It is high time for parents to ask tougher questions about who is designing these drills and what their expertise really is. The Columbine shootings created a massive demand for school security services, which is now a $3 billion per year industry. When there is a sudden massive new demand and lots of money flying around there is a lot of temptation for businesses to hold themselves out as experts.
Perhaps even more importantly, there is little to no evidence that even better-designed drills do any good. According to James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University: “ there is no evidence that [an active shooter drill] prepares people any better than in just instructing them verbally or in writingThere are much better uses for the resources that go into these unproven, traumatizing active-shooter drills. In terms of protecting schoolchildren from the very small risk of active shooters, the money would be better spent on hiring more counselors.
More counselors might also help with a far greater danger to the lives of America’s schoolchildren: the among young people. And, since there is probably significant overlap between the darkness that leads to harming oneself and harming others, more effective suicide intervention would probably do more to prevent school shootings than active shooter drills ever will.
Perhaps future research will lead to better, evidence-based practices for active shooter drills that can be shown to increase student safety without imposing needless trauma. But the burden should be on those proposing such drills to demonstrate their worth. The rush to mandate these drills was a product of panic. These mandates should be repealed, and we should begin again at a more measured pace. And, educators should keep the wise aphorism “first do no harm” at the front of their minds.
Fire drills should probably go too
Because they teach crazies in waiting what's going on?
because its pushing students to understand the 2nd amendment, there for understanding it's importance... and that's not what we want to teach, ya know self protect... bunch of sheep ! freedoms cost, shouldn't be the lives of children. 2ndAmendment USA
God bless the people who were murdered and innocent. May we uphold the laws of heaven. May innocence never be mistreated, harmed, nor injured by the KKK. Again. May we value the presence to reform gun laws so that students can go to school in peace. Let the Judge Lead.
Yea... I do t think it helps with anything. These are kids, no matter how many drills they go through, in the event something does happen, it’s still going to be chaotic.
A whole new generation of PTSD
Another Yang idea! He’s going to be our next President!!