Episode 131

full
Published on:

5th Dec 2025

Parkland Mom Fights Back: Real School Safety Fixes (Full)

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:

Transcript
Sarah:

Another full, uncut show from this year

Sarah:

-- Alex: Welcome to Solving America’s Problems…

Sarah:

A Parkland mom who buried her 14-year-old daughter after the 2018 shooting

Sarah:

just forced an entire county—one of the biggest in America—to roll out

Sarah:

metal detectors in every single high school in a matter of months, even

Sarah:

when the plan was only a tiny pilot.

Sarah:

She then looked at the panic buttons that already exist in every bank and

Sarah:

most government buildings and made seven states put the exact same tech

Sarah:

in schools—so a teacher can silently scream for help and cops get live eyes

Sarah:

on cameras before they even roll up.

Sarah:

Tonight Jerremy and Dave sit down with Lori Alhadeff, the woman who turned

Sarah:

unthinkable loss into legislation that’s already moving state by

Sarah:

state, and she’s nowhere near done.

Jerremy Newsome:

Dave, what are we addressing and solving today?

Dave Conley:

In this episode of solving America's problems, we're

Dave Conley:

confronting one of our nation's most heartbreaking challenges.

Dave Conley:

School shootings with someone who's transformed personal tragedy

Dave Conley:

into national movement for change.

Dave Conley:

We're joined by Lori Aldehoff, a co founder of Make Our Schools Safe and a

Dave Conley:

powerful voice of school safety reform.

Dave Conley:

After losing her daughter, Alyssa, in the Parkland shooting, Lori

Dave Conley:

channeled her grief into action, successfully championing Alyssa's Law

Dave Conley:

across multiple states and creating a model for safer schools nationwide.

Dave Conley:

Today, she'll share practical, proven solutions.

Dave Conley:

That are already saving lives and that's this week on solving America's problems,

Dave Conley:

school shootings with Laurie Aldaef.

Jerremy Newsome:

Every two days in America, another school

Jerremy Newsome:

shooting shatters a community.

Jerremy Newsome:

In just the past five years, over 1200 school shootings have left more than

Jerremy Newsome:

a thousand people wounded or killed.

Jerremy Newsome:

Behind each of these statistics is a story and a family that has forever changed.

Jerremy Newsome:

Our guest today knows this reality all too well.

Jerremy Newsome:

Lori Alhadeff was a K through 12 teacher and soccer mom to three

Jerremy Newsome:

children until February 14, 2018.

Jerremy Newsome:

When her 14 year old daughter, Alyssa was killed in the Parkland shooting.

Jerremy Newsome:

At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Jerremy Newsome:

in the face of unimaginable loss, Laurie chose action.

Jerremy Newsome:

She co founded make our schools safe, a national nonprofit dedicated to

Jerremy Newsome:

protecting students and teachers.

Jerremy Newsome:

She has successfully championed Alyssa's law requiring panic alarms in schools.

Jerremy Newsome:

Which is now passed in seven states.

Jerremy Newsome:

She also serves on the school board of the Broward County, fighting to ensure

Jerremy Newsome:

no other parent experiences her pain.

Jerremy Newsome:

Lori before we dive into solutions Could you share what inspired you

Jerremy Newsome:

to create Make Our Schools Safe, and what's the organization's core mission?

Lori Alhadeff:

So first of all, thank you so much for having me here today.

Lori Alhadeff:

So my story begins on February 14th, 2018.

Lori Alhadeff:

It was Valentine's Day, day that was supposed to be filled

Lori Alhadeff:

with chocolate and love.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I drove my daughter, Alyssa, to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Lori Alhadeff:

I dropped Alyssa off at school.

Lori Alhadeff:

She was wearing a black and white dress.

Lori Alhadeff:

She was just so beautiful.

Lori Alhadeff:

I told Alyssa that I loved her.

Lori Alhadeff:

And sadly, that would be the last time that I would see Alyssa alive.

Lori Alhadeff:

Later that day, I got a text message saying, shots fired at

Lori Alhadeff:

Stoneman Douglas High School, kids running and jumping the fence.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I immediately had this sense of loss that came over my body.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I knew something was drastically wrong.

Lori Alhadeff:

I drove my car as fast as I could to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Lori Alhadeff:

And there were so many people around, nobody really knew what was going on.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I found out from Abby, Alyssa's best friend, that Alyssa was shot

Lori Alhadeff:

and I fell down and I blocked that moment out in my life for months.

Lori Alhadeff:

That most horrific moment in my life that I find out that my daughter

Lori Alhadeff:

was shot, but I still had hope.

Lori Alhadeff:

I thought Alyssa was still alive.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I went with a police officer to the hospital, tried to find Alyssa.

Lori Alhadeff:

As a mother, you give birth to your child, you raise your child, and the

Lori Alhadeff:

worst possible thing in the world is that your child is killed, murdered.

Lori Alhadeff:

And my daughter, Alyssa, was murdered in her English classroom.

Lori Alhadeff:

Alyssa was in the direct line of fire for the shooter shot

Lori Alhadeff:

into her room, raided Alyssa.

Lori Alhadeff:

Alyssa was still alive and she ran to the back of the classroom

Lori Alhadeff:

and he went down the hallway.

Lori Alhadeff:

He came back and shot again and killed Alyssa and two other

Lori Alhadeff:

students in her classroom.

Lori Alhadeff:

Later, after the trials were over this year, I went into Alyssa's

Lori Alhadeff:

classroom and it was horrific.

Lori Alhadeff:

Blood was still on the floor.

Lori Alhadeff:

The glass was still on the floor.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I could see exactly where my daughter was murdered.

