technical skills failed (the detonators of the largest bombs failed), what happened next was an unplanned improvisation on the part of the perpetrators, but even with this development of events - 27 victims (13 killed, 14 wounded).

If it had happened not 25 years ago, but in our days, the result would be different, because today, the detonator does not need to be made by yourself, the simplest, yet quite reliable version of the remote igniter can be ordered on the Internet, ready-made, and the whole system of explosive and incendiary devices can be controlled through an application in a smartphone or tablet. I am not talking about the possibilities for criminals to use unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), even those versions that are freely available, but this is a topic for a separate study. 

Based on the above, we can conclude that the creation and use of a single security standard for educational institutions will not improve their protection, but on the contrary, will create a dangerous vulnerability in it. This will give potential criminals the opportunity to build their attacks, taking into account all the weaknesses of the object and mechanisms to respond to threats, in different scenarios. If the crime is prepared by the student himself (almost 45% of mass murders in educational institutions are committed by their students), then he will be able not only to learn these features, but also to visually see how this system works, for example, during drills and exercises.

 

My opinion in this matter:

I am in favor of a compromise solution. I believe that there is indeed a need to form a unified (including international) standard for the safety of educational institutions and places with mass attendance of children, but in a minimal format. In the form of a set of minimum requirements, general purpose, providing a fundamental basis for the security system of an educational institution. What are these requirements?

The presence at the protected object:

- video surveillance system, both inside the building and on the external boundaries;

- a physical security post;

- a system of technical access control with identification of visitors;

- a system of technical control of visitors to carry weapons, ammunition, explosive devices, explosive, incendiary or poisonous substances into the premises;

- emergency call buttons for the police;

- intercom systems between the premises;

- safe zones in each room.

Also with modern features in mind, I would add to this list a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) detection detector.

I am sure that such a minimum set of the above mentioned basic security measures should be in every school, kindergarten, college or university. There is no doubt about the effectiveness of these measures, they comply with the main principle of «Do no harm». However, at the same time, as I have already said, this should be only the foundation, but the other elements of the security system should be developed for each object individually, taking into account the peculiarities of the educational institution, the nature and degree of probability of threats. This can be different approaches to the organization and activities of physical security, the use of technical means of security and access control, methods of engineering reinforcement, both the entire building and individual rooms, surveillance systems, control, communication, alarms, alerts and much more. 

Note: It is important not to get carried away with engineering solutions and technical security features in facilities such as educational institutions. Not everything that at first glance seems useful and effective in theory is so in practice. I made a detailed analysis of such «means of protection» with analysis of application and examples in this article. 

 There are a lot of ways and possibilities in this direction, and with their proper use at the protected object, the level of its security can be raised to the maximum possible***.

There are no universal solutions (except for the basic security measures described above) in ensuring the security of educational institutions. The main components of an effective security system are its uniqueness, based on the individual characteristics of the protected object and limitation of access to this information by unauthorized persons.

It is important to realize that this system is built, not against petty thieves and hooligans, but against murderers and terrorists who do it deliberately, consciously, and cold-bloodedly, according to a pre-prepared plan. Their main goal is to kill as many people as possible. The main task of the security system is to prevent them.   

The creation of such a system should always start with a deep analysis of vulnerabilities and their expert evaluation, based on which, experts develop a detailed list of recommendations to eliminate the identified vulnerabilities, or to minimize their negative effect. All this should be combined into a single document – «Security Protocol», which after completion and approval should receive the status of «official» (closed) with a limited list of officials who have access to its contents. On the Internet site of an educational institution or its page in a social network, it is enough to inform about its compliance with the «basic» security standard, all other information should be closed.

One more important condition to be taken into account: yes, in the 21st century, schools, other educational institutions and places with mass stay of children have become high-risk objects and their protection requires a special approach, but they should not turn into analogs of prisons or military bunkers. Is it possible? Yes, it is possible.

