December 5, 2025 • 43 mins
Every 48 hours, another American school faces a shooting threat. Lori Alhadeff buried her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa after Parkland—then refused to let it happen again. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley go deep with Lori on silent panic buttons, rapid-response training, and why funding actually matters. No politics, no excuses—just what works when seconds count and kids’ lives are on the line.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) School shootings – the stat nobody wants to hear
- (03:09) Lori’s story – losing Alyssa at Parkland
- (05:37) Founding Make Our Schools Safe
- (07:17) Alyssa’s Law – silent panic alarms that save lives
- (09:57) Real challenges schools still face
- (14:01) How Alyssa’s Law actually gets passed and installed
- (18:19) Community involvement and spotting mental health red flags
- (31:58) Tech that cuts response time
- (36:21) Final push – what parents and students can demand right now
- (38:40) What we walked away knowing
Connect:
- Make Our Schools Safe – https://makeourschoolssafe.org
- Lori Alhadeff on X – https://twitter.com/LoriAlhadeff
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah (00:00):
Another full, uncut show from this year
--Alex: Welcome to Solving America’s Problems…
A Parkland mom who buried her 14-year-olddaughter after the 2018 shooting
just forced an entire county—one ofthe biggest in America—to roll out
metal detectors in every single highschool in a matter of months, even
(00:20):
when the plan was only a tiny pilot.
She then looked at the panic buttonsthat already exist in every bank and
most government buildings and madeseven states put the exact same tech
in schools—so a teacher can silentlyscream for help and cops get live eyes
on cameras before they even roll up.
(00:40):
Tonight Jerremy and Dave sit down withLori Alhadeff, the woman who turned
unthinkable loss into legislationthat’s already moving state by
state, and she’s nowhere near done.
Jerremy Newsome (00:52):
Dave, what are we addressing and solving today?
Dave Conley (00:58):
In this episode of solving America's problems, we're
confronting one of our nation'smost heartbreaking challenges.
School shootings with someonewho's transformed personal tragedy
into national movement for change.
We're joined by Lori Aldehoff, a cofounder of Make Our Schools Safe and a
powerful voice of school safety reform.
After losing her daughter, Alyssa,in the Parkland shooting, Lori
(01:20):
channeled her grief into action,successfully championing Alyssa's Law
across multiple states and creatinga model for safer schools nationwide.
Today, she'll sharepractical, proven solutions.
That are already saving lives and that'sthis week on solving America's problems,
school shootings with Laurie Aldaef.
Jerremy Newsome (01:39):
Every two days in America, another school
shooting shatters a community.
In just the past five years, over 1200school shootings have left more than
a thousand people wounded or killed.
Behind each of these statistics is a storyand a family that has forever changed.
(02:02):
Our guest today knowsthis reality all too well.
Lori Alhadeff was a K through 12teacher and soccer mom to three
children until February 14, 2018.
When her 14 year old daughter, Alyssawas killed in the Parkland shooting.
At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
in the face of unimaginableloss, Laurie chose action.
(02:27):
She co founded make our schools safe,a national nonprofit dedicated to
protecting students and teachers.
She has successfully championed Alyssa'slaw requiring panic alarms in schools.
Which is now passed in seven states.
(02:48):
She also serves on the school board ofthe Broward County, fighting to ensure
no other parent experiences her pain.
Lori before we dive into solutionsCould you share what inspired you
to create Make Our Schools Safe, andwhat's the organization's core mission?
Lori Alhadeff (03:09):
So first of all, thank you so much for having me here today.
So my story begins on February 14th, 2018.
It was Valentine's Day, daythat was supposed to be filled
with chocolate and love.
And I drove my daughter, Alyssa, toMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
I dropped Alyssa off at school.
(03:30):
She was wearing a black and white dress.
She was just so beautiful.
I told Alyssa that I loved her.
And sadly, that would be the lasttime that I would see Alyssa alive.
Later that day, I got a textmessage saying, shots fired at
Stoneman Douglas High School, kidsrunning and jumping the fence.
(03:50):
And I immediately had this senseof loss that came over my body.
And I knew somethingwas drastically wrong.
I drove my car as fast as I could toMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
And there were so many people around,nobody really knew what was going on.
And I found out from Abby, Alyssa'sbest friend, that Alyssa was shot
(04:12):
and I fell down and I blocked thatmoment out in my life for months.
That most horrific moment in my lifethat I find out that my daughter
was shot, but I still had hope.
I thought Alyssa was still alive.
And I went with a police officer tothe hospital, tried to find Alyssa.
(04:37):
As a mother, you give birth to yourchild, you raise your child, and the
worst possible thing in the world isthat your child is killed, murdered.
And my daughter, Alyssa, wasmurdered in her English classroom.
Alyssa was in the direct lineof fire for the shooter shot
into her room, raided Alyssa.
(04:59):
Alyssa was still alive and sheran to the back of the classroom
and he went down the hallway.
He came back and shot againand killed Alyssa and two other
students in her classroom.
Later, after the trials were overthis year, I went into Alyssa's
classroom and it was horrific.
(05:22):
Blood was still on the floor.
The glass was still on the floor.
And I could see exactly wheremy daughter was murdered.
She wasn't able to make itbehind the teacher's desk that
possibly could have saved her.
And so after this tragedy, my husbandand I started make our school safe
(05:43):
and make our school safe is focusedon protecting kids in schools.
It's, a fundamental thingthat our kids go to school.
And as parents, we pack our kids lunches,we make sure they do their homework, and
we send them off to school thinking thatit's the safest place for them to be.
(06:04):
But unfortunately, that's where mydaughter and 16 others were murdered.
Jerremy Newsome (06:10):
And I, just first and foremost, the ability for you to go, we're
not going to let this dictate the restof our lives and live in a place where
we have no choice, we have no voice,we have no say, so we have no power.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for doing just that, right?
Working on making other schoolssafe because you are not only a
(06:32):
former teacher, but you're alsonow a current school board member.
So from that perspective, andas the portion of this real, The
mission of this podcast is actuallysolving America's problems.
And I think media would both agree thatthis is one of the most ostentatious,
outrageous problems that very few peopleare actually talking about openly often.
(06:56):
And there are probably somevery tangible solutions that
you will also have awareness of.
It's going to be very, probably easierto implement than many people think.
I'm very excited forour listeners to hear.
What those are.
So I'll circle back to my main questionfor you, which will be you being
right now, right on that school board.
(07:17):
What are some of the things that youknow, that are being implemented into
schools that are making them more safe?
Lori Alhadeff (07:23):
So after the shooting in 2018, I know I knew that in order for
me to make an impact and make changethat I need to have a seat at the table.
So I ran for the school board andI won and I've been on the school
board for the last seven years.
Jerremy Newsome (07:38):
Yeah, you did.
Good job, Lori.
Lori Alhadeff (07:41):
currently I'm the chair of the school board.
I've been the chairfor the last two years.
And so this is me going on my seventhyear as a school board member.
And so I think the best way to look atit is you need to look at as creating
layers of school safety protection.
And the most basic layer is lockingclassroom doors, making sure
(08:02):
that classroom door is locked.
And we are still not learning fromthis because we just had a school
shooting and the door was unlocked.
So it really Upsets methat here we are in 2024.
We've had so many school shootings andwe still have schools around the country
(08:23):
that are not learning from the mistakesthat were made and our school shooting.
So fundamentally those basic layersof protection, like single point
of entry, fencing, locking all thedoors so nobody can just get in don't
prop open the door with a pencil.
You have that human error and you wantto make sure that doors are being locked.
(08:47):
So here in Florida, I believe that we haveimplemented a plethora of school safety
bills in the last six and a half years.
Where we have created the those layerslike behavioral threat assessments, if
there is someone that says they're goingto shoot up a school, they do a behavioral
(09:08):
threat assessment on that student todeem where that school that child is
a low, medium or high level threat.
And then based on.
There's a safety plan for thatstudent, so that student will lose
the ability to bring a backpack toschool or their backpack is going
to need to be checked every day.
(09:28):
So there's a lot that we have done.
We still obviously need to improve.
And the one thing I would to justsay is that safety It's so vitally
important that there's training,so that there's not human error.
And in an emergency situation, thebody goes into fight or flight.
So we then fall back on our training.