Lori Alhadeff:

She wasn't able to make it behind the teacher's desk that

Lori Alhadeff:

possibly could have saved her.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so after this tragedy, my husband and I started make our school safe

Lori Alhadeff:

and make our school safe is focused on protecting kids in schools.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's, a fundamental thing that our kids go to school.

Lori Alhadeff:

And as parents, we pack our kids lunches, we make sure they do their homework, and

Lori Alhadeff:

we send them off to school thinking that it's the safest place for them to be.

Lori Alhadeff:

But unfortunately, that's where my daughter and 16 others were murdered.

Jerremy Newsome:

And I, just first and foremost, the ability for you to go, we're

Jerremy Newsome:

not going to let this dictate the rest of our lives and live in a place where

Jerremy Newsome:

we have no choice, we have no voice, we have no say, so we have no power.

Jerremy Newsome:

Thank you for your time.

Jerremy Newsome:

Thank you for doing just that, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

Working on making other schools safe because you are not only a

Jerremy Newsome:

former teacher, but you're also now a current school board member.

Jerremy Newsome:

So from that perspective, and as the portion of this real, The

Jerremy Newsome:

mission of this podcast is actually solving America's problems.

Jerremy Newsome:

And I think media would both agree that this is one of the most ostentatious,

Jerremy Newsome:

outrageous problems that very few people are actually talking about openly often.

Jerremy Newsome:

And there are probably some very tangible solutions that

Jerremy Newsome:

you will also have awareness of.

Jerremy Newsome:

It's going to be very, probably easier to implement than many people think.

Jerremy Newsome:

I'm very excited for our listeners to hear.

Jerremy Newsome:

What those are.

Jerremy Newsome:

So I'll circle back to my main question for you, which will be you being

Jerremy Newsome:

right now, right on that school board.

Jerremy Newsome:

What are some of the things that you know, that are being implemented into

Jerremy Newsome:

schools that are making them more safe?

Lori Alhadeff:

So after the shooting in 2018, I know I knew that in order for

Lori Alhadeff:

me to make an impact and make change that I need to have a seat at the table.

Lori Alhadeff:

So I ran for the school board and I won and I've been on the school

Lori Alhadeff:

board for the last seven years.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah, you did.

Jerremy Newsome:

Good job, Lori.

Lori Alhadeff:

currently I'm the chair of the school board.

Lori Alhadeff:

I've been the chair for the last two years.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so this is me going on my seventh year as a school board member.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so I think the best way to look at it is you need to look at as creating

Lori Alhadeff:

layers of school safety protection.

Lori Alhadeff:

And the most basic layer is locking classroom doors, making sure

Lori Alhadeff:

that classroom door is locked.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we are still not learning from this because we just had a school

Lori Alhadeff:

shooting and the door was unlocked.

Lori Alhadeff:

So it really Upsets me that here we are in 2024.

Lori Alhadeff:

We've had so many school shootings and we still have schools around the country

Lori Alhadeff:

that are not learning from the mistakes that were made and our school shooting.

Lori Alhadeff:

So fundamentally those basic layers of protection, like single point

Lori Alhadeff:

of entry, fencing, locking all the doors so nobody can just get in don't

Lori Alhadeff:

prop open the door with a pencil.

Lori Alhadeff:

You have that human error and you want to make sure that doors are being locked.

Lori Alhadeff:

So here in Florida, I believe that we have implemented a plethora of school safety

Lori Alhadeff:

bills in the last six and a half years.

Lori Alhadeff:

Where we have created the those layers like behavioral threat assessments, if

Lori Alhadeff:

there is someone that says they're going to shoot up a school, they do a behavioral

Lori Alhadeff:

threat assessment on that student to deem where that school that child is

Lori Alhadeff:

a low, medium or high level threat.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then based on.

Lori Alhadeff:

There's a safety plan for that student, so that student will lose

Lori Alhadeff:

the ability to bring a backpack to school or their backpack is going

Lori Alhadeff:

to need to be checked every day.

Lori Alhadeff:

So there's a lot that we have done.

Lori Alhadeff:

We still obviously need to improve.

Lori Alhadeff:

And the one thing I would to just say is that safety It's so vitally

Lori Alhadeff:

important that there's training, so that there's not human error.

Lori Alhadeff:

And in an emergency situation, the body goes into fight or flight.

Lori Alhadeff:

So we then fall back on our training.

Lori Alhadeff:

So that is why it's so vitally important that our schools are training and what

Lori Alhadeff:

to do in these emergency situations.

Dave Conley:

We we, this is our third interview on school

Dave Conley:

safety and school shootings.

Dave Conley:

And we spoke first to people who have companies on threat

Dave Conley:

assessment and technology.

Dave Conley:

My, my feeling on it, on the, on one side of it, after we talked to them

Dave Conley:

was, wow, that sounds really expensive.

Dave Conley:

And then we spoke to teachers.

Dave Conley:

And they're, and one of them was in panic mode because she realized

Dave Conley:

that she hadn't been trained, that she didn't know what the threat was.

Dave Conley:

The what the protocols were and she was going to be going the next day to speak

Dave Conley:

to her administration and to her school board saying, Hey, What's the deal here?

Dave Conley:

So I, as being a mother, as being a former teacher, as being a part of the

Dave Conley:

school board, where do the friction points show up for you for funding, for

Dave Conley:

making sure that this is a priority, making sure that students understand

Dave Conley:

where are the parts where either parents can help or listeners can help you

Dave Conley:

make sure that our school stays safe.

Lori Alhadeff:

So Broward County Public Schools, we're the sixth

Lori Alhadeff:

largest school district in the country.