In this article I will not consider the questions of what specialists should be involved in assessing the vulnerabilities of schools and other educational institutions (including preschools) and what means and methods should be used to create a system to ensure their security. This is a very voluminous topic that I will include in the second part**** of the study on comprehensive security systems for educational institutions, which I plan to finalize and publish in 2025. As for the active discussions on the application of technical means of safety and security for these purposes, I have already expressed my opinion about it in one of my previous articles.

 Author - Roman Grishin

 

* Although some may not see the difference, I still tend to separate these two types of criminals based on their motivation. For the «School Shooter», mass murder is a way of self-expression, he is guided by goals he alone understands and tries to convey only his personal message to others. A terrorist commits a crime guided by the ideology of a particular terrorist movement (organization) and pursues the goals that this extremist ideology (or organization) professes.

** Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions (second edition, revised and supplemented)

*** absolute security does not exist even in theory, the maximum possible indicator of the effectiveness of the security system is to reduce, to the possible minimum, the risk of a successful attack on the protected object and the damage caused by such an attack.

**** «Ensuring the safety of schools, other educational organizations and institutions with mass attendance of children» publication dated 05 January 2022.

#standardization #standards #safety #safeguarding #school #nursery #kindergarten #college #university #children #analytics #statistics #debate #opinion #effectiveness #Columbine #SafeandSoundSchools #SchoolSafety

Destructive Communities and Games, «Red Dolphin» a new type of threat to schools and other educational institutions. Part 2. How to counteract this phenomenon?

 

Attention: English is not my native language, the text is translated with the help of technical means of translation. I apologize in advance if the meaning of some phrases will be transferred incorrectly.

 

(continued, Part 1 here)

In this case, the shift in tactics of the extremists behind the creation and activities of «Red Dolphin», «Blue Whale» and similar communities already contains a serious vulnerability for criminals and it can be used against them.

The point is that the main difference between «Red Dolphin» and «Blue Whale» is that in the new scenario of the «Game» the teenager participating in it has to perform tasks of «curators», the essence of which is committing illegal acts, but not against himself (as it was in «Blue Whale»), but against other persons or organizations. The tasks are different, such as damaging or destroying property, causing offensive actions or light injuries to other people.

At the first stage, these tasks are insignificant in their consequences, for example, insulting inscriptions on walls, breaking a window, burning letters in the mailbox, damaging the wheel of a car, pouring water or safe but unpleasant liquids or mud on random people, verbal abuse, ridicule, knocking a hat off the head and similar minor offenses.

In the second stage, the tasks become more complicated, as well as the degree of their public danger, teenagers must commit more serious offenses, such as burning cars or buildings, killing animals, causing moderate or more severe injuries to random people, using illegal but dangerous weapons (pneumatic, cold, traumatic, percussion, gas, homemade).

In the third stage, the participant passes the «Point of No Return», these are tasks related to the category of serious offenses, such as injuring other people, but doing it in a hidden form, for example: pushing under a passing car or train, from a bridge or window, damaging railroad tracks or subways, burning buildings with people, children's or medical facilities.

At all three stages, offenses should be committed with video recording of what is happening on camera, records of completed tasks, teenagers should send to their «curators» through closed communities in social networks and messengers. In fact, the teenagers themselves shoot compromising materials, which they are subsequently blackmailed with if they try to leave the “Game” and refuse from illegal actions.

The fourth stage, aka the last one, is a mass murder, followed by the suicide of the perpetrator. Given the age of the participants, the place of the last act is usually chosen to be the school they attend, the likely victims are the immediate neighborhood, their classmates and teachers.

Once again I repeat what I said in the first part: that it was participation in the extremist community “Red Dolphin” that caused the two attacks on schools that took place in September 2024 in the Russian cities of Chelyabinsk and Balagansk is only an assumption. There is no direct evidence of this version published in the official media. Law enforcement agencies do not officially confirm this fact, but they do not deny it either. In spite of this, I consider that extremist community type «Red Dolphin» or «Blue Whale», represents the direct and obvious threat to the safety of people, especially children. This means that it is necessary to be proactive by developing a tactical scheme to counter this threat, with measures to both prevent and suppress direct attacks.