(09:49):
So that is why it's so vitally importantthat our schools are training and what
to do in these emergency situations.
Dave Conley (09:57):
We we, this is our third interview on school
safety and school shootings.
And we spoke first to peoplewho have companies on threat
assessment and technology.
My, my feeling on it, on the, on oneside of it, after we talked to them
was, wow, that sounds really expensive.
And then we spoke to teachers.
And they're, and one of them wasin panic mode because she realized
(10:20):
that she hadn't been trained, thatshe didn't know what the threat was.
The what the protocols were and she wasgoing to be going the next day to speak
to her administration and to her schoolboard saying, Hey, What's the deal here?
So I, as being a mother, as being aformer teacher, as being a part of the
school board, where do the frictionpoints show up for you for funding, for
(10:45):
making sure that this is a priority,making sure that students understand
where are the parts where either parentscan help or listeners can help you
make sure that our school stays safe.
Lori Alhadeff (10:58):
So Broward County Public Schools, we're the sixth
largest school district in the country.
So funding is obviously goingto be a really difficult part.
And we want to make sure that ifwe're going to implement, so for
example, this year we implemented metaldetectors in all of our high schools.
I was actually the school boardmember that made the motion
(11:20):
because they want to pilot.
Putting the metal detectorsin three to four schools.
And I was like, hold on guys.
If we're going to do that, we should doit for all of our high schools because
every school is just as important.
Every student is just vitally important.
And we want to make surethat they're all safe.
And guess what?
They got it done.
And we got the funding, we, and weimplemented the metal detectors.
(11:42):
The first day was a little rough,but after that we, we figured it out
and everyone's trained, the studentsknow what to do and we've prevented
things from getting into our schools.
One thing I would say is that yes,funding is an issue, but there's
resources out there like schoolsafety.
gov. Matthew McConaughey.
(12:05):
He has an amazing site whereschools can apply for grants.
They'll help them apply for grants.
And then there's nonprofit organizationslike Make Our Schools Safe.
We've given back over 400, 000 to schoolsto implement layers of safety protection.
So as parents, I think that if you see avulnerability and that's the other part.
(12:28):
Just a circle back to one of those layers.
That risk assessment for the schoolis so vitally important that a safety
expert person they do a risk assessmentfor their school so they know what
those vulnerabilities are and then theyknow what to what they need to fix.
Jerremy Newsome (12:45):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's congrats by the way,again, for pushing that to
get that's happened so quick.
What was the timeline on that from the.
You really making that request known tothe installation of all metal detectors.
Lori Alhadeff (13:00):
It was only like a few months.
We did it over the summer, the schoolboard passed it, and then the start
of this school year they they didit at three schools over the summer
to pilot it, to work out, any of thekinks, to get messaging in place.
And then the day one of this schoolyear, we implemented the metal
detectors in all of our high schools.
Jerremy Newsome (13:22):
Yeah.
Awesome and who runs andoperates those metal detectors?
Is it the the security guards there?
Lori Alhadeff (13:30):
Yeah, so we have a security team that will help
to run the metal detectors.
There's also teachers that will be thereand everyone is trained so they know
what to do and then the process and itflows and they've prevented vapes from
getting in, we have a big vaping problemin our high schools and it acts as a
deterrent and, at the end of the day.
(13:53):
We have to do everythingpossible to prevent guns from
getting into our schools.
Jerremy Newsome (13:58):
Yes, 100 percent agree.
Absolutely.
So in addition to that which again,that is a direct impact And also again
to your point helpful and just keepingout Probably some of the ancillary
things we'd also want in schoolsvaping pens Maybe marijuana pens and
all the things of that nature But ifyou could make one change overnight
to improve school safety, no questionsasked What would it be ultimately
Lori Alhadeff (14:23):
So I would want to pass Alyssa's law nationwide.
I believe that every school needs tohave their panic button so that if in
a life threatening emergency situation,whether it's a medical emergency, which
we have 99 percent of the time in ourschools, or an active shooter situation,
every teacher should have their panicbutton like we have in our banks.
(14:45):
And they should be able to press that.
It's directly linked to law enforcement,mass notification in this life threatening
emergency situation, and we can get helpon the scene as quickly as possible.
They could pull up the camerasin the schools, get eyes on the
scene, better direct their schoolresource officer where to go.
(15:06):
And what to do and get help there.
On February 14th, I textedmy daughter, Alyssa.
I told Alyssa to run and hide thathelp was on the way, but unfortunately
help didn't not get there fast enough.
So
Jerremy Newsome (15:21):
having that law?
having The implementation of thatto me It does seem so easy, right?
It's essentially You To your point,an app on the phone that all teachers
should or could have access to.
What do you feel like is the barrierthat's holding us back from just
(15:42):
making that implementation happen?
Lori Alhadeff (15:45):
we passed Alyssa's law now in seven States, New
Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee,Utah, Oklahoma, and Florida.
And we're working to pass Alyssa'slaw in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
By hopefully the end of this year andmore and more states are getting on
board with implementing Alyssa's law,passing it as a law in their state.
(16:10):
And then obviously thefunding is the barrier.
How are we going to fund this?
And state budgets are huge andit can be an app on the teacher's
phone, an app on their computer.
It could be a wearable panic button.
Like they had an Appalachian shooting.
They had that wearable panic button.
And at the end of the day,we have to set up priorities.
(16:32):
Every bank has a panic buttonwhere governmental offices, elected
officials, they all have a panic button.
So why are we not protectingour kids and our schools?
Jerremy Newsome (16:43):
I know Lori.
Like, why?
That's what we need to figure out.
Why?
Lori Alhadeff (16:48):
And we need to evolve faster because unfortunately when AR
15s get into our schools and they startshooting, those bullets are coming
out so quickly and we have to havea good guy with a gun go in and take
down the threat as quickly as possibleto mitigate risk and loss of life.
Jerremy Newsome (17:12):
Yeah.
Again,
Lori Alhadeff (17:12):
and
Jerremy Newsome (17:14):
I was gonna say, just congrats on having
it passed in seven states.
Thank you for listening to those.
And that's, again, an excitingimplementation of not only
legacy, but actual change.
Seeing it really take place now in hugestates, such as New York and Florida.
I think that's awesome.
What has the feedback beenfrom the schools that have
(17:36):
implemented these systems?
Lori Alhadeff (17:38):
so they feel safer and I think it's important
as, we are terrifying our kids.
It's they're the lockdown generation andwe need to make sure that they feel safe.
And they know that if their teacher hastheir panic button that if they need to
get help, they're going to get help thereas quickly as possible to save them.
(18:01):
And that's so vitally importantbecause our kids need to not
only feel physically be safe.
Mentally, they need to be safe andknow that help can get there to protect
them as quickly as possible becausetheir teacher has their panic button.
Jerremy Newsome (18:19):
Yep.
You use the word mental and soI'll pivot for a moment because
you said mental safety and that isdefinitely a peace of mind, right?
That's a calmness.
That's an awareness piece.
But you've also heard this a thousandtimes, the very aware debate between
hardening schools with security measures.
and focusing on mental health andprovision for children through the
(18:43):
actual, just the educational componentof making all of our children or
as many of our children feel safe,but provide that mental health
aspect to stop school shootings.
How do you see these two differentapproaches working together?
Lori Alhadeff (19:01):
So sadly, we have so many kids every day that are Doing self
harm that are being Baker acted andwe need to do more to provide those
mental health services for our students.
Give our kids somebody to talkto because they are crying out
for help by hurting themselves.
(19:23):
And it breaks my heart that we're notdoing more to, to help these kids.
And so I believe a couplethings are in play here.
One is, so we've developedMoss Clubs, make our school
safe clubs and high schools.
It's a free program and wherestudents that are in these clubs,
(19:45):
they feel empowered to do morefor the safety at their school.
If they raise money to put a stopthe bleed kit in every classroom
in the school, they feel likethey're doing something that they
are not a victim to the schoolshootings, to the fear of these.
They're empowered to make it cool,see something, say something and
(20:10):
report these threats, whether it'son the app or to their teacher or
to their school resource officer.
And so I think there's just somuch that the schools can do.
Can do and that doesn't really costmuch money But our students need to have
those resiliency skills to be empoweredto take control of their education
Dave Conley (20:34):
Are you so for the make our school safe club programs, what are
you hearing back from like the students?