Lori Alhadeff:

So funding is obviously going to be a really difficult part.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we want to make sure that if we're going to implement, so for

Lori Alhadeff:

example, this year we implemented metal detectors in all of our high schools.

Lori Alhadeff:

I was actually the school board member that made the motion

Lori Alhadeff:

because they want to pilot.

Lori Alhadeff:

Putting the metal detectors in three to four schools.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I was like, hold on guys.

Lori Alhadeff:

If we're going to do that, we should do it for all of our high schools because

Lori Alhadeff:

every school is just as important.

Lori Alhadeff:

Every student is just vitally important.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we want to make sure that they're all safe.

Lori Alhadeff:

And guess what?

Lori Alhadeff:

They got it done.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we got the funding, we, and we implemented the metal detectors.

Lori Alhadeff:

The first day was a little rough, but after that we, we figured it out

Lori Alhadeff:

and everyone's trained, the students know what to do and we've prevented

Lori Alhadeff:

things from getting into our schools.

Lori Alhadeff:

One thing I would say is that yes, funding is an issue, but there's

Lori Alhadeff:

resources out there like schoolsafety.

Lori Alhadeff:

gov. Matthew McConaughey.

Lori Alhadeff:

He has an amazing site where schools can apply for grants.

Lori Alhadeff:

They'll help them apply for grants.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then there's nonprofit organizations like Make Our Schools Safe.

Lori Alhadeff:

We've given back over 400, 000 to schools to implement layers of safety protection.

Lori Alhadeff:

So as parents, I think that if you see a vulnerability and that's the other part.

Lori Alhadeff:

Just a circle back to one of those layers.

Lori Alhadeff:

That risk assessment for the school is so vitally important that a safety

Lori Alhadeff:

expert person they do a risk assessment for their school so they know what

Lori Alhadeff:

those vulnerabilities are and then they know what to what they need to fix.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

That's congrats by the way, again, for pushing that to

Jerremy Newsome:

get that's happened so quick.

Jerremy Newsome:

What was the timeline on that from the.

Jerremy Newsome:

You really making that request known to the installation of all metal detectors.

Lori Alhadeff:

It was only like a few months.

Lori Alhadeff:

We did it over the summer, the school board passed it, and then the start

Lori Alhadeff:

of this school year they they did it at three schools over the summer

Lori Alhadeff:

to pilot it, to work out, any of the kinks, to get messaging in place.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then the day one of this school year, we implemented the metal

Lori Alhadeff:

detectors in all of our high schools.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Awesome and who runs and operates those metal detectors?

Jerremy Newsome:

Is it the the security guards there?

Lori Alhadeff:

Yeah, so we have a security team that will help

Lori Alhadeff:

to run the metal detectors.

Lori Alhadeff:

There's also teachers that will be there and everyone is trained so they know

Lori Alhadeff:

what to do and then the process and it flows and they've prevented vapes from

Lori Alhadeff:

getting in, we have a big vaping problem in our high schools and it acts as a

Lori Alhadeff:

deterrent and, at the end of the day.

Lori Alhadeff:

We have to do everything possible to prevent guns from

Lori Alhadeff:

getting into our schools.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yes, 100 percent agree.

Jerremy Newsome:

Absolutely.

Jerremy Newsome:

So in addition to that which again, that is a direct impact And also again

Jerremy Newsome:

to your point helpful and just keeping out Probably some of the ancillary

Jerremy Newsome:

things we'd also want in schools vaping pens Maybe marijuana pens and

Jerremy Newsome:

all the things of that nature But if you could make one change overnight

Jerremy Newsome:

to improve school safety, no questions asked What would it be ultimately

Lori Alhadeff:

So I would want to pass Alyssa's law nationwide.

Lori Alhadeff:

I believe that every school needs to have their panic button so that if in

Lori Alhadeff:

a life threatening emergency situation, whether it's a medical emergency, which

Lori Alhadeff:

we have 99 percent of the time in our schools, or an active shooter situation,

Lori Alhadeff:

every teacher should have their panic button like we have in our banks.

Lori Alhadeff:

And they should be able to press that.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's directly linked to law enforcement, mass notification in this life threatening

Lori Alhadeff:

emergency situation, and we can get help on the scene as quickly as possible.

Lori Alhadeff:

They could pull up the cameras in the schools, get eyes on the

Lori Alhadeff:

scene, better direct their school resource officer where to go.

Lori Alhadeff:

And what to do and get help there.

Lori Alhadeff:

On February 14th, I texted my daughter, Alyssa.

Lori Alhadeff:

I told Alyssa to run and hide that help was on the way, but unfortunately

Lori Alhadeff:

help didn't not get there fast enough.

Lori Alhadeff:

So

Jerremy Newsome:

having that law?

Jerremy Newsome:

having The implementation of that to me It does seem so easy, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

It's essentially You To your point, an app on the phone that all teachers

Jerremy Newsome:

should or could have access to.

Jerremy Newsome:

What do you feel like is the barrier that's holding us back from just

Jerremy Newsome:

making that implementation happen?

Lori Alhadeff:

we passed Alyssa's law now in seven States, New

Lori Alhadeff:

Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma, and Florida.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we're working to pass Alyssa's law in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania,

Lori Alhadeff:

By hopefully the end of this year and more and more states are getting on

Lori Alhadeff:

board with implementing Alyssa's law, passing it as a law in their state.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then obviously the funding is the barrier.

Lori Alhadeff:

How are we going to fund this?

Lori Alhadeff:

And state budgets are huge and it can be an app on the teacher's

Lori Alhadeff:

phone, an app on their computer.

Lori Alhadeff:

It could be a wearable panic button.