Prevention:

This work should be divided into 3 key areas, and perform tasks in parallel, only in this case the prevention of the threat will be effective:

1 direction - identification of potential victims:

The very scenario of the «deadly quest», which the organizers of these extremist communities impose on their victims, contains a serious vulnerability, which, if used correctly, will allow to quickly identify and stop teenagers drawn into destructive activities. As I have already written above, the scenario provides for the passage of 4 stages, with the execution of tasks with increasing complexity and the level of public danger, these violations must be recorded on video and committed publicly, and this is the vulnerability. The fact is that the network of criminals, as a rule, fall into the hands of children, previously to such offenses are not prone to such misconduct, who have not committed offenses and have not previously had a record in the police.

According to psychologists, to whom I asked for comments on this situation, the fulfillment of the final task, namely, mass murder followed by suicide of the perpetrator, is impossible without the prior fulfillment of the first three stages. Because it is precisely during the fulfillment of a chain of tasks with a gradual increase in complexity and the degree of public danger that a teenager forms and consolidates an obsession with committing a mass murder with suicide. By committing serious crimes at the penultimate stage, the child passes a kind of «point of no return». In addition, recording the committed offenses on video (which is a mandatory condition for participation) and providing it as a report to their supervisors, gives them additional leverage for blackmail and other forms of psychological pressure on the participant, if he suddenly decides to refuse to perform the final task and stop the «death quest».

This feature can be used to quickly identify potential mass murderers, even at the stage of preparation for the crime. How exactly to do this? In the first turn most closely attention to teenage (main object group 12 - 16 years), behavior of which dramatically changed without any grounds.

A clear signal that the teenager may have fallen under the external control of a destructive community is that the child, up to this point, in character: uncommunicative, shy (according to psychologists, the most prone to such influence is a teenager with such personality characteristics as: passive introvert sensitive type, melancholic), obedient, suddenly, begins to commit uncharacteristic actions and minor offenses, to explain the motives of which, he can not or does not want to. In this case it is necessary to connect to the work of specialists, children's psychologists, social pedagogues, psychologists-criminals.

I am sure that for specialized specialists, it will not be difficult to establish a link between changes in the teenager's behavior and the extremist community (if there really was one). If this connection is established, then representatives of police services and other law enforcement agencies should be involved in the situation. At the same time, the work of psychologists and social pedagogues with the child and his family should not stop here; it is important to establish and eliminate the circumstances that prompted the teenager to turn to a destructive community. In addition, the study of each such case will allow a more detailed understanding of the methods used by criminals to involve children in extremist groups. The systematization and analysis of such information will make it possible to develop more effective mechanisms for identifying cases of «external management» of teenagers' behavior and more effective counteraction to such crimes.

Who should do this? This is a complex task that should involve all those who are directly or indirectly related to children at risk. These are, first of all, parents and guardians of children, teachers and school staff, coaches of sports clubs, children's doctors, police officers and security and safety officers of educational institutions, even school bus drivers. All these people need to know what external signs and deviations in the child's behavior to pay attention to and who to contact. Accordingly, a clear algorithm of interdepartmental interaction should be developed, on the basis of which a normative document defining the form and procedure of such response should be adopted. The measures taken should be of both public and non-public nature, using the full, permissible arsenal of means of behavioral correction.

2 direction - information safety:

Involvement of teenagers in destructive communities in most cases occurs according to one of two schemes:

1. active (initiative) - a child independently (using links from other resources, hashtags or special phrases for search queries) finds an extremist community in social networks or messengers, applies to join, undergoes identification (in some groups it is a rather complicated and long process, in several stages) after which he or she is assigned a «curator» who begins to give him or her tasks and exercise control until the final stage;

2. passive - the teenager places certain hashtags on his social network page, to which the «curators» (recruiters) of destructive communities react and get in touch with him. The rest is the same as in the first scheme: identification, fixation of the «curator2, and fulfillment of tasks.