Are they coming up with creative ideas?
It's their environment to
Lori Alhadeff (20:45):
yeah, so Absolutely.
We have our moss clubs are on instagramand you can actually go and you
can See what these kids are doing.
They, some of them have purchased Imade a make our school safe coloring
book and so it would warm my heart.
One of the clubs they were coloringin the different Alyssa's law pages.
(21:06):
And one of the things that I alwayssay is, your voice is your power.
So we have a coloring book pagethat says your voice is your power.
And so they were coloring that in.
And again, I think it's empowering our.
So I think it's really important thatwe provide our students with those
resiliency skills to be able to sayno to drugs, say no to alcohol, do the
(21:27):
right thing, if you have someone that'ssitting alone at lunchtime, to go up
to them and just start a conversationand be a friend, we teach kindness
and people to be accepting of others.
And so I think the actions thatthese students are taking in
the mosque clubs are actually.
doing that.
Jerremy Newsome (21:49):
Yeah, so looking to the future, are there new
initiatives or partnerships in theworks for make our schools safe?
Lori Alhadeff (21:56):
So we have a very specific mission.
One is passing Alyssa's law nationwide,two is our mosque clubs, and three,
we raise money with our differentfundraisers to give back to schools
for different school safety projects.
So that's a lot of work.
And we but I will continue to go out,tell my story and speak at conferences
(22:22):
or to, to schools to try to get peopleto realize that They are not in a bubble.
We, I was in the Parkland bubble.
I thought that this was nevergoing to happen to us here.
I never imagined in a gazillionyears that my oldest daughter,
Alyssa, would be murdered at MarjoryStoneman Douglas High School.
(22:44):
We live in a very affluent area.
My biggest concern was takingAlyssa to soccer practice.
Making sure she did her homework.
I never thought that we would beaffected by a school shooting here.
I want people to realize that Don'tlive in a bubble, be prepared, you
(23:04):
cannot be complacent, don't sitback and never think that this is
never gonna happen where you live.
And it's sad, it breaks my heart to,to say that, to be honest, because
it's unfortunately our reality.
Jerremy Newsome (23:20):
Yep.
Miss Lori, about 6 minutes ago, youmentioned the see something, say
something reporting system just inregards to not only the teachers,
but most importantly, the students.
How do you encourage students toovercome, if they have one, maybe
like the code of silence that kidswill have among themselves, right?
(23:43):
Us versus the teachers, the perspective.
Yeah.
Lori Alhadeff (23:56):
name.
And so whether it's a studentreporting it or a parent reporting it.
It can be anonymous.
So I think that takes awaythat you're ratting someone out
or you're telling on someone.
But, at the end of the day, I thinkit's just, we have to get over that.
(24:16):
Concept that I don't know we're notwe're hurting someone else's feelings
because know who the problem kids areand or situations that are happening Or
somebody that might be so depressed thatthey might think about killing themselves
We have to report it so we can gethelp for those kids that need the help.
(24:40):
And I always look at it asan additional layer, right?
Even though the school might havedone a behavioral threat assessment,
now law enforcement's looking at it.
And that's another, layer that is gonnago and vet out whether that person
is a threat to themselves or others.
Dave Conley (24:59):
Laurie for the work that you do the panic button,
the programs, have you seendifferences between urban schools,
suburban schools and rural schools?
Lori Alhadeff (25:10):
No I really haven't.
I, Alyssa's law has been passedunanimously in our seven states,
and it's been passed unanimouslyRepublican or Democrat.
And as far as different areas, the MossClubs are, accepted or, in every area.
(25:32):
So kids are kids and, kids wantto just be safe in school and they
want to interact with adults, bein a positive, healthy environment.
We did a skate for school safety eventa couple weeks ago and we had 75 kids
on a Friday come out and ice skate.
(25:52):
And these are things thatparents can do where they live.
We're starting something called Moss Momsand Moss Dads, where parents can be safety
advocates for their school in their area.
They could be advocates for Alyssa's law.
(26:13):
And we now have on our website whereyou can take action, send an email
to your legislator in your area andtry to get Alyssa's law passed there.
Jerremy Newsome (26:25):
Which is actually what the answer is my questions.
And That's so heartwarming to knowthat's it's growing and evolving to
not only more of a community piece, butjust to have the parents interact and
have them really care about this andthe way that they absolutely should.
Semi fun question, maybe, but what's themost creative school safety idea that
(26:45):
you've heard or seen from a student?
Lori Alhadeff (26:48):
I think one of the things that just getting a simple shoe box, the
kids got where kids can report something.
They might feel unsafe about or somethingthat's going on and they can anonymously
put that, write it down on a piece ofpaper and put it in that safety box.
(27:09):
And then, the administration would lookat the what's on written on that piece
of paper and then do something about it.
Our kids know what's going on,whether it's on their phone, Snapchat,
texting, they know what is, happening.
So it's just a simple creative way.
(27:29):
Doesn't cost anythingand they can take action.
Jerremy Newsome (27:33):
Yeah, totally.
And that's, you've been, you said thatphrase a few times, it doesn't cost
anything or cost very little becausewe're screaming out to the government.
It's come on, let's use some more, let'suse some more of our money to implement
correct, proper, and, more productivebudgeting pieces for just the safety.
I think that's somethingthat's so obvious to me.
(27:53):
That's just being, I guessyou just use improperly.
Yeah that's awesome.
All another quick, funquestion for you then.
So I hear that you're still activelyinvolved in the Parkland soccer club.
What's your favorite part about stayingconnected to the youth sports, Ms. Laurie?
Lori Alhadeff (28:13):
So a couple of things.
I used to be a health andphysical education teacher,
but I also played soccer and mydaughter, Alyssa played soccer.
And on February 13th, Alyssa playedin her last soccer game in Parkland on
field eight and Alyssa played amazing.
(28:34):
I remember when she got into the car, Iturned around and I was like, Alyssa, you
just played the best game of your life.
She's I know mom.
And so obviously I have a lovefor the Parkland soccer club.
Field eight was named after Alyssa.
It's the Alyssa Alodef soccer field.
And the number eight was Alyssa'snumber on the back of her Jersey.
(28:58):
And then when you turn the eight sideways.
It's the infinity symbol, which
Jerremy Newsome (29:03):
let's go.
That makes so much sense now.
Lori Alhadeff (29:07):
Yeah.
And forever, I remember Alyssa and Ilive for Alyssa and do everything for
Alyssa and I feel Alyssa Lives insideme, Alyssa's always here with me, and so
we've also created the Bigs and Littleprogram at the Parkland Soccer Club,
where one of the older soccer playerswill match up with the younger soccer
(29:29):
player, and then they mentor each other.
And support each other in their games.
And then we do a juggle for schoolsafety events where they get a special
t shirt and they do a juggle contestand then help raise money for make our
school safe in the Parkland soccer club.
Jerremy Newsome (29:48):
got it.
That's heartwarming for ourlisteners that the number eight.
So in her logo maker school safe,the two O's in schools are an
eight infinity symbol, right?
Which that is one of my favoritesymbols, the infinity symbol.
And I love the tattoo on your arm too.
That's that part of that logo.
(30:08):
It's just beautiful.
Very heartwarming.
So Miss Laurie, what advice wouldyou give specifically being such a
powerful advocate for this to parentsand or educators in states that haven't
adopted most of these measures yet?
Most specifically, right?
Alyssa's law.
Lori Alhadeff (30:29):
So I would speak up, go to school board
meetings, be a public speaker.
If there's something that you don'tfeel safe about in your child's
school, say something about it.
Talk to elected officials, talkto your school board members, talk
to your commissioners, your staterepresentatives and ask them, why don't
(30:53):
we have our panic button in our schools?
This is a common sense layerof school safety protection.
We need this.
What are you doing about it?
And put it on them as electedofficials to take action.
That's their job.
Their job is to make sure thatyour kid is safe in school.
And make sure, and I think it'svitally important as a parent to ask
(31:16):
those questions and demand action.
Jerremy Newsome (31:20):
Yep.
Are there resources or networksthat they could connect with outside
of the school board meetings?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lori Alhadeff (31:29):
So you can go to MakeOurSchoolSafe.
org.
We have resources on ourwebsite, but also SchoolSafety.
gov is an excellent resource where youcan learn more about where you can get
grants for funding for school safety.