Lori Alhadeff:

Like they had an Appalachian shooting.

Lori Alhadeff:

They had that wearable panic button.

Lori Alhadeff:

And at the end of the day, we have to set up priorities.

Lori Alhadeff:

Every bank has a panic button where governmental offices, elected

Lori Alhadeff:

officials, they all have a panic button.

Lori Alhadeff:

So why are we not protecting our kids and our schools?

Jerremy Newsome:

I know Lori.

Jerremy Newsome:

Like, why?

Jerremy Newsome:

That's what we need to figure out.

Jerremy Newsome:

Why?

Lori Alhadeff:

And we need to evolve faster because unfortunately when AR

Lori Alhadeff:

15s get into our schools and they start shooting, those bullets are coming

Lori Alhadeff:

out so quickly and we have to have a good guy with a gun go in and take

Lori Alhadeff:

down the threat as quickly as possible to mitigate risk and loss of life.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Again,

Lori Alhadeff:

and

Jerremy Newsome:

I was gonna say, just congrats on having

Jerremy Newsome:

it passed in seven states.

Jerremy Newsome:

Thank you for listening to those.

Jerremy Newsome:

And that's, again, an exciting implementation of not only

Jerremy Newsome:

legacy, but actual change.

Jerremy Newsome:

Seeing it really take place now in huge states, such as New York and Florida.

Jerremy Newsome:

I think that's awesome.

Jerremy Newsome:

What has the feedback been from the schools that have

Jerremy Newsome:

implemented these systems?

Lori Alhadeff:

so they feel safer and I think it's important

Lori Alhadeff:

as, we are terrifying our kids.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's they're the lockdown generation and we need to make sure that they feel safe.

Lori Alhadeff:

And they know that if their teacher has their panic button that if they need to

Lori Alhadeff:

get help, they're going to get help there as quickly as possible to save them.

Lori Alhadeff:

And that's so vitally important because our kids need to not

Lori Alhadeff:

only feel physically be safe.

Lori Alhadeff:

Mentally, they need to be safe and know that help can get there to protect

Lori Alhadeff:

them as quickly as possible because their teacher has their panic button.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yep.

Jerremy Newsome:

You use the word mental and so I'll pivot for a moment because

Jerremy Newsome:

you said mental safety and that is definitely a peace of mind, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

That's a calmness.

Jerremy Newsome:

That's an awareness piece.

Jerremy Newsome:

But you've also heard this a thousand times, the very aware debate between

Jerremy Newsome:

hardening schools with security measures.

Jerremy Newsome:

and focusing on mental health and provision for children through the

Jerremy Newsome:

actual, just the educational component of making all of our children or

Jerremy Newsome:

as many of our children feel safe, but provide that mental health

Jerremy Newsome:

aspect to stop school shootings.

Jerremy Newsome:

How do you see these two different approaches working together?

Lori Alhadeff:

So sadly, we have so many kids every day that are Doing self

Lori Alhadeff:

harm that are being Baker acted and we need to do more to provide those

Lori Alhadeff:

mental health services for our students.

Lori Alhadeff:

Give our kids somebody to talk to because they are crying out

Lori Alhadeff:

for help by hurting themselves.

Lori Alhadeff:

And it breaks my heart that we're not doing more to, to help these kids.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so I believe a couple things are in play here.

Lori Alhadeff:

One is, so we've developed Moss Clubs, make our school

Lori Alhadeff:

safe clubs and high schools.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's a free program and where students that are in these clubs,

Lori Alhadeff:

they feel empowered to do more for the safety at their school.

Lori Alhadeff:

If they raise money to put a stop the bleed kit in every classroom

Lori Alhadeff:

in the school, they feel like they're doing something that they

Lori Alhadeff:

are not a victim to the school shootings, to the fear of these.

Lori Alhadeff:

They're empowered to make it cool, see something, say something and

Lori Alhadeff:

report these threats, whether it's on the app or to their teacher or

Lori Alhadeff:

to their school resource officer.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so I think there's just so much that the schools can do.

Lori Alhadeff:

Can do and that doesn't really cost much money But our students need to have

Lori Alhadeff:

those resiliency skills to be empowered to take control of their education

Dave Conley:

Are you so for the make our school safe club programs, what are

Dave Conley:

you hearing back from like the students?

Dave Conley:

Are they coming up with creative ideas?

Dave Conley:

It's their environment to

Lori Alhadeff:

yeah, so Absolutely.

Lori Alhadeff:

We have our moss clubs are on instagram and you can actually go and you

Lori Alhadeff:

can See what these kids are doing.

Lori Alhadeff:

They, some of them have purchased I made a make our school safe coloring

Lori Alhadeff:

book and so it would warm my heart.

Lori Alhadeff:

One of the clubs they were coloring in the different Alyssa's law pages.

Lori Alhadeff:

And one of the things that I always say is, your voice is your power.

Lori Alhadeff:

So we have a coloring book page that says your voice is your power.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so they were coloring that in.

Lori Alhadeff:

And again, I think it's empowering our.

Lori Alhadeff:

So I think it's really important that we provide our students with those

Lori Alhadeff:

resiliency skills to be able to say no to drugs, say no to alcohol, do the

Lori Alhadeff:

right thing, if you have someone that's sitting alone at lunchtime, to go up

Lori Alhadeff:

to them and just start a conversation and be a friend, we teach kindness

Lori Alhadeff:

and people to be accepting of others.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so I think the actions that these students are taking in

Lori Alhadeff:

the mosque clubs are actually.

Lori Alhadeff:

doing that.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah, so looking to the future, are there new

Jerremy Newsome:

initiatives or partnerships in the works for make our schools safe?

