Active Shooter Lockdown Drills on Steroids

 

Active Shooter Lockdown Drills on Steroids

In March, 2018 East High School in Anchorage, Alaska put an active shooter lockdown drill they were conducting on steroids. 

They did this by having the school resource officer of East High walk the halls of the school while firing blanks to make the active shooter lockdown drill seem more realistic:  East High active shooter drill simulates real gunfire

They also did this to try and give students and staff a way to help discern the difference between actual live gunfire and firecrackers going off.

More than a few mass shooting survivors have opined they thought firecrackers were going off before they actually became aware something was drastically wrong. 

So, from that perspective simulating live gunfire with blanks during an active shooter lockdown drill seems like a reasonable thing to do, right?

Not necessarily – especially if one listens to those advocating against lockdown drills of any kind, and they are many. 

Meredith Corley, who taught math in Colorado in the aftermath of Columbine, says: “It (lockdown drill) re-traumatizes kids who have experienced violence. Getting the kids settled back into the work of learning after lockdown drills is a nightmare. That mind-set has no place in a learning environment.” (Taken from What Are Active-Shooter Drills Doing to Kids?).

Since the massacre at Columbine, lockdown drills have become a sort of gold standard without any 'real' standards when it comes to preparing staff and students for an active shooter in their school.

Most lockdown drills do not include simulated live gunfire, though. 

Was the East High lockdown drill over the top? 

Was it too realistic? 

Did it harm students rather than help them? 

Are active shooter lockdown drills even necessary? 

What we appear to be faced with is a ‘damned if you don’t – damned if you do’ conundrum: 

• If we don’t at least try to prepare for an active shooter, our kids won’t be safe, but
• If we do try to prepare for an active shooter, our kids might suffer psychologically.

What to do? What to do?

As Will Smith once said: 

Danger is real. 

Fear is a choice.

Do not misunderstand me. The fear that lockdown drills may be causing psychological harm may be real. Right now, though, that fear is still a choice especially if it paralyzes to the point of inaction of any kind.

My two cents....

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