That, that's the question I continueto ask, as a school board member,
(31:49):
what grants have we applied for?
Because we get the grants, We get thefunding, we can implement another layer
of safety protection in our schools.
Whether it's now putting AI technologyin our cameras, that if, a, someone
takes out a gun, it will immediately boxit and send an alert to law enforcement
that there is a gun in the school.
Jerremy Newsome (32:12):
Ooh.
So they can.
Wow.
I didn't even know that.
So you're talking about AItechnology, like in the camera
representation of certain images.
Lori Alhadeff (32:21):
So if someone takes out a knife or a gun, the AI technology will
recognize that, box it, alert, and sendan immediate alert to law enforcement.
Someone jumps a fence.
That AI technology willrecognize that and alert that.
Dave Conley (32:41):
That was our actually our first interview was with companies that
do exactly that using AI technology.
They also talked about drones and robots.
And that was a little creepy to me,but I, wherever, whatever works,
Lori Alhadeff (32:53):
apparently Trump has the dog robot
Dave Conley (32:56):
saw that.
Lori Alhadeff (32:57):
Musk put out, gave him, protecting the grounds.
Jerremy Newsome (33:01):
Yeah.
Dave Conley (33:03):
I don't want one.
And they're creepy.
I know.
Hey, so Lori, I'm, I'm old enough.
I know neither of you two are, but I'mold enough to know and remember a time
when that was before Evaldi, beforeAurora, before Parkland, before Columbine
like these didn't seem to happen at all.
(33:24):
And now we are getting a schoolshooting every single day.
Not just the headline grabbers, butalso the the ones that are arguments
that happen outside the schools thatare happening, just every single
day where a child is getting shot.
Like what and other internet, and itdoesn't happen internationally, even in
(33:45):
countries that have lots and lots of guns.
I'm.
I'm trying to understand, I'm tryingto figure out like what's happened
in the last 25 years where, what,systemically, like what's going on,
like what's in the water is my question.
And I haven't yet heard anybodysay this is what happened.
Do you have a feel forwhat, what's going on?
(34:06):
Why is this getting worse?
Not better.
Lori Alhadeff (34:09):
I think maybe With the internet with kids having playing the
video games with the guns and they'respending hours and hours playing these
shooting games mentally it's gettingin their head and then they're getting
access to weapons whether it's theirparents giving them a gun for christmas
(34:34):
as I guess the apalachee shooter gotor just Parents not locking up their
guns and then kids getting access tothese guns, I, I don't know, and I never
lived in this world of gun violence.
(34:55):
My life has been very vanilla.
I grew up in country, wherewe had cows walking around.
I lived in New Jersey and alwayslived in a very affluent area.
And didn't come across gunviolence, but I hear you.
(35:16):
I, it scares me because there areshootings happening everywhere
and it's like, where are you safe?
I remember after the shooting, Iwanted to have a bulletproof vest.
Because I didn't feel safegoing outside my house.
I demanded that my kids have abulletproof backpack to go to school
(35:41):
after Alyssa was murdered in school.
So my kids have a bulletproof backpackbecause I felt like if everything
fails, if all those layers fail,they would at least have something
to possibly protect themselves.
Jerremy Newsome (35:56):
Yeah.
Which is wild that we even haveto have that discussion and ask
nine that even has to be a thing.
Bulletproof backpacks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it is there.
And again, at least that is a step inthe right direction of instead of just
sweeping this under the rugs and no onehaving any conversations about it to at
(36:18):
least addressing the problem again, justthank you for your bravery on that front.
And I would love for our listeners toknow, Laurie, like, how can they, our
listeners support make our schools safe.
org.
Lori Alhadeff (36:31):
So they can go to our website, MakeOurSchoolSafe.
org.
They can sign up for our email list.
And we send out weekly emails,how they can get involved.
You can follow us on Facebook,make our school safe 17, Instagram,
make our school safe, Twitter atLori Alhadeff or ex Lori Alhadeff.
(36:56):
Be a volunteer.
You could start a MossClub at your high school.
We have a Moss Club director, Lexi.
She's amazing.
She'll help the studentsstart their Moss Club.
It's a free program.
And you can we have a volunteer guidebook.
You could check that out.
And I think it's just taking Any stepyou can to be involved, and it just
(37:18):
means following us on social media.
Great.
But you can make a donationto make our school safe.
You can become a Moss mom or Mossdad, and just be engaged, be involved
and be a part of the conversation.
Because together we willmake our school safe.
Jerremy Newsome (37:36):
We will.
Thank you.
And I'll be making a donation as well.
Laurie personally.
But I think there's just the awarenessof this started with you and just
say thank you for your bravery.
Thank you for your courage.
Thank you for not stoppingwhere a lot of people will.
And Understandably but you took the badgeof honor to say, I think other people need
(37:59):
to know that there can be solutions andyou are bringing those to the forefront
and thank you for creating Alyssa's Lawand creating a very easy, very simple,
very seemingly effective and quite safeimplementation tactic and tool and system
so that we can do just that, right?
Make our school safe, create an amazinglearning experience for children,
(38:19):
create a place that is beautiful,that is simple, It's luxurious,
it is fun, it is entertaining.
And most importantly safe for theparents so that we have peace of
mind, that we have joy, that we havelove and safe for our kids as well.
Lori, thank you forbeing with us here today.
Lori Alhadeff (38:38):
Absolutely.
Dave Conley (38:40):
Wow.
What did you learn?
Jerremy Newsome (38:44):
What did I learn on that, Dave?
Here's the thing, man.
I am tragically upset that wehad to have an interview with
someone who actually lost.
Their child to such a tragedy, justsuch a stupid asinine situation
for anyone to ever go through,but Lori stepped up to the plate.
(39:05):
She did not let this stopher and other parents.
In creating solutions for thisproblem and the ELISA law to me is
so far the seemingly most simplesolution that I think, and I feel
could be very quickly implementedin every school across the nation.
(39:30):
And not only implemented, but at verysmall cost, without question, would
at least increase, as Lori mentionedthe safety and the feeling of safety
for teachers and for students, knowingthat they have this panic alarm that,
Lori mentioned is in banks, is in mostfinancial institutions here in the U.
(39:51):
S., but is not in our schools,which is one more reason and
rationale Why we really do needto care for our schools more and I
think this is a great start to that
Dave Conley (40:04):
Yeah, I completely agree.
We've now talked with teachers, we'vetalked with security specialists, and now
we've talked with Lori, who's channeledher grief And what struck me about this
is that it really, it solved immediatelyin my mind, some of the friction points
that both the teachers and some of the.
Executives in, in this world have beensaying, which is this is expensive.
(40:27):
I, an app on a phone doesn't seemthat expensive if it's, letting
the local law enforcement say, Hey,there's something going on here.
That seems really straightforward.
And the teacher saying, Hey, we don't havetime for this while it's an app, right?
And we already know that there's trainingand those things that are necessary.
And that's one thing that she's frustratedby, but it took, it's elegant and it's
(40:51):
inexpensive and this doesn't, thistakes only prioritization, nothing else.
Jerremy Newsome (40:57):
Love that word.
Yeah.
Prioritization awareness, a group ofindividuals coming together and saying
this needs to be a minimum requirement.
So then it will be very simple.
Something that probablycould happen in weeks.
If some mandatory governmentinstitution provided such a, to use
(41:19):
your word, prioritization of impact.
Right.
Dave Conley (41:22):
Absolutely.
I think, I learned one other thingand it's I'm, I think it's my white
whale right now because I believe I'veasked this three times now, is that
there was this time before Columbine,before Parkland, before Aurora, before
Ivaldi, there was this time before.
That this wasn't happening and I'veasked everyone and I've, I've done a
(41:42):
little bit of digging on the internetand there's no good answers to
okay, what happened and what's goingon and why is this getting worse?
And I think it's an easy questionand a really hard answer.
I don't think there's any one thing,it's not going to be, Oh, it's social
media or it's games or it's, socialstructure, or it's this, that, or
(42:05):
the other, it's the food we eator the medicalization of our kids.
It might be some or all or somethingthat, that we don't know yet.
And what frustrates me is that we don'thave the the company, the organization,
the government the, anything that's.
Standing up, it seems and saying, okay,we're going to find out what that is,
(42:28):
because once we solve that, we don'thave to have schools that are fortresses.