Lori Alhadeff:

So we have a very specific mission.

Lori Alhadeff:

One is passing Alyssa's law nationwide, two is our mosque clubs, and three,

Lori Alhadeff:

we raise money with our different fundraisers to give back to schools

Lori Alhadeff:

for different school safety projects.

Lori Alhadeff:

So that's a lot of work.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we but I will continue to go out, tell my story and speak at conferences

Lori Alhadeff:

or to, to schools to try to get people to realize that They are not in a bubble.

Lori Alhadeff:

We, I was in the Parkland bubble.

Lori Alhadeff:

I thought that this was never going to happen to us here.

Lori Alhadeff:

I never imagined in a gazillion years that my oldest daughter,

Lori Alhadeff:

Alyssa, would be murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Lori Alhadeff:

We live in a very affluent area.

Lori Alhadeff:

My biggest concern was taking Alyssa to soccer practice.

Lori Alhadeff:

Making sure she did her homework.

Lori Alhadeff:

I never thought that we would be affected by a school shooting here.

Lori Alhadeff:

I want people to realize that Don't live in a bubble, be prepared, you

Lori Alhadeff:

cannot be complacent, don't sit back and never think that this is

Lori Alhadeff:

never gonna happen where you live.

Lori Alhadeff:

And it's sad, it breaks my heart to, to say that, to be honest, because

Lori Alhadeff:

it's unfortunately our reality.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yep.

Jerremy Newsome:

Miss Lori, about 6 minutes ago, you mentioned the see something, say

Jerremy Newsome:

something reporting system just in regards to not only the teachers,

Jerremy Newsome:

but most importantly, the students.

Jerremy Newsome:

How do you encourage students to overcome, if they have one, maybe

Jerremy Newsome:

like the code of silence that kids will have among themselves, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

Us versus the teachers, the perspective.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Lori Alhadeff:

name.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so whether it's a student reporting it or a parent reporting it.

Lori Alhadeff:

It can be anonymous.

Lori Alhadeff:

So I think that takes away that you're ratting someone out

Lori Alhadeff:

or you're telling on someone.

Lori Alhadeff:

But, at the end of the day, I think it's just, we have to get over that.

Lori Alhadeff:

Concept that I don't know we're not we're hurting someone else's feelings

Lori Alhadeff:

because know who the problem kids are and or situations that are happening Or

Lori Alhadeff:

somebody that might be so depressed that they might think about killing themselves

Lori Alhadeff:

We have to report it so we can get help for those kids that need the help.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I always look at it as an additional layer, right?

Lori Alhadeff:

Even though the school might have done a behavioral threat assessment,

Lori Alhadeff:

now law enforcement's looking at it.

Lori Alhadeff:

And that's another, layer that is gonna go and vet out whether that person

Lori Alhadeff:

is a threat to themselves or others.

Dave Conley:

Laurie for the work that you do the panic button,

Dave Conley:

the programs, have you seen differences between urban schools,

Dave Conley:

suburban schools and rural schools?

Lori Alhadeff:

No I really haven't.

Lori Alhadeff:

I, Alyssa's law has been passed unanimously in our seven states,

Lori Alhadeff:

and it's been passed unanimously Republican or Democrat.

Lori Alhadeff:

And as far as different areas, the Moss Clubs are, accepted or, in every area.

Lori Alhadeff:

So kids are kids and, kids want to just be safe in school and they

Lori Alhadeff:

want to interact with adults, be in a positive, healthy environment.

Lori Alhadeff:

We did a skate for school safety event a couple weeks ago and we had 75 kids

Lori Alhadeff:

on a Friday come out and ice skate.

Lori Alhadeff:

And these are things that parents can do where they live.

Lori Alhadeff:

We're starting something called Moss Moms and Moss Dads, where parents can be safety

Lori Alhadeff:

advocates for their school in their area.

Lori Alhadeff:

They could be advocates for Alyssa's law.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we now have on our website where you can take action, send an email

Lori Alhadeff:

to your legislator in your area and try to get Alyssa's law passed there.

Jerremy Newsome:

Which is actually what the answer is my questions.

Jerremy Newsome:

And That's so heartwarming to know that's it's growing and evolving to

Jerremy Newsome:

not only more of a community piece, but just to have the parents interact and

Jerremy Newsome:

have them really care about this and the way that they absolutely should.

Jerremy Newsome:

Semi fun question, maybe, but what's the most creative school safety idea that

Jerremy Newsome:

you've heard or seen from a student?

Lori Alhadeff:

I think one of the things that just getting a simple shoe box, the

Lori Alhadeff:

kids got where kids can report something.

Lori Alhadeff:

They might feel unsafe about or something that's going on and they can anonymously

Lori Alhadeff:

put that, write it down on a piece of paper and put it in that safety box.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then, the administration would look at the what's on written on that piece

Lori Alhadeff:

of paper and then do something about it.

Lori Alhadeff:

Our kids know what's going on, whether it's on their phone, Snapchat,

Lori Alhadeff:

texting, they know what is, happening.

Lori Alhadeff:

So it's just a simple creative way.

Lori Alhadeff:

Doesn't cost anything and they can take action.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah, totally.

Jerremy Newsome:

And that's, you've been, you said that phrase a few times, it doesn't cost

Jerremy Newsome:

anything or cost very little because we're screaming out to the government.

Jerremy Newsome:

It's come on, let's use some more, let's use some more of our money to implement

Jerremy Newsome:

correct, proper, and, more productive budgeting pieces for just the safety.

Jerremy Newsome:

I think that's something that's so obvious to me.

Jerremy Newsome:

That's just being, I guess you just use improperly.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah that's awesome.