To build a system of information counteraction, it is necessary to first reach an agreement between the owners of social networks and messengers on how to block such communities and accounts. The unlawfulness of the actions of such communities or individuals is obvious. In the criminal legislation of any country, involving minors in illegal activities and leading them to suicide is a crime. However, any crime or at least criminal intent must be proven. For this purpose, lawyers of police services or other law enforcement agencies should develop special «Protocols for prompt response to threats to information security»* to establish, collect and document the circumstances confirming the criminal intentions of administrators of communities or account owners who disseminate such information. I would like to clarify that this protocol means collecting evidence not to bring charges or criminal charges, but to block the source of extremist information. It is important to stop the spread of destructive information, to deprive extremists of a tool to control children's behavior. Although let us be objective, it will not be possible to completely deprive criminals of the opportunity to recruit new victims, it is quite realistic to seriously complicate this process for them.

 

* Ideally, if such protocols are developed in an international format (because this threat has long since become an international threat and the level of its danger continues to grow), with a unified form and procedure of application. By introducing their use through international law enforcement organizations, such as special bodies of the UN Security Council or Interpol, it could significantly increase the effectiveness of countering this threat worldwide.

 

The most important thing for an information safety strategy is that it must be offensive. Law enforcement agencies and departments of education, guardianship and custody of children should actively monitor information resources, both independently and within the framework of appeals from concerned citizens. Identify destructive resources, conduct checks, document the criminal intentions (if any) of their owners and, within the framework of the above-mentioned information security protocols, apply all available legal tools to block them promptly. If technically and legally possible, prosecute those who create and administer Internet resources with destructive content.

 

3. Continuous monitoring, forecasting and modeling of probable threats

This task should be mostly performed by expert analysts of law enforcement agencies. Both incoming information about events that have actually already taken place and probable threats should be considered. The first and second line of prevention measures must be constantly adjusted to reflect the changing situation.

Once countermeasures have been introduced, criminals change tactics quite quickly, so it is important not only to react to their current actions, but also to predict their possible moves. On the basis of such forecasts, it is important to develop and implement preventive measures to prevent and suppress their possible actions.

The optimal solution would be to create such an information and analytical group on a permanent basis in an international format.

 

Defense against direct attacks.

Despite all measures to anticipate and prevent likely threats, direct attempts to carry out mass killings cannot be avoided. Unfortunately, to date there is no security system with 100% efficiency. All existing methods of prediction and prevention of such threats can only reduce to an acceptable limit both the probability of such attacks and the damage caused by them, and minimize the number of possible victims.

It is impossible to describe in one article how to prevent and suppress attempts of mass murder in schools, other educational institutions, as well as places where children are present in large numbers. This is a very broad research topic, which I am currently finalizing and will soon begin work on a project devoted to this very issue. This is a complex, multi-level system of prevention and counteraction to both existing and future threats to the security of educational institutions. I made my first attempt to develop such a model back in 2019 and described it in this article, which was subsequently updated several times. The new project will be much more extensive and will contain more concrete measures and proposals, but these are only future plans for now.

 

Conclusion:

I believe that extremist ideology and the destructive communities «Blue Whale» and «Red Dolphin» that have emerged on its basis are links in the same chain, a long-term criminal plot. This criminal plan pursues the goal of creating a system of «remotely controlled mass murders» committed by teenagers, followed by the suicide of the perpetrator, and what we are witnessing today is a kind of experiment to test the efficiency of this system. The reality shows that, unfortunately, the system works. I don't know who is behind it and what purpose they pursue, and to be honest I am not really interested in it, my task is applied.