They can be just cathedrals.
They don't need to, we don't need to spendmoney on that if we solve that first.
Jerremy Newsome (42:39):
Listeners, I hope you also learn something
today and are reinvigoratedthat there are people out there.
There are podcasts out there.
There are individuals out there thatare working on truly creating solutions.
It's one thing to always discuss and talkabout the problems, but it's an entirely
different energy and appreciation toactually spend time on those solutions.
(43:03):
And that is exactly what we did in thisepisode of solving America's problems.
Another full, uncut show from this year
--Alex: Welcome to Solving America’s Problems…
A Parkland mom who buried her 14-year-olddaughter after the 2018 shooting
just forced an entire county—one ofthe biggest in America—to roll out
metal detectors in every single highschool in a matter of months, even
(00:20):
when the plan was only a tiny pilot.
She then looked at the panic buttonsthat already exist in every bank and
most government buildings and madeseven states put the exact same tech
in schools—so a teacher can silentlyscream for help and cops get live eyes
on cameras before they even roll up.
(00:40):
Tonight Jerremy and Dave sit down withLori Alhadeff, the woman who turned
unthinkable loss into legislationthat’s already moving state by
state, and she’s nowhere near done.
Jerremy Newsome (00:52):
Dave, what are we addressing and solving today?
Dave Conley (00:58):
In this episode of solving America's problems, we're
confronting one of our nation'smost heartbreaking challenges.
School shootings with someonewho's transformed personal tragedy
into national movement for change.
We're joined by Lori Aldehoff, a cofounder of Make Our Schools Safe and a
powerful voice of school safety reform.
After losing her daughter, Alyssa,in the Parkland shooting, Lori
(01:20):
channeled her grief into action,successfully championing Alyssa's Law
across multiple states and creatinga model for safer schools nationwide.
Today, she'll sharepractical, proven solutions.
That are already saving lives and that'sthis week on solving America's problems,
school shootings with Laurie Aldaef.
Jerremy Newsome (01:39):
Every two days in America, another school
shooting shatters a community.
In just the past five years, over 1200school shootings have left more than
a thousand people wounded or killed.
Behind each of these statistics is a storyand a family that has forever changed.
(02:02):
Our guest today knowsthis reality all too well.
Lori Alhadeff was a K through 12teacher and soccer mom to three
children until February 14, 2018.
When her 14 year old daughter, Alyssawas killed in the Parkland shooting.
At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
in the face of unimaginableloss, Laurie chose action.
(02:27):
She co founded make our schools safe,a national nonprofit dedicated to
protecting students and teachers.
She has successfully championed Alyssa'slaw requiring panic alarms in schools.
Which is now passed in seven states.
(02:48):
She also serves on the school board ofthe Broward County, fighting to ensure
no other parent experiences her pain.
Lori before we dive into solutionsCould you share what inspired you
to create Make Our Schools Safe, andwhat's the organization's core mission?
Lori Alhadeff (03:09):
So first of all, thank you so much for having me here today.
So my story begins on February 14th, 2018.
It was Valentine's Day, daythat was supposed to be filled
with chocolate and love.
And I drove my daughter, Alyssa, toMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
I dropped Alyssa off at school.
(03:30):
She was wearing a black and white dress.
She was just so beautiful.
I told Alyssa that I loved her.
And sadly, that would be the lasttime that I would see Alyssa alive.
Later that day, I got a textmessage saying, shots fired at
Stoneman Douglas High School, kidsrunning and jumping the fence.
(03:50):
And I immediately had this senseof loss that came over my body.
And I knew somethingwas drastically wrong.
I drove my car as fast as I could toMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
And there were so many people around,nobody really knew what was going on.
And I found out from Abby, Alyssa'sbest friend, that Alyssa was shot
(04:12):
and I fell down and I blocked thatmoment out in my life for months.
That most horrific moment in my lifethat I find out that my daughter
was shot, but I still had hope.
I thought Alyssa was still alive.
And I went with a police officer tothe hospital, tried to find Alyssa.
(04:37):
As a mother, you give birth to yourchild, you raise your child, and the
worst possible thing in the world isthat your child is killed, murdered.
And my daughter, Alyssa, wasmurdered in her English classroom.
Alyssa was in the direct lineof fire for the shooter shot
into her room, raided Alyssa.
(04:59):
Alyssa was still alive and sheran to the back of the classroom
and he went down the hallway.
He came back and shot againand killed Alyssa and two other
students in her classroom.
Later, after the trials were overthis year, I went into Alyssa's
classroom and it was horrific.
(05:22):
Blood was still on the floor.
The glass was still on the floor.
And I could see exactly wheremy daughter was murdered.
She wasn't able to make itbehind the teacher's desk that
possibly could have saved her.
And so after this tragedy, my husbandand I started make our school safe
(05:43):
and make our school safe is focusedon protecting kids in schools.
It's, a fundamental thingthat our kids go to school.
And as parents, we pack our kids lunches,we make sure they do their homework, and
we send them off to school thinking thatit's the safest place for them to be.
(06:04):
But unfortunately, that's where mydaughter and 16 others were murdered.
Jerremy Newsome (06:10):
And I, just first and foremost, the ability for you to go, we're
not going to let this dictate the restof our lives and live in a place where
we have no choice, we have no voice,we have no say, so we have no power.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for doing just that, right?
Working on making other schoolssafe because you are not only a
(06:32):
former teacher, but you're alsonow a current school board member.
So from that perspective, andas the portion of this real, The
mission of this podcast is actuallysolving America's problems.
And I think media would both agree thatthis is one of the most ostentatious,
outrageous problems that very few peopleare actually talking about openly often.
(06:56):
And there are probably somevery tangible solutions that
you will also have awareness of.
It's going to be very, probably easierto implement than many people think.
I'm very excited forour listeners to hear.
What those are.
So I'll circle back to my main questionfor you, which will be you being
right now, right on that school board.
(07:17):
What are some of the things that youknow, that are being implemented into
schools that are making them more safe?
Lori Alhadeff (07:23):
So after the shooting in 2018, I know I knew that in order for
me to make an impact and make changethat I need to have a seat at the table.
So I ran for the school board andI won and I've been on the school
board for the last seven years.
Jerremy Newsome (07:38):
Yeah, you did.
Good job, Lori.
Lori Alhadeff (07:41):
currently I'm the chair of the school board.
I've been the chairfor the last two years.
And so this is me going on my seventhyear as a school board member.
And so I think the best way to look atit is you need to look at as creating
layers of school safety protection.
And the most basic layer is lockingclassroom doors, making sure
(08:02):
that classroom door is locked.
And we are still not learning fromthis because we just had a school
shooting and the door was unlocked.
So it really Upsets methat here we are in 2024.
We've had so many school shootings andwe still have schools around the country
(08:23):
that are not learning from the mistakesthat were made and our school shooting.
So fundamentally those basic layersof protection, like single point
of entry, fencing, locking all thedoors so nobody can just get in don't
prop open the door with a pencil.
You have that human error and you wantto make sure that doors are being locked.
(08:47):
So here in Florida, I believe that we haveimplemented a plethora of school safety
bills in the last six and a half years.
Where we have created the those layerslike behavioral threat assessments, if
there is someone that says they're goingto shoot up a school, they do a behavioral
(09:08):
threat assessment on that student todeem where that school that child is
a low, medium or high level threat.
And then based on.
There's a safety plan for thatstudent, so that student will lose
the ability to bring a backpack toschool or their backpack is going
to need to be checked every day.
(09:28):
So there's a lot that we have done.
We still obviously need to improve.
And the one thing I would to justsay is that safety It's so vitally
important that there's training,so that there's not human error.
And in an emergency situation, thebody goes into fight or flight.
So we then fall back on our training.
(09:49):
So that is why it's so vitally importantthat our schools are training and what
to do in these emergency situations.
Dave Conley (09:57):
We we, this is our third interview on school
safety and school shootings.
And we spoke first to peoplewho have companies on threat
assessment and technology.
My, my feeling on it, on the, on oneside of it, after we talked to them
was, wow, that sounds really expensive.
And then we spoke to teachers.
And they're, and one of them wasin panic mode because she realized
(10:20):
that she hadn't been trained, thatshe didn't know what the threat was.