Jerremy Newsome:

All another quick, fun question for you then.

Jerremy Newsome:

So I hear that you're still actively involved in the Parkland soccer club.

Jerremy Newsome:

What's your favorite part about staying connected to the youth sports, Ms. Laurie?

Lori Alhadeff:

So a couple of things.

Lori Alhadeff:

I used to be a health and physical education teacher,

Lori Alhadeff:

but I also played soccer and my daughter, Alyssa played soccer.

Lori Alhadeff:

And on February 13th, Alyssa played in her last soccer game in Parkland on

Lori Alhadeff:

field eight and Alyssa played amazing.

Lori Alhadeff:

I remember when she got into the car, I turned around and I was like, Alyssa, you

Lori Alhadeff:

just played the best game of your life.

Lori Alhadeff:

She's I know mom.

Lori Alhadeff:

And so obviously I have a love for the Parkland soccer club.

Lori Alhadeff:

Field eight was named after Alyssa.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's the Alyssa Alodef soccer field.

Lori Alhadeff:

And the number eight was Alyssa's number on the back of her Jersey.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then when you turn the eight sideways.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's the infinity symbol, which

Jerremy Newsome:

let's go.

Jerremy Newsome:

That makes so much sense now.

Lori Alhadeff:

Yeah.

Lori Alhadeff:

And forever, I remember Alyssa and I live for Alyssa and do everything for

Lori Alhadeff:

Alyssa and I feel Alyssa Lives inside me, Alyssa's always here with me, and so

Lori Alhadeff:

we've also created the Bigs and Little program at the Parkland Soccer Club,

Lori Alhadeff:

where one of the older soccer players will match up with the younger soccer

Lori Alhadeff:

player, and then they mentor each other.

Lori Alhadeff:

And support each other in their games.

Lori Alhadeff:

And then we do a juggle for school safety events where they get a special

Lori Alhadeff:

t shirt and they do a juggle contest and then help raise money for make our

Lori Alhadeff:

school safe in the Parkland soccer club.

Jerremy Newsome:

got it.

Jerremy Newsome:

That's heartwarming for our listeners that the number eight.

Jerremy Newsome:

So in her logo maker school safe, the two O's in schools are an

Jerremy Newsome:

eight infinity symbol, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

Which that is one of my favorite symbols, the infinity symbol.

Jerremy Newsome:

And I love the tattoo on your arm too.

Jerremy Newsome:

That's that part of that logo.

Jerremy Newsome:

It's just beautiful.

Jerremy Newsome:

Very heartwarming.

Jerremy Newsome:

So Miss Laurie, what advice would you give specifically being such a

Jerremy Newsome:

powerful advocate for this to parents and or educators in states that haven't

Jerremy Newsome:

adopted most of these measures yet?

Jerremy Newsome:

Most specifically, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

Alyssa's law.

Lori Alhadeff:

So I would speak up, go to school board

Lori Alhadeff:

meetings, be a public speaker.

Lori Alhadeff:

If there's something that you don't feel safe about in your child's

Lori Alhadeff:

school, say something about it.

Lori Alhadeff:

Talk to elected officials, talk to your school board members, talk

Lori Alhadeff:

to your commissioners, your state representatives and ask them, why don't

Lori Alhadeff:

we have our panic button in our schools?

Lori Alhadeff:

This is a common sense layer of school safety protection.

Lori Alhadeff:

We need this.

Lori Alhadeff:

What are you doing about it?

Lori Alhadeff:

And put it on them as elected officials to take action.

Lori Alhadeff:

That's their job.

Lori Alhadeff:

Their job is to make sure that your kid is safe in school.

Lori Alhadeff:

And make sure, and I think it's vitally important as a parent to ask

Lori Alhadeff:

those questions and demand action.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yep.

Jerremy Newsome:

Are there resources or networks that they could connect with outside

Jerremy Newsome:

of the school board meetings?

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Lori Alhadeff:

So you can go to MakeOurSchoolSafe.

Lori Alhadeff:

org.

Lori Alhadeff:

We have resources on our website, but also SchoolSafety.

Lori Alhadeff:

gov is an excellent resource where you can learn more about where you can get

Lori Alhadeff:

grants for funding for school safety.

Lori Alhadeff:

That, that's the question I continue to ask, as a school board member,

Lori Alhadeff:

what grants have we applied for?

Lori Alhadeff:

Because we get the grants, We get the funding, we can implement another layer

Lori Alhadeff:

of safety protection in our schools.

Lori Alhadeff:

Whether it's now putting AI technology in our cameras, that if, a, someone

Lori Alhadeff:

takes out a gun, it will immediately box it and send an alert to law enforcement

Lori Alhadeff:

that there is a gun in the school.

Jerremy Newsome:

Ooh.

Jerremy Newsome:

So they can.

Jerremy Newsome:

Wow.

Jerremy Newsome:

I didn't even know that.

Jerremy Newsome:

So you're talking about AI technology, like in the camera

Jerremy Newsome:

representation of certain images.

Lori Alhadeff:

So if someone takes out a knife or a gun, the AI technology will

Lori Alhadeff:

recognize that, box it, alert, and send an immediate alert to law enforcement.

Lori Alhadeff:

Someone jumps a fence.

Lori Alhadeff:

That AI technology will recognize that and alert that.

Dave Conley:

That was our actually our first interview was with companies that

Dave Conley:

do exactly that using AI technology.

Dave Conley:

They also talked about drones and robots.

Dave Conley:

And that was a little creepy to me, but I, wherever, whatever works,

Lori Alhadeff:

apparently Trump has the dog robot

Dave Conley:

saw that.