The situation also indicates not only the emergence of a new threat, but also the emergence of a new, third type of criminal who commits mass murders in educational institutions. Previously, we have dealt with two main types of criminals, divided by their motivation:

1. «School shooter» - for him mass murder is a way of self-expression, he is guided only by his understandable goals and tries to convey to others only his personal message.

2. «Terrorist» - commits a crime guided by a specific ideology and pursues the goals that this extremist ideology (or terrorist organization or movement) professes.

A new, third type, I would call «Controlled Suicide», his goal is to fulfill the task of the «curator», whose identity and true motives he does not know, and then kill himself.

Unfortunately, this way of committing mass murder is quite attractive for terrorist and other radical extremist organizations, which will obviously try to develop it and use it for their criminal purposes in the near future.

I would be glad to hear the opinion of colleagues on this issue, write in the comments to the post or in private messages. All ways to contact me are in the signature.

Author - Roman Grishin

 

#threat #children #school #kindergarten #college #university #terrorism #criminal #destructive #extremism #murder #suicide #BlueWhale #Blue_Whale #RedDolphin #Red_Dolphin #SafeandSoundSchools #SchoolSafety

Armed attack scenario drills and exercises, in schools and other educational institutions. Beneficial or harmful?

 Attention: English is not my native language, the text is translated with the help of technical means of translation. I apologize in advance if the meaning of some phrases will be transferred incorrectly.

I often read news about practical training and drills to practice the skills of staff and students of schools and other educational institutions (colleges, kindergartens and universities) on how to act when there is a signal of an armed attack. They show coordinated actions during evacuation, comment on successes and speed of execution, and the children themselves seem to be interested in it, enthusiastically participating. 

I absolutely agree that practicing practical skills in case of an attack or its threat is an important element of the system of prevention and response to such crimes. But is this process properly organized?

During such trainings the sequence of actions is practiced, which will be actually performed in case of a real threat. Each student and employee of an educational institution knows exactly who, in what order, by what route, in what direction will move or vice versa, where and how to hide. All the details and all the details of the plan of action.

Let's imagine that among the students there is one who is planning such an attack, thanks to such practical exercises he will know exactly where his potential victims will be and how they will act. The fact that the perpetrator will have this information greatly increases his chances of causing as much damage as possible with his attack, greatly increasing the number of potential victims.

Now let's complicate the situation, what if the attack is carried out not by a lone gunman, but by a group of killers who will plan the attack with this information in mind. The simplest tactical scheme, the movements towards each other, one criminal moves from the starting point to the end point, the second vice versa. Provided they know where the start point is, where the end point is, and what route the potential victims will take between these points.

If anyone thinks I'm exaggerating the level of the threat and its likelihood, here are some statistics:

- globally, between 2000 and 2023 inclusive, in schools, kindergartens, colleges, and universities, 249 crimes* (not including 2024) falling under mass murder occurred, of which:

- 115 (46.2%) were committed by students at these educational institutions;

- 26 (10.4%) were committed by a group of persons.

The victims of these tragedies were 4 064 people, of whom 1 394 died and 2 670 were injured, most of them children.

So should we give free access to information that potential killers can use for their own purposes? I think it is not worth it, because in this case, from an element of crime prevention, it turns into a vulnerability of the security system of the educational institution, which on the contrary favors the attack and increases the number of its possible victims. 

So, what should we do? Cancel all drills and training?

No, I believe that it is necessary to simply change the approach to their organization and conduct. For each school (kindergarten, college, university), a unique «Safety Protocol» should be developed, which should contain a list of mandatory actions of each school employee on the signal «Armed Attack». This protocol should be developed by law enforcement specialists, taking into account the personal characteristics of the educational institution. Every classroom, every office in the institution should be surveyed by security specialists, and each should be given an objective and comprehensive assessment. Based on the results of such a survey, a «Safety Zone» should be defined in each room, the boundaries of this zone, the layout of children and teachers in it, as well as other features should also be included in the «Safety Protocol».