The what the protocols were and she wasgoing to be going the next day to speak
to her administration and to her schoolboard saying, Hey, What's the deal here?
So I, as being a mother, as being aformer teacher, as being a part of the
school board, where do the frictionpoints show up for you for funding, for
(10:45):
making sure that this is a priority,making sure that students understand
where are the parts where either parentscan help or listeners can help you
make sure that our school stays safe.
Lori Alhadeff (10:58):
So Broward County Public Schools, we're the sixth
largest school district in the country.
So funding is obviously goingto be a really difficult part.
And we want to make sure that ifwe're going to implement, so for
example, this year we implemented metaldetectors in all of our high schools.
I was actually the school boardmember that made the motion
(11:20):
because they want to pilot.
Putting the metal detectorsin three to four schools.
And I was like, hold on guys.
If we're going to do that, we should doit for all of our high schools because
every school is just as important.
Every student is just vitally important.
And we want to make surethat they're all safe.
And guess what?
They got it done.
And we got the funding, we, and weimplemented the metal detectors.
(11:42):
The first day was a little rough,but after that we, we figured it out
and everyone's trained, the studentsknow what to do and we've prevented
things from getting into our schools.
One thing I would say is that yes,funding is an issue, but there's
resources out there like schoolsafety.
gov. Matthew McConaughey.
(12:05):
He has an amazing site whereschools can apply for grants.
They'll help them apply for grants.
And then there's nonprofit organizationslike Make Our Schools Safe.
We've given back over 400, 000 to schoolsto implement layers of safety protection.
So as parents, I think that if you see avulnerability and that's the other part.
(12:28):
Just a circle back to one of those layers.
That risk assessment for the schoolis so vitally important that a safety
expert person they do a risk assessmentfor their school so they know what
those vulnerabilities are and then theyknow what to what they need to fix.
Jerremy Newsome (12:45):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's congrats by the way,again, for pushing that to
get that's happened so quick.
What was the timeline on that from the.
You really making that request known tothe installation of all metal detectors.
Lori Alhadeff (13:00):
It was only like a few months.
We did it over the summer, the schoolboard passed it, and then the start
of this school year they they didit at three schools over the summer
to pilot it, to work out, any of thekinks, to get messaging in place.
And then the day one of this schoolyear, we implemented the metal
detectors in all of our high schools.
Jerremy Newsome (13:22):
Yeah.
Awesome and who runs andoperates those metal detectors?
Is it the the security guards there?
Lori Alhadeff (13:30):
Yeah, so we have a security team that will help
to run the metal detectors.
There's also teachers that will be thereand everyone is trained so they know
what to do and then the process and itflows and they've prevented vapes from
getting in, we have a big vaping problemin our high schools and it acts as a
deterrent and, at the end of the day.
(13:53):
We have to do everythingpossible to prevent guns from
getting into our schools.
Jerremy Newsome (13:58):
Yes, 100 percent agree.
Absolutely.
So in addition to that which again,that is a direct impact And also again
to your point helpful and just keepingout Probably some of the ancillary
things we'd also want in schoolsvaping pens Maybe marijuana pens and
all the things of that nature But ifyou could make one change overnight
to improve school safety, no questionsasked What would it be ultimately
Lori Alhadeff (14:23):
So I would want to pass Alyssa's law nationwide.
I believe that every school needs tohave their panic button so that if in
a life threatening emergency situation,whether it's a medical emergency, which
we have 99 percent of the time in ourschools, or an active shooter situation,
every teacher should have their panicbutton like we have in our banks.
(14:45):
And they should be able to press that.
It's directly linked to law enforcement,mass notification in this life threatening
emergency situation, and we can get helpon the scene as quickly as possible.
They could pull up the camerasin the schools, get eyes on the
scene, better direct their schoolresource officer where to go.
(15:06):
And what to do and get help there.
On February 14th, I textedmy daughter, Alyssa.
I told Alyssa to run and hide thathelp was on the way, but unfortunately
help didn't not get there fast enough.
So
Jerremy Newsome (15:21):
having that law?
having The implementation of thatto me It does seem so easy, right?
It's essentially You To your point,an app on the phone that all teachers
should or could have access to.
What do you feel like is the barrierthat's holding us back from just
(15:42):
making that implementation happen?
Lori Alhadeff (15:45):
we passed Alyssa's law now in seven States, New
Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee,Utah, Oklahoma, and Florida.
And we're working to pass Alyssa'slaw in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
By hopefully the end of this year andmore and more states are getting on
board with implementing Alyssa's law,passing it as a law in their state.
(16:10):
And then obviously thefunding is the barrier.
How are we going to fund this?
And state budgets are huge andit can be an app on the teacher's
phone, an app on their computer.
It could be a wearable panic button.
Like they had an Appalachian shooting.
They had that wearable panic button.
And at the end of the day,we have to set up priorities.
(16:32):
Every bank has a panic buttonwhere governmental offices, elected
officials, they all have a panic button.
So why are we not protectingour kids and our schools?
Jerremy Newsome (16:43):
I know Lori.
Like, why?
That's what we need to figure out.
Why?
Lori Alhadeff (16:48):
And we need to evolve faster because unfortunately when AR
15s get into our schools and they startshooting, those bullets are coming
out so quickly and we have to havea good guy with a gun go in and take
down the threat as quickly as possibleto mitigate risk and loss of life.
Jerremy Newsome (17:12):
Yeah.
Again,
Lori Alhadeff (17:12):
and
Jerremy Newsome (17:14):
I was gonna say, just congrats on having
it passed in seven states.
Thank you for listening to those.
And that's, again, an excitingimplementation of not only
legacy, but actual change.
Seeing it really take place now in hugestates, such as New York and Florida.
I think that's awesome.
What has the feedback beenfrom the schools that have
(17:36):
implemented these systems?
Lori Alhadeff (17:38):
so they feel safer and I think it's important
as, we are terrifying our kids.
It's they're the lockdown generation andwe need to make sure that they feel safe.
And they know that if their teacher hastheir panic button that if they need to
get help, they're going to get help thereas quickly as possible to save them.
(18:01):
And that's so vitally importantbecause our kids need to not
only feel physically be safe.
Mentally, they need to be safe andknow that help can get there to protect
them as quickly as possible becausetheir teacher has their panic button.
Jerremy Newsome (18:19):
Yep.
You use the word mental and soI'll pivot for a moment because
you said mental safety and that isdefinitely a peace of mind, right?
That's a calmness.
That's an awareness piece.
But you've also heard this a thousandtimes, the very aware debate between
hardening schools with security measures.
and focusing on mental health andprovision for children through the
(18:43):
actual, just the educational componentof making all of our children or
as many of our children feel safe,but provide that mental health
aspect to stop school shootings.
How do you see these two differentapproaches working together?
Lori Alhadeff (19:01):
So sadly, we have so many kids every day that are Doing self
harm that are being Baker acted andwe need to do more to provide those
mental health services for our students.
Give our kids somebody to talkto because they are crying out
for help by hurting themselves.
(19:23):
And it breaks my heart that we're notdoing more to, to help these kids.
And so I believe a couplethings are in play here.
One is, so we've developedMoss Clubs, make our school
safe clubs and high schools.
It's a free program and wherestudents that are in these clubs,
(19:45):
they feel empowered to do morefor the safety at their school.
If they raise money to put a stopthe bleed kit in every classroom
in the school, they feel likethey're doing something that they
are not a victim to the schoolshootings, to the fear of these.
They're empowered to make it cool,see something, say something and
(20:10):
report these threats, whether it'son the app or to their teacher or
to their school resource officer.
And so I think there's just somuch that the schools can do.
Can do and that doesn't really costmuch money But our students need to have
those resiliency skills to be empoweredto take control of their education
Dave Conley (20:34):
Are you so for the make our school safe club programs, what are
you hearing back from like the students?
Are they coming up with creative ideas?
It's their environment to
Lori Alhadeff (20:45):
yeah, so Absolutely.
We have our moss clubs are on instagramand you can actually go and you
can See what these kids are doing.
They, some of them have purchased Imade a make our school safe coloring
book and so it would warm my heart.
One of the clubs they were coloringin the different Alyssa's law pages.
(21:06):
And one of the things that I alwayssay is, your voice is your power.
So we have a coloring book pagethat says your voice is your power.
And so they were coloring that in.
And again, I think it's empowering our.