Lori Alhadeff:

Musk put out, gave him, protecting the grounds.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Dave Conley:

I don't want one.

Dave Conley:

And they're creepy.

Dave Conley:

I know.

Dave Conley:

Hey, so Lori, I'm, I'm old enough.

Dave Conley:

I know neither of you two are, but I'm old enough to know and remember a time

Dave Conley:

when that was before Evaldi, before Aurora, before Parkland, before Columbine

Dave Conley:

like these didn't seem to happen at all.

Dave Conley:

And now we are getting a school shooting every single day.

Dave Conley:

Not just the headline grabbers, but also the the ones that are arguments

Dave Conley:

that happen outside the schools that are happening, just every single

Dave Conley:

day where a child is getting shot.

Dave Conley:

Like what and other internet, and it doesn't happen internationally, even in

Dave Conley:

countries that have lots and lots of guns.

Dave Conley:

I'm.

Dave Conley:

I'm trying to understand, I'm trying to figure out like what's happened

Dave Conley:

in the last 25 years where, what, systemically, like what's going on,

Dave Conley:

like what's in the water is my question.

Dave Conley:

And I haven't yet heard anybody say this is what happened.

Dave Conley:

Do you have a feel for what, what's going on?

Dave Conley:

Why is this getting worse?

Dave Conley:

Not better.

Lori Alhadeff:

I think maybe With the internet with kids having playing the

Lori Alhadeff:

video games with the guns and they're spending hours and hours playing these

Lori Alhadeff:

shooting games mentally it's getting in their head and then they're getting

Lori Alhadeff:

access to weapons whether it's their parents giving them a gun for christmas

Lori Alhadeff:

as I guess the apalachee shooter got or just Parents not locking up their

Lori Alhadeff:

guns and then kids getting access to these guns, I, I don't know, and I never

Lori Alhadeff:

lived in this world of gun violence.

Lori Alhadeff:

My life has been very vanilla.

Lori Alhadeff:

I grew up in country, where we had cows walking around.

Lori Alhadeff:

I lived in New Jersey and always lived in a very affluent area.

Lori Alhadeff:

And didn't come across gun violence, but I hear you.

Lori Alhadeff:

I, it scares me because there are shootings happening everywhere

Lori Alhadeff:

and it's like, where are you safe?

Lori Alhadeff:

I remember after the shooting, I wanted to have a bulletproof vest.

Lori Alhadeff:

Because I didn't feel safe going outside my house.

Lori Alhadeff:

I demanded that my kids have a bulletproof backpack to go to school

Lori Alhadeff:

after Alyssa was murdered in school.

Lori Alhadeff:

So my kids have a bulletproof backpack because I felt like if everything

Lori Alhadeff:

fails, if all those layers fail, they would at least have something

Lori Alhadeff:

to possibly protect themselves.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Which is wild that we even have to have that discussion and ask

Jerremy Newsome:

nine that even has to be a thing.

Jerremy Newsome:

Bulletproof backpacks.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

But it is there.

Jerremy Newsome:

And again, at least that is a step in the right direction of instead of just

Jerremy Newsome:

sweeping this under the rugs and no one having any conversations about it to at

Jerremy Newsome:

least addressing the problem again, just thank you for your bravery on that front.

Jerremy Newsome:

And I would love for our listeners to know, Laurie, like, how can they, our

Jerremy Newsome:

listeners support make our schools safe.

Jerremy Newsome:

org.

Lori Alhadeff:

So they can go to our website, MakeOurSchoolSafe.

Lori Alhadeff:

org.

Lori Alhadeff:

They can sign up for our email list.

Lori Alhadeff:

And we send out weekly emails, how they can get involved.

Lori Alhadeff:

You can follow us on Facebook, make our school safe 17, Instagram,

Lori Alhadeff:

make our school safe, Twitter at Lori Alhadeff or ex Lori Alhadeff.

Lori Alhadeff:

Be a volunteer.

Lori Alhadeff:

You could start a Moss Club at your high school.

Lori Alhadeff:

We have a Moss Club director, Lexi.

Lori Alhadeff:

She's amazing.

Lori Alhadeff:

She'll help the students start their Moss Club.

Lori Alhadeff:

It's a free program.

Lori Alhadeff:

And you can we have a volunteer guidebook.

Lori Alhadeff:

You could check that out.

Lori Alhadeff:

And I think it's just taking Any step you can to be involved, and it just

Lori Alhadeff:

means following us on social media.

Lori Alhadeff:

Great.

Lori Alhadeff:

But you can make a donation to make our school safe.

Lori Alhadeff:

You can become a Moss mom or Moss dad, and just be engaged, be involved

Lori Alhadeff:

and be a part of the conversation.

Lori Alhadeff:

Because together we will make our school safe.

Jerremy Newsome:

We will.

Jerremy Newsome:

Thank you.

Jerremy Newsome:

And I'll be making a donation as well.

Jerremy Newsome:

Laurie personally.

Jerremy Newsome:

But I think there's just the awareness of this started with you and just

Jerremy Newsome:

say thank you for your bravery.

Jerremy Newsome:

Thank you for your courage.

Jerremy Newsome:

Thank you for not stopping where a lot of people will.

Jerremy Newsome:

And Understandably but you took the badge of honor to say, I think other people need

Jerremy Newsome:

to know that there can be solutions and you are bringing those to the forefront

Jerremy Newsome:

and thank you for creating Alyssa's Law and creating a very easy, very simple,

Jerremy Newsome:

very seemingly effective and quite safe implementation tactic and tool and system

Jerremy Newsome:

so that we can do just that, right?

