Active Shooter Drills at School: How to Do Them Right

Threats to school-aged children are not new. From the 1940s through the 1980s, children in primary schools participated in bombing preparation drills, in case their school came under a bombing attack. After the mass shooting at Columbine by a pair of disaffected youth, the drills shifted from bombing to active shooter. No longer did children sit in the hallway with their heads between their knees. Instead, teens and kids were taught how to lock the classroom door and shelter in place. Unfortunately for too many children these days, well-meaning school administrators have taken it upon themselves to make an active shooter drill more “real,” sometimes by even using prop weapons. These efforts are misguided, and at worst, instill a sense of dread and anxiety in children who look for their school to provide a safe learning environment. When I was growing up in the 1970s, I vividly remember the bomb drills (“duck-and-cover” drills as they were called) in my elementary and middle schools. Because America was in the depths of a cold war with the USSR, they were actually for the threat of a nuclear missile, not a conventional bomb as they had been in the 1940s and 1950s. As though putting our heads between our knees and remaining quiet for 2 minutes would somehow stop the radiation. More than anything else, these drills were a placebo, meant to alleviate the anxiety of the children’s parents and school teachers. Children don’t worry about nuclear ...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Children and Teens Mental Health and Wellness Psychology Research Students Trauma Violence and Aggression active shooter Childhood Trauma intruder drill school crisis School Shooting Source Type: blogs