In our society today, alongside with our advanced technology and social aspects, individuals expect a security of comfort and safety. However, that security feeling may not be there for long, because of the outbreaks of school shootings nationwide. At this point in our time, it is not unusual to hear about local K-12 school shootings on the radio or television news. Conducting active school shooting drills are crucial to everyone on school property grounds for preparation for the worse event that could occur at any time. The major issue within the scope of our topic of education concerns me about the lives of all students and school staff when an active school shooting event does end up happening. Raising awareness to add these preparation drills are for the safety of our K-12 students is our potential future.
During the 2013-14 school year, more than two-thirds of public-school students participated in drills for ‘procedures to be performed in selected crises’. The procedures include passive ‘lockdown drills’, where all students are locked inside their classrooms and told to hide from active school shooters who are present on school grounds. The threat name ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) is a training procedure developed by a Texas law-enforcement officer in 2001 that offers ‘option-based, proactive, survival strategies’. These strategies often include asking students to throw any nearby school supplies at a shooter as they try to escape, as explained in the article ‘Schools Are Training Second-Graders to Attack Mass Shooters’. Situations like this are held weekly for some schools all across the U.S. Sadly, it seems like mass schooling drills are increasingly becoming the new normal in this generation. Students have now learned how to kick down doors and barricade entry ways in case of a shooting, just like how they would like in a sudden fire issue. A report from the National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Resource Officers found that lockdowns have been the standard approach for schools dealing with a threat for nearly two decades and they should remain the foundation of any response plan.
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Security school officials are questioning how to prepare young students for the worse without provoking any trauma and long-lasting PTSD. Situations like an active school shooting can traumatize these children and school staff for the rest of their lives. The severity of this nationwide issue needs to be broadcasted across the world to spread awareness in favor of our loved ones who have passed away in such saddening events. I have had events in my life where school shootings or the slightest of it has happened to my school campus. I currently attend San Jose State University as a fulltime student, and since the times I have been here, my fellow peers and I have at least risked our lives on this campus more than once a week with a gunman on campus. Since San Jose State University is in the heart of Downtown San Jose, this school environment is bound to be a little dangerous, so it is best to keep cautious at all times. Just about a few weeks ago, a student was captured with a loaded rifle and other harmful weapons on campus in the morning. The suspect has been arrested, but that was not all. Later that evening, there had been an active school shooting at San Jose State University’s very own Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. A bullet was shot through one of the glass windows and glass shattered onto a nearby student’s belongings. Thankfully no one was hurt, but there are nearby buildings where my roommates were attending right when this incident occurred. I personally never have had any life-threatening events like this happen to me until I started to attend this college. Situations like this makes me what to make a message clear to my audience: do not doubt any possibilities that a school shooting will not happen to you or your local school. Just because it did not happen to you, it could happen to any of us.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, between the years of 2000 and 2017, there has been a rough estimate of thirty-seven active school shooter incidents taking place at K-12 schools. In each of these matters, especially including these past recent 2019 mass school shootings, should snap all school districts from handling traumatizing real world situations with real world solutions. According to the blog on Active School Shooter Response Options and Trainings in K-12, it states that creating a safe school environment is an ongoing process for every school district. It discusses on how to help your school select an appropriate response and training approach. Conducting a drill for an active school shooting event is one thing, but for it to successfully be in full effective mode, talking about a plan or some training is just as important. As of today, the two primary response options are either a ‘multi-option’ or a ‘lockdown’ method. The multi-option method lets victims use tactics to physically engage with the shooter, hide, or fleeing. A recent study using active shooter simulations came to a conclusion that victims using this multi-option method seized the suspect to a minimum of three minutes faster than using the lockdown approach. However, this may be more suitable to older students rather than younger ones. This has raised quite a few concerns to the slightest chance students can make the wrong response choice and bring danger to the people around them and themselves. While using the lockdown approach may have some drawbacks, it can still save lives indefinitely.
Creating an effective communication plan is something that should be talked about just as much as the different procedures like lockdowns and multi-option. Additionally, creating strong and trusted bonds with local police departments, fire departments, organizations that practice emergency plans, threat assessment team, and other community service providers are extra helpful. Experts recommends that all school systems should meet with their fellow community management every so often. For instance, reportedly several schools meet annually with their local police and fire departments who provide them with blueprints of each campus building. This must be done all accordingly to plan for it to be in full effect. Because as NASP research shows, while one of the primary goals of crisis preparedness is to develop a sense of empowerment and control, drills that not conducted appropriately may cause physical and psychological harm to students, staff, and the overall learning environment.
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