Jerremy Newsome:

Make our school safe, create an amazing learning experience for children,

Jerremy Newsome:

create a place that is beautiful, that is simple, It's luxurious,

Jerremy Newsome:

it is fun, it is entertaining.

Jerremy Newsome:

And most importantly safe for the parents so that we have peace of

Jerremy Newsome:

mind, that we have joy, that we have love and safe for our kids as well.

Jerremy Newsome:

Lori, thank you for being with us here today.

Lori Alhadeff:

Absolutely.

Dave Conley:

Wow.

Dave Conley:

What did you learn?

Jerremy Newsome:

What did I learn on that, Dave?

Jerremy Newsome:

Here's the thing, man.

Jerremy Newsome:

I am tragically upset that we had to have an interview with

Jerremy Newsome:

someone who actually lost.

Jerremy Newsome:

Their child to such a tragedy, just such a stupid asinine situation

Jerremy Newsome:

for anyone to ever go through, but Lori stepped up to the plate.

Jerremy Newsome:

She did not let this stop her and other parents.

Jerremy Newsome:

In creating solutions for this problem and the ELISA law to me is

Jerremy Newsome:

so far the seemingly most simple solution that I think, and I feel

Jerremy Newsome:

could be very quickly implemented in every school across the nation.

Jerremy Newsome:

And not only implemented, but at very small cost, without question, would

Jerremy Newsome:

at least increase, as Lori mentioned the safety and the feeling of safety

Jerremy Newsome:

for teachers and for students, knowing that they have this panic alarm that,

Jerremy Newsome:

Lori mentioned is in banks, is in most financial institutions here in the U.

Jerremy Newsome:

S., but is not in our schools, which is one more reason and

Jerremy Newsome:

rationale Why we really do need to care for our schools more and I

Jerremy Newsome:

think this is a great start to that

Dave Conley:

Yeah, I completely agree.

Dave Conley:

We've now talked with teachers, we've talked with security specialists, and now

Dave Conley:

we've talked with Lori, who's channeled her grief And what struck me about this

Dave Conley:

is that it really, it solved immediately in my mind, some of the friction points

Dave Conley:

that both the teachers and some of the.

Dave Conley:

Executives in, in this world have been saying, which is this is expensive.

Dave Conley:

I, an app on a phone doesn't seem that expensive if it's, letting

Dave Conley:

the local law enforcement say, Hey, there's something going on here.

Dave Conley:

That seems really straightforward.

Dave Conley:

And the teacher saying, Hey, we don't have time for this while it's an app, right?

Dave Conley:

And we already know that there's training and those things that are necessary.

Dave Conley:

And that's one thing that she's frustrated by, but it took, it's elegant and it's

Dave Conley:

inexpensive and this doesn't, this takes only prioritization, nothing else.

Jerremy Newsome:

Love that word.

Jerremy Newsome:

Yeah.

Jerremy Newsome:

Prioritization awareness, a group of individuals coming together and saying

Jerremy Newsome:

this needs to be a minimum requirement.

Jerremy Newsome:

So then it will be very simple.

Jerremy Newsome:

Something that probably could happen in weeks.

Jerremy Newsome:

If some mandatory government institution provided such a, to use

Jerremy Newsome:

your word, prioritization of impact.

Jerremy Newsome:

Right.

Dave Conley:

Absolutely.

Dave Conley:

I think, I learned one other thing and it's I'm, I think it's my white

Dave Conley:

whale right now because I believe I've asked this three times now, is that

Dave Conley:

there was this time before Columbine, before Parkland, before Aurora, before

Dave Conley:

Ivaldi, there was this time before.

Dave Conley:

That this wasn't happening and I've asked everyone and I've, I've done a

Dave Conley:

little bit of digging on the internet and there's no good answers to

Dave Conley:

okay, what happened and what's going on and why is this getting worse?

Dave Conley:

And I think it's an easy question and a really hard answer.

Dave Conley:

I don't think there's any one thing, it's not going to be, Oh, it's social

Dave Conley:

media or it's games or it's, social structure, or it's this, that, or

Dave Conley:

the other, it's the food we eat or the medicalization of our kids.

Dave Conley:

It might be some or all or something that, that we don't know yet.

Dave Conley:

And what frustrates me is that we don't have the the company, the organization,

Dave Conley:

the government the, anything that's.

Dave Conley:

Standing up, it seems and saying, okay, we're going to find out what that is,

Dave Conley:

because once we solve that, we don't have to have schools that are fortresses.

Dave Conley:

They can be just cathedrals.

Dave Conley:

They don't need to, we don't need to spend money on that if we solve that first.

Jerremy Newsome:

Listeners, I hope you also learn something

Jerremy Newsome:

today and are reinvigorated that there are people out there.

Jerremy Newsome:

There are podcasts out there.

Jerremy Newsome:

There are individuals out there that are working on truly creating solutions.

Jerremy Newsome:

It's one thing to always discuss and talk about the problems, but it's an entirely

Jerremy Newsome:

different energy and appreciation to actually spend time on those solutions.

Jerremy Newsome:

And that is exactly what we did in this episode of solving America's problems.

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About the Podcast

Solving America's Problems
Solving America’s Problems isn’t just a podcast—it’s a journey. Co-host Jerremy Newsome, a successful entrepreneur and educator, is pursuing his lifelong dream of running for president. Along the way, he and co-host Dave Conley bring together experts, advocates, and everyday Americans to explore the real, actionable solutions our country needs.

With dynamic formats—one-on-one interviews, panel discussions, and more—we cut through the noise of divisive rhetoric to uncover practical ideas that unite instead of divide. If you’re ready to think differently, act boldly, and join a movement for meaningful change, subscribe now.