Friday Focus
October 11, 2024
Dear Families and Community Members,
October is Safety Month, so please keep safety at the forefront of all our activities this Fall and into the new year. When I think about safety in the Fall, I always focus on Gun Safety as hunting season is now upon us, and Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors in the cold weather season can present dangers around fire.
Keeping Your Home Safe With Secure Storage
Suppose you’ve decided to bring a gun into your home. In that case, it’s essential to know how responsible gun owners work to keep their families safe by mitigating the inherent risks associated with firearm ownership. Every responsible gun owner securely stores their guns so that they are inaccessible to children and other people who are at risk of harming themselves or others.
Did You Know?
● Over 700 children die by gun suicide each year, most often using guns belonging to a family member.
● Nearly 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else each year.
● One-third of these incidents can be prevented with secure storage.
As a responsible gun owner, you can make your home safer by storing any firearm unloaded and locked, with the ammunition kept in a separate place. Research has proven that this simple practice can help prevent unintentional shootings, gun suicides, and other tragedies that can result when kids and teens gain access to guns.
What is Secure Firearm Storage?
Unload:
Remove all ammunition from the firearm, including removing any chambered rounds.
Lock:
Secure guns with a firearm locking device, such as a jacket lock, or in a locked location, like a safe or lockbox.
Separate:
Store ammunition in a secure location separate from the firearm.
Simply put, if there are any guns in your home, it’s safer to store them securely. One recent study showed that households that lock firearms and ammunition had a 78 percent lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85 percent lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children. It’s important to know that secure storage devices won’t stand in the way of getting to your gun quickly if you need it. There are plenty of affordable storage options- from lockboxes to gun safes to devices with biometric authentication that allow you access to guns in a matter of seconds while still preventing access by children and other unauthorized people.
**Please click the York School Department Resolution for Safe Gun Storage link.
Keep your homes safe with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Did You Know?
Installing reliable protection and being proactive is vital to keeping your loved ones safe from a fire or carbon monoxide emergency.
Almost three (3) of every five (5) home fire deaths resulted from fires with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. (NFPA)
Carbon monoxide is the #1 cause of accidental poisoning in the United States. (CDC)
Unattended cooking is the #1 cause of home fires. (NFPA)
A fire department in the United States responds to a fire every 23 seconds. (NFPA)
York School Department urges you to practice whole home safety so you and your family are prepared during Fire Prevention Month and throughout the year. Installing functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors throughout your home is a vital piece of fire safety month and the first line of defense. They work around the clock to provide your family with an early alert in the event of an emergency, helping to give you time to escape safely. Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors should be installed on every level of the home, including the basement, as well as inside and outside each bedroom for whole home protection. Maintain alarms by testing them regularly, changing the batteries every six (6) months, and replacing alarms at least every ten (10) years.
2. Please be advised that during the next few weeks, York schools may be practicing safety drills and relocating students and staff to relocation zones for emergency situations. These are controlled drills conducted in conjunction with the York Police Department and the York Fire Department.
OneYork MISSION!
Every Friday Focus, we're thrilled to share the progress of our fundraising campaign for the new athletic complex. Thanks to your generosity, we've raised $4,766.55 so far. Your contributions make a real difference and bring us closer to our goal of $1,063,000. Please consider donating today!
You can now go to the York School Department website to see the donation tab for the new athletic complex.
Timothy L. Doak, Superintendent of Schools