So I think it's really important thatwe provide our students with those
resiliency skills to be able to sayno to drugs, say no to alcohol, do the
(21:27):
right thing, if you have someone that'ssitting alone at lunchtime, to go up
to them and just start a conversationand be a friend, we teach kindness
and people to be accepting of others.
And so I think the actions thatthese students are taking in
the mosque clubs are actually.
doing that.
Jerremy Newsome (21:49):
Yeah, so looking to the future, are there new
initiatives or partnerships in theworks for make our schools safe?
Lori Alhadeff (21:56):
So we have a very specific mission.
One is passing Alyssa's law nationwide,two is our mosque clubs, and three,
we raise money with our differentfundraisers to give back to schools
for different school safety projects.
So that's a lot of work.
And we but I will continue to go out,tell my story and speak at conferences
(22:22):
or to, to schools to try to get peopleto realize that They are not in a bubble.
We, I was in the Parkland bubble.
I thought that this was nevergoing to happen to us here.
I never imagined in a gazillionyears that my oldest daughter,
Alyssa, would be murdered at MarjoryStoneman Douglas High School.
(22:44):
We live in a very affluent area.
My biggest concern was takingAlyssa to soccer practice.
Making sure she did her homework.
I never thought that we would beaffected by a school shooting here.
I want people to realize that Don'tlive in a bubble, be prepared, you
(23:04):
cannot be complacent, don't sitback and never think that this is
never gonna happen where you live.
And it's sad, it breaks my heart to,to say that, to be honest, because
it's unfortunately our reality.
Jerremy Newsome (23:20):
Yep.
Miss Lori, about 6 minutes ago, youmentioned the see something, say
something reporting system just inregards to not only the teachers,
but most importantly, the students.
How do you encourage students toovercome, if they have one, maybe
like the code of silence that kidswill have among themselves, right?
(23:43):
Us versus the teachers, the perspective.
Yeah.
Lori Alhadeff (23:56):
name.
And so whether it's a studentreporting it or a parent reporting it.
It can be anonymous.
So I think that takes awaythat you're ratting someone out
or you're telling on someone.
But, at the end of the day, I thinkit's just, we have to get over that.
(24:16):
Concept that I don't know we're notwe're hurting someone else's feelings
because know who the problem kids areand or situations that are happening Or
somebody that might be so depressed thatthey might think about killing themselves
We have to report it so we can gethelp for those kids that need the help.
(24:40):
And I always look at it asan additional layer, right?
Even though the school might havedone a behavioral threat assessment,
now law enforcement's looking at it.
And that's another, layer that is gonnago and vet out whether that person
is a threat to themselves or others.
Dave Conley (24:59):
Laurie for the work that you do the panic button,
the programs, have you seendifferences between urban schools,
suburban schools and rural schools?
Lori Alhadeff (25:10):
No I really haven't.
I, Alyssa's law has been passedunanimously in our seven states,
and it's been passed unanimouslyRepublican or Democrat.
And as far as different areas, the MossClubs are, accepted or, in every area.
(25:32):
So kids are kids and, kids wantto just be safe in school and they
want to interact with adults, bein a positive, healthy environment.
We did a skate for school safety eventa couple weeks ago and we had 75 kids
on a Friday come out and ice skate.
(25:52):
And these are things thatparents can do where they live.
We're starting something called Moss Momsand Moss Dads, where parents can be safety
advocates for their school in their area.
They could be advocates for Alyssa's law.
(26:13):
And we now have on our website whereyou can take action, send an email
to your legislator in your area andtry to get Alyssa's law passed there.
Jerremy Newsome (26:25):
Which is actually what the answer is my questions.
And That's so heartwarming to knowthat's it's growing and evolving to
not only more of a community piece, butjust to have the parents interact and
have them really care about this andthe way that they absolutely should.
Semi fun question, maybe, but what's themost creative school safety idea that
(26:45):
you've heard or seen from a student?
Lori Alhadeff (26:48):
I think one of the things that just getting a simple shoe box, the
kids got where kids can report something.
They might feel unsafe about or somethingthat's going on and they can anonymously
put that, write it down on a piece ofpaper and put it in that safety box.
(27:09):
And then, the administration would lookat the what's on written on that piece
of paper and then do something about it.
Our kids know what's going on,whether it's on their phone, Snapchat,
texting, they know what is, happening.
So it's just a simple creative way.
(27:29):
Doesn't cost anythingand they can take action.
Jerremy Newsome (27:33):
Yeah, totally.
And that's, you've been, you said thatphrase a few times, it doesn't cost
anything or cost very little becausewe're screaming out to the government.
It's come on, let's use some more, let'suse some more of our money to implement
correct, proper, and, more productivebudgeting pieces for just the safety.
I think that's somethingthat's so obvious to me.
(27:53):
That's just being, I guessyou just use improperly.
Yeah that's awesome.
All another quick, funquestion for you then.
So I hear that you're still activelyinvolved in the Parkland soccer club.
What's your favorite part about stayingconnected to the youth sports, Ms. Laurie?
Lori Alhadeff (28:13):
So a couple of things.
I used to be a health andphysical education teacher,
but I also played soccer and mydaughter, Alyssa played soccer.
And on February 13th, Alyssa playedin her last soccer game in Parkland on
field eight and Alyssa played amazing.
(28:34):
I remember when she got into the car, Iturned around and I was like, Alyssa, you
just played the best game of your life.
She's I know mom.
And so obviously I have a lovefor the Parkland soccer club.
Field eight was named after Alyssa.
It's the Alyssa Alodef soccer field.
And the number eight was Alyssa'snumber on the back of her Jersey.
(28:58):
And then when you turn the eight sideways.
It's the infinity symbol, which
Jerremy Newsome (29:03):
let's go.
That makes so much sense now.
Lori Alhadeff (29:07):
Yeah.
And forever, I remember Alyssa and Ilive for Alyssa and do everything for
Alyssa and I feel Alyssa Lives insideme, Alyssa's always here with me, and so
we've also created the Bigs and Littleprogram at the Parkland Soccer Club,
where one of the older soccer playerswill match up with the younger soccer
(29:29):
player, and then they mentor each other.
And support each other in their games.
And then we do a juggle for schoolsafety events where they get a special
t shirt and they do a juggle contestand then help raise money for make our
school safe in the Parkland soccer club.
Jerremy Newsome (29:48):
got it.
That's heartwarming for ourlisteners that the number eight.
So in her logo maker school safe,the two O's in schools are an
eight infinity symbol, right?
Which that is one of my favoritesymbols, the infinity symbol.
And I love the tattoo on your arm too.
That's that part of that logo.
(30:08):
It's just beautiful.
Very heartwarming.
So Miss Laurie, what advice wouldyou give specifically being such a
powerful advocate for this to parentsand or educators in states that haven't
adopted most of these measures yet?
Most specifically, right?
Alyssa's law.
Lori Alhadeff (30:29):
So I would speak up, go to school board
meetings, be a public speaker.
If there's something that you don'tfeel safe about in your child's
school, say something about it.
Talk to elected officials, talkto your school board members, talk
to your commissioners, your staterepresentatives and ask them, why don't
(30:53):
we have our panic button in our schools?
This is a common sense layerof school safety protection.
We need this.
What are you doing about it?
And put it on them as electedofficials to take action.
That's their job.
Their job is to make sure thatyour kid is safe in school.
And make sure, and I think it'svitally important as a parent to ask
(31:16):
those questions and demand action.
Jerremy Newsome (31:20):
Yep.
Are there resources or networksthat they could connect with outside
of the school board meetings?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lori Alhadeff (31:29):
So you can go to MakeOurSchoolSafe.
org.
We have resources on ourwebsite, but also SchoolSafety.
gov is an excellent resource where youcan learn more about where you can get
grants for funding for school safety.
That, that's the question I continueto ask, as a school board member,
(31:49):
what grants have we applied for?
Because we get the grants, We get thefunding, we can implement another layer
of safety protection in our schools.
Whether it's now putting AI technologyin our cameras, that if, a, someone
takes out a gun, it will immediately boxit and send an alert to law enforcement
that there is a gun in the school.
Jerremy Newsome (32:12):
Ooh.
So they can.
Wow.
I didn't even know that.
So you're talking about AItechnology, like in the camera
representation of certain images.
