Save a life. Save a proffie.

A recent post asked, "How do you get a scary student out of your office?"  Various strategies were proposed. Cultural issues were alluded to.  Helpful comments.  Genuine compassion expressed.  Etc....  It was a good post.

There is a free smartphone app that was created to help a person get out of a potentially dangerous situation by calling friends.  It's called circleof6. It works on iPhone or Android.  It was designed to be easy enough for a teenager to use, so a proffie certainly can, too.  It won the 2011 White House and HHS “Apps Against Abuse” Technology Challenge.  I use it and recommend that my friends install it.  

After you install it, go through a few practice runs, just as you would a fire drill. If one of your colleagues thinks it is silly or unnecessary, then perhaps they need not be involved. Create a reminder on your calendar ("Repeat monthly.") for you to review how you will use the app in case you need to.

Many of us proffies feel that this is better than any other panic button--especially because it is customizable, transportable, and can be quite covert.  However, make up your own mind.  It's your life, and this app might not be optimized for your particular phone or your way of thinking.

I have nothing invested in this.  I just fucking dislike the abuse of power, and I like good iPhone apps.