“If you see something, say something.” It is a quote that has been around for a while but is often disregarded. It’s easy to look the other way when you don’t understand the severity of a situation. In the 2023-2024 school year LAUSD sought to change that by holding PSA-like assemblies. These assemblies are called Every School Safe and aim to raise awareness for issues like child abuse, suicide, the dangers of social media, and drug awareness.
“The district wanted to bring a universal awareness to all the schools, and portray the same message to each school,” Mr. Gomez said.
The assemblies are given to each class at some point in the day so each student sees them.
“I think the assemblies help because of the structure of the assemblies and it spreads awareness to the whole student body. The assemblies are a good idea because the issues covered can happen to anyone,” Ms. Fukuda said.
Although it is clear that the message is being spread to students, it is also being spread to teachers and parents.
“The assemblies are spread into three different phases: phase one is staff members, phase two is parents and guardians, and phase three is the students,” Mr. Gomez said.
It is very good that parents are being involved in the modules because parents tend to notice more than kids do and it can help them help their children better. Sharing the same assembly with students and their parents can also lead them to have conversations about the issues covered. This creates a safe space for children to discuss issues with their parents and have their parents understand.
Although we have had a few assemblies this year there will be more in the future.
“There is currently a module of assemblies coming through,” Mr. Gomez said.
The Every School Safe (ESS) assemblies are part of a larger plan that LAUSD plans to implement. ESS is meant to cover multiple areas like campus and environmental safety, student health and wellness, positive behavior support, partnerships and community building, and notification and communication systems. These assemblies are great because they aim to make school safer and keep students safe.