Lori Alhadeff (32:21):
So if someone takes out a knife or a gun, the AI technology will
recognize that, box it, alert, and sendan immediate alert to law enforcement.
Someone jumps a fence.
That AI technology willrecognize that and alert that.
Dave Conley (32:41):
That was our actually our first interview was with companies that
do exactly that using AI technology.
They also talked about drones and robots.
And that was a little creepy to me,but I, wherever, whatever works,
Lori Alhadeff (32:53):
apparently Trump has the dog robot
Dave Conley (32:56):
saw that.
Lori Alhadeff (32:57):
Musk put out, gave him, protecting the grounds.
Jerremy Newsome (33:01):
Yeah.
Dave Conley (33:03):
I don't want one.
And they're creepy.
I know.
Hey, so Lori, I'm, I'm old enough.
I know neither of you two are, but I'mold enough to know and remember a time
when that was before Evaldi, beforeAurora, before Parkland, before Columbine
like these didn't seem to happen at all.
(33:24):
And now we are getting a schoolshooting every single day.
Not just the headline grabbers, butalso the the ones that are arguments
that happen outside the schools thatare happening, just every single
day where a child is getting shot.
Like what and other internet, and itdoesn't happen internationally, even in
(33:45):
countries that have lots and lots of guns.
I'm.
I'm trying to understand, I'm tryingto figure out like what's happened
in the last 25 years where, what,systemically, like what's going on,
like what's in the water is my question.
And I haven't yet heard anybodysay this is what happened.
Do you have a feel forwhat, what's going on?
(34:06):
Why is this getting worse?
Not better.
Lori Alhadeff (34:09):
I think maybe With the internet with kids having playing the
video games with the guns and they'respending hours and hours playing these
shooting games mentally it's gettingin their head and then they're getting
access to weapons whether it's theirparents giving them a gun for christmas
(34:34):
as I guess the apalachee shooter gotor just Parents not locking up their
guns and then kids getting access tothese guns, I, I don't know, and I never
lived in this world of gun violence.
(34:55):
My life has been very vanilla.
I grew up in country, wherewe had cows walking around.
I lived in New Jersey and alwayslived in a very affluent area.
And didn't come across gunviolence, but I hear you.
(35:16):
I, it scares me because there areshootings happening everywhere
and it's like, where are you safe?
I remember after the shooting, Iwanted to have a bulletproof vest.
Because I didn't feel safegoing outside my house.
I demanded that my kids have abulletproof backpack to go to school
(35:41):
after Alyssa was murdered in school.
So my kids have a bulletproof backpackbecause I felt like if everything
fails, if all those layers fail,they would at least have something
to possibly protect themselves.
Jerremy Newsome (35:56):
Yeah.
Which is wild that we even haveto have that discussion and ask
nine that even has to be a thing.
Bulletproof backpacks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it is there.
And again, at least that is a step inthe right direction of instead of just
sweeping this under the rugs and no onehaving any conversations about it to at
(36:18):
least addressing the problem again, justthank you for your bravery on that front.
And I would love for our listeners toknow, Laurie, like, how can they, our
listeners support make our schools safe.
org.
Lori Alhadeff (36:31):
So they can go to our website, MakeOurSchoolSafe.
org.
They can sign up for our email list.
And we send out weekly emails,how they can get involved.
You can follow us on Facebook,make our school safe 17, Instagram,
make our school safe, Twitter atLori Alhadeff or ex Lori Alhadeff.
(36:56):
Be a volunteer.
You could start a MossClub at your high school.
We have a Moss Club director, Lexi.
She's amazing.
She'll help the studentsstart their Moss Club.
It's a free program.
And you can we have a volunteer guidebook.
You could check that out.
And I think it's just taking Any stepyou can to be involved, and it just
(37:18):
means following us on social media.
Great.
But you can make a donationto make our school safe.
You can become a Moss mom or Mossdad, and just be engaged, be involved
and be a part of the conversation.
Because together we willmake our school safe.
Jerremy Newsome (37:36):
We will.
Thank you.
And I'll be making a donation as well.
Laurie personally.
But I think there's just the awarenessof this started with you and just
say thank you for your bravery.
Thank you for your courage.
Thank you for not stoppingwhere a lot of people will.
And Understandably but you took the badgeof honor to say, I think other people need
(37:59):
to know that there can be solutions andyou are bringing those to the forefront
and thank you for creating Alyssa's Lawand creating a very easy, very simple,
very seemingly effective and quite safeimplementation tactic and tool and system
so that we can do just that, right?
Make our school safe, create an amazinglearning experience for children,
(38:19):
create a place that is beautiful,that is simple, It's luxurious,
it is fun, it is entertaining.
And most importantly safe for theparents so that we have peace of
mind, that we have joy, that we havelove and safe for our kids as well.
Lori, thank you forbeing with us here today.
Lori Alhadeff (38:38):
Absolutely.
Dave Conley (38:40):
Wow.
What did you learn?
Jerremy Newsome (38:44):
What did I learn on that, Dave?
Here's the thing, man.
I am tragically upset that wehad to have an interview with
someone who actually lost.
Their child to such a tragedy, justsuch a stupid asinine situation
for anyone to ever go through,but Lori stepped up to the plate.
(39:05):
She did not let this stopher and other parents.
In creating solutions for thisproblem and the ELISA law to me is
so far the seemingly most simplesolution that I think, and I feel
could be very quickly implementedin every school across the nation.
(39:30):
And not only implemented, but at verysmall cost, without question, would
at least increase, as Lori mentionedthe safety and the feeling of safety
for teachers and for students, knowingthat they have this panic alarm that,
Lori mentioned is in banks, is in mostfinancial institutions here in the U.
(39:51):
S., but is not in our schools,which is one more reason and
rationale Why we really do needto care for our schools more and I
think this is a great start to that
Dave Conley (40:04):
Yeah, I completely agree.
We've now talked with teachers, we'vetalked with security specialists, and now
we've talked with Lori, who's channeledher grief And what struck me about this
is that it really, it solved immediatelyin my mind, some of the friction points
that both the teachers and some of the.
Executives in, in this world have beensaying, which is this is expensive.
(40:27):
I, an app on a phone doesn't seemthat expensive if it's, letting
the local law enforcement say, Hey,there's something going on here.
That seems really straightforward.
And the teacher saying, Hey, we don't havetime for this while it's an app, right?
And we already know that there's trainingand those things that are necessary.
And that's one thing that she's frustratedby, but it took, it's elegant and it's
(40:51):
inexpensive and this doesn't, thistakes only prioritization, nothing else.
Jerremy Newsome (40:57):
Love that word.
Yeah.
Prioritization awareness, a group ofindividuals coming together and saying
this needs to be a minimum requirement.
So then it will be very simple.
Something that probablycould happen in weeks.
If some mandatory governmentinstitution provided such a, to use
(41:19):
your word, prioritization of impact.
Right.
Dave Conley (41:22):
Absolutely.
I think, I learned one other thingand it's I'm, I think it's my white
whale right now because I believe I'veasked this three times now, is that
there was this time before Columbine,before Parkland, before Aurora, before
Ivaldi, there was this time before.
That this wasn't happening and I'veasked everyone and I've, I've done a
(41:42):
little bit of digging on the internetand there's no good answers to
okay, what happened and what's goingon and why is this getting worse?
And I think it's an easy questionand a really hard answer.
I don't think there's any one thing,it's not going to be, Oh, it's social
media or it's games or it's, socialstructure, or it's this, that, or
(42:05):
the other, it's the food we eator the medicalization of our kids.
It might be some or all or somethingthat, that we don't know yet.
And what frustrates me is that we don'thave the the company, the organization,
the government the, anything that's.
Standing up, it seems and saying, okay,we're going to find out what that is,
(42:28):
because once we solve that, we don'thave to have schools that are fortresses.
They can be just cathedrals.
They don't need to, we don't need to spendmoney on that if we solve that first.
Jerremy Newsome (42:39):
Listeners, I hope you also learn something
today and are reinvigoratedthat there are people out there.
There are podcasts out there.
There are individuals out there thatare working on truly creating solutions.
It's one thing to always discuss and talkabout the problems, but it's an entirely
different energy and appreciation toactually spend time on those solutions.
(43:03):
And that is exactly what we did in thisepisode of solving America's problems.
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