Utilizing Window Films to Improve School Security & Student Safety

In a very recent article entitled Designing Schools As a Deterrent For Mass Shooters in Interiors + Sources Magazine, the topic of improving school security and safety by utilizing facility design and retrofittable technologies like security window films to make it harder for someone to commit violent attacks in a school environment was discussed. One item that was raised in the article was the topic of making it harder for someone to commit the crime by hardening the facility to restrict entry. From the article, Sean Ahrens, security market group leader for Affiliated Engineering Incorporated (AEI), said, “Regrettably, in this day and age, [those who don’t think it could happen to them] are the weakest neighbors. When you think of an aggressor, [they think in] the path of least resistance. Are they going to go to the most hardened facility, or are they going to go to the facility that’s easiest to get into?”

With respect to hardening a facility and making it harder to gain entry, this is precisely what security window films do. In a recent article in Business Insider entitled Here are the Best Ways to Protect Schools, Workplaces, and Ourselves from Active Shooters, the author states “Protective and intrusion resistant doors and windows create delays in an aggressor’s ability to gain entry. For pre-existing locations the addition of protective window film, improved locking mechanisms and / or frames as well as other reinforcement techniques can be effective.”

Security window films are installed as a retrofit to a school's existing doors and windows. These films can come clear, tinted or reflective depending on the application and preference. When someone tries to gain access through the glass of a protected door or window, the security window film would allow the glass to break, but it would maintain the glass in the frame. With work, this film / glass combination can eventually be penetrated to gain access, but as stated above, the objective is to create resistance. Slow the entry down. Give school officials and authorities time to act.

In the Interiors + Sources article, Julia McFadden, AIA—associate principal at Svigals + Partners who recently designed the new Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. stated, “You want to have layers between someone who may be coming to the school with ill intent and the vulnerable population. The more opportunities or barriers gives you more time to react and determine if there is ill intent before they reach the target." She goes on to say "Retrofit situations may call for applied window films or improved glazing. Interior partitions and some furnishing may also improve the school’s readiness in emergency situations.”

The hard realities of a tragedy like a violent attack at a school is that there is not a one size fits all solution. As these articles discuss, solutions to improve school security must be thought of in layers. We must make a school an unattractive target for any potential aggressor. The design and technologies utilized must work together to buy the individuals inside the school and authorities time to respond to the threat. In these situations, every moment matters. While we do not claim that security window films are the sole solution, they can provide a valuable layer of protection that works in conjunction with other design elements and technologies to improve school security and student safety.

If you would like more information about security window films and how they can help with school security and safety, click HERE and contact us by calling 800-488-5099 or emailing us at sales@controlthesun.com. We would be happy to provide you with a property assessment and estimate on implementing security window films in your Seattle, Washington area school.

How Security Window Film Helps Increase School Safety

As a result of the events of the past several years, there is an increased emphasis on school safety. Most notably, discussing what steps can be taken to avoid incidents from occurring in the future. A recent article in District Administration entitled "Building Blocks of a School Security Plan" discussed strategies that can be implemented to improve the safety of a school. One of the items discussed was utilizing Security Window Film to make it harder for someone to forcefully enter a school. The article states: "Make your building perimeter harder to penetrate.

If you already have locks on your outside doors, the next item you should consider on your list is security film for your windows. After the doors, the next obvious place a person with bad intentions will try to enter the building is through your windows. Security film maintains the integrity of the window, even if the glass is broken. It helps to hold the glass in place, acting as a screen that is difficult to breach, even with a sledge hammer or baseball bat. I believe that simple is better. Make sure that your plan is based on principles such as distance or time. Ask yourself, Does this security device offer my community additional time by delaying the threat?"

To read this article in its entirety, click HERE.

One of the best things about a security window film is that, when installed professionally, it can be hard to know that anything is even on the glass. This serves to buy authorities even more time to respond as a typical would be intruder does not expect the delayed entry that the film produces. In these situations, every extra moment counts and security window film delivers additional time.

If you would like more information on how security window film can add a layer of security to school safety, click HERE and contact us by calling 800-488-5099 or emailing us at sales@controlthesun.com.

School Safety - Is Your School Safe? Security Window Film Can Help.

We recently came across an article is Business Insider titled "Here are the best ways to protect schools, workplaces, and ourselves from active shooters." This article talks about a variety of ways to increase school safety, and they specifically mention security window film. The article states the following in the section on the use of technology to improve safety: "Protective and intrusion resistant doors and windows creating delays in an aggressor’s ability to gain entry. For pre-existing locations the addition of protective window film, improved locking mechanisms and/or frames as well as other reinforcement techniques can be effective."

With that being said, we wanted to explain what security window film is and how it can be used to increase school safety?

Security window film is typically a clear layer of polyester film that is applied to a building's existing windows on the interior surface of the glass. The film comes in a variety of different thicknesses and can be installed in several different ways depending on the level of safety or security required. Once installed, this film will hold the glass fragments of the window together in the event of a break. As it relates to school safety and security, this film will hold glass fragments together and reduce the potential of injury from broken or flying glass in a natural disaster, an act of terrorism or inadvertent breakage.

In addition, and in the way the article was referring to, this film by keeping the glass intact will slow down or impede potential intruders from gaining access to the building and give authorities time to respond. Often, intruders are looking for the fastest and easiest point of access and because doors and gates have been fortified in recent years, the next easier access point would be through a window. That is why safety and security film should be considered as a way to fortify this vulnerability.

To read the complete article in Business Insider, click HERE

We hope this list helped you understand how security window film can be used to enhance school safety. If you have any questions about safety and security window films, click HERE and contact us by calling 800-488-5099 or emailing us at sales@controlthesun.com.

ABC Sun Control and 3M Offer School Safety Film

Unfortunately, for all of us, school safety has become a critical topic of concern in our daily lives. As a result, school systems are being stretched too quickly to establish effective safety measures that can increase protection and improve the safety of school children and educational staff. As many of you are already aware, the glass on windows and doors of a school building can be a very vulnerable entry point into a school. And most schools do not have laminated glass to prevent shattering, resulting in potentially easy access through the glassless frame. Currently, several hundred schools across the country have already contacted 3M for assistance to help protect this potential entry point. We are proud to say that 3M School Safety Film has already been incorporated into over 200 U.S. schools year to date.

This school safety film solution because of the following:

• More cost effective than replacing all of the windows and doors with laminated glass
• Quick implementation and easy application over the existing glazing
• While potential intruders will not be fully stopped from entering a school building, 3M Safety and Security Film can act as a deterrent and provide precious extra response time by slowing the intruder down.

The team at ABC is very concerned about increasing the safety of our local Seattle and Tacoma schools. If you would like more information on 3M School Safety Film, Contact ABC Sun Control by calling 800-488-5099 or emailing us at sales@controlthesun.com.