In addition, the expert group should develop several most likely scenarios of an attack on the educational institution (single, group, internal and external), based on which several universal, effective algorithms of actions of the school staff should be developed, until the arrival of police units, or until direct instructions from law enforcement agencies on how to proceed.

Once the protocol is approved, it should receive the status of a closed document, with limited access, and it should be stored not in the school, but in a specialized police unit. All staff of the educational institution should know, and most importantly understand, that the content of this document is classified information, not subject to disclosure.

Drills and drills to practice the practical skills of school personnel on how to act upon receipt of an «Armed Attack» signal using the «Safety Protocol» should be conducted without the participation of students, only school personnel, as well as law enforcement and other emergency services.

Pupils should know and understand only one thing: in the event of an «Armed Attack» signal, they should obey exactly, unconditionally, all the requirements of the teacher or other member of staff. Practical interaction between school staff and pupils can be practiced by conducting exercises and drills on actions in case of other threats, for example, in case of natural or man-made emergencies. Such drills and exercises should be held regularly, involving students. 

Again, this is necessary, for the reason that a significant part of mass murders in educational institutions is committed by their students, and as practice shows, they are thoroughly prepared for crimes, so their knowledge of the «Safety Protocol» and the algorithm of actions on the signal «Armed Attack» will allow them to adjust the tactics of the crime in such a way as to cause maximum damage.

Author - Roman Grishin

* Statistical data are taken from Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in schools and other educational institutions

#drills #childhood #children #safety #security #school #college #kindergarten #university #threat #crime #terrorism 

 

I am starting work on a new project

 

Back in July 2020, I prepared and published my first article on securing schools and other educational institutions from criminal and terrorist threats. After publication, the article was edited several times, the last edits I made in January 2022.

The article was divided into two parts:

In the first part, I analyzed the current situation of child safety in educational institutions by the example of my country, as well as in the world, in parallel, I considered positive examples from foreign experience in this area. In addition, I gave my assessment of the level of risks and the degree of probable threats in the near future, and some forecasts about the prospects for the development of the situation;

In the second, I considered the possibilities of counteracting such threats, reducing the number of human casualties and the level of material damage. In addition, I proposed my own, hypothetical model of the system of ensuring the security of educational institutions.

While still working on the article, I noticed the difficulties in collecting materials for research, which have to be collected from various sources, and they often contain incomplete or unreliable (contradictory) information, there was no information on statistics at all, apparently, no one was simply not engaged in it. All this prompted me to create my own statistical research, which I did, spending almost a year on it, but it was worth it. The result of this work was the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions, which includes information on crimes and terrorist acts committed in educational institutions around the world, for the period from 2000 to 2023 inclusive. The publication contains not only statistical but also analytical material. The handbook is fully accessible to all who wish to use its materials without any restrictions.   I continue to collect and systematize data for the handbook, and as they accumulate I will try to post new, corrected and supplemented versions of the handbook.

When I was working on the materials for the handbook, I realized that the nature of the threat and its scale is much greater than I had originally assumed, I seriously underestimated the degree of danger, both at the moment and in the near future. The hypothetical model of the system of ensuring the security of educational institutions that I proposed in the first article could not effectively cope with it.

Improvement of the system I proposed initially will not give anything, it requires a completely different approach, the creation of a model (so far only hypothetical) built on completely different principles and with completely different tasks. 

The technical task that I have set for myself, if briefly, is the following: to create an effective model to ensure the safety of schools and other educational institutions, as well as places with a mass stay of children, from threats (existing and prospective), criminal and terrorist nature. At the same time, educational institutions should not change their main function, should not turn into prisons, bunkers or military bases.

Is this possible? I believe that it is, so I am starting to work on it. I will be glad to receive any help in working on the project, as well as communication with like-minded people, colleagues and everyone who is interested in this topic, who wants to make children's lives safer.  

You can contact me in any convenient way.

#project #childhood #children #safety #security #school #college #kindergarten #university #threat #crime #terrorism