Some sad news at the beginning of the week about the Year Nine student who slipped, hit her head and died at Wesley College school. Talofae, what a loss for her family.

I can’t imagine sending my child to school and the next minute, I’m being called to see her in the morgue. Was she rushing because she was afraid of punishment by seniors or teachers? Or was it just an accident? It’s been rainy in the last few weeks and sandals aren’t the best footwear for wet weather.  We can easily slip in those. We don’t know all the details as police are investigating the case, but this is a good reminder to all schools about revisiting safety policies.

Keeping students and teachers safe should be a priority. School safety is linked to improved student and school outcomes. In particular, emotional and physical safety in school are related to academic performance. At the same time, students who experience physical or emotional harassment on school grounds are at risk for poor attendance, failure and school dropout. It’s something all schools need to look at again.

With so many potential risk factors, it’s completely understandable to feel unprepared when it comes to safety and security.  It’s one more thing to add to the list of an already stretched system. Is it compulsory to have first aid training for teachers or school staff? I remember my teachers having first aid training back in the day by Red Cross. What about fire safety? Frequent checks of the school’s fire alarm system are a must to prevent a potential disaster. On top of this, a fire drill each term will help pupils know what to do in the event of a real fire and where they need to muster safely. Do all our students know where the assembly point is in times of emergencies?

In addition, police visits to school should be part of the school program. With drugs being sold and pushed in schools, yes, this is already happening in Samoa. Last year, a male teacher and his female student were selling drugs to other students in a local high school. A complete exploitation of this teacher's authority over his students. I am not sure if anyone was charged. Clearly, some schools are not drug or smoke-free today.

There are so many measures we can put in place to keep everyone safe. How safe is safe? Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Parents let us also talk to our children about keeping themselves safe at school and public places.  Accidents do happen.  Awareness of the environment and paying attention are crucial. Enjoy the rest of your week Samoa and prayers go out to the family of this student who had a bright future ahead of her.

Enid Westerlund is a regular columnist for this newspaper. She is an aviation specialist, business consultant, author and loves teaching children to read on the weekend.