News Photo by Julie Riddle Deputy Jessica Miles, school resource officer at Hillman Community Schools, right, speaks to eighth grader Tanner Dean at the junior and senior high school between classes on Monday.

HILLMAN — Kids empowered to protect themselves stand a better chance of developing into emotionally healthy adults, school officials in Hillman believe.

On Monday, students passing between classes offered hellos and shy smiles to Deputy Jessica Miles, recently employed by Hillman Community Schools as the county’s first school resource officer.

Though at first awkward around Miles’ uniform, students have warmed to the brief exchanges the officer hopes will deter young people from less-positive police interactions in the future.

Pandemic relief funds eased the district’s budget enough to make room in the general fund for the officer’s salary, her presence adding to a heightened focus on security at the district this year, said Kayla Nichols, secondary administrator for Hillman Community Schools.

With violence at schools elsewhere making headlines and other turmoil in recent years increasing student anxiety and depression, schools locally know they need to do what they can to bolster student safety, she said.

“We need to make sure they feel safe and secure here,” Nichols said.

A deputy with the Montmorency County Sheriff’s Office for the past two years, Miles said parents unfamiliar with school resource officers sometimes think she’s only there to hand out tickets.

While the officer will address truancy, youth crimes, and other law enforcement concerns, her job is also to prepare students to respond to dangerous situations and inform them about laws so they don’t get into trouble in the first place, Miles said.

Such preparation also equips them to get the emotional support they need to stand up to improper behavior and report bad things others have done to them, she said.

She will assist the school with active shooter drills and other emergency trainings and lead classroom lessons about substance abuse, cyber-bullying, driver safety, and other issues pertinent to young people.

Even the youngest students need to learn rudimentary self-protection, Miles said.

She will teach kindergarteners it’s OK for them to say no to a hug from a relative who makes them uncomfortable and encourage them to talk to their parents about creating go-bags for emergencies at home.

Middle school students, not yet wise in the way of the digital world to which they are exposed, need to learn about online dangers, including the laws governing the photographing of underaged bodies — potentially chargeable as a felony, even for young people taking pictures of themselves, Miles said.

In a time when most fifth graders own smartphones, such lessons must begin earlier than people prefer to believe — and those lessons may take better hold coming from a police officer they’ve come to trust, the officer said.

Many students and parents also don’t know that youths using or possessing vaping tools can be charged with a misdemeanor. Kids who know such laws can better protect themselves and their friends from repercussions they might not otherwise see coming, Miles said.

At a training last week, Miles learned about some dangers most kids in Northeast Michigan don’t face, like gang violence.

Still, Up North kids who flash hand signals they’ve seen in social media need to know what those signals mean, and a police officer has the information to give them the truth, she said.

Nichols, the school administrator, hopes a police presence curtails the parking lot squeals popular with older students as they learn laws in the classroom and realize they don’t want tickets or citations.

A police car outside the front door of the school won’t hurt, either, as a deterrent to bad behavior either within or from outside the school, Miles said.

Metal boots installed on all school district doors will slow down any potential attack, one of the district’s efforts to increase safety on campus.

The presence of a police officer can do even more to increase school safety, especially as she empowers students to speak up if they see signs of trouble.

Students spotting potential trouble can say something anonymously using the state’s OK2SAY app, website, or other contact options.

Such reporting is not snitching — it’s taking ownership of their school and personal safety, Miles said.

“We want kids to start saying something,” Miles said. “This is their place. This is something they can do to keep this place safe themselves.”

To report school safety-related concerns

Anyone can report tips confidentially on criminal activities or potential harm directed at students, school employees, or schools.

Call: 8-555-OK2SAY (855-565-2729)

Text: 652729 (OK2SAY)

Email: OK2SAY@mi.gov

Download app: iPhone / Android

Visit: michigan.gov/ok2say

In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.

Source: Michigan.gov