Rachel Cohen describes the ubiquity of lock-down drills in American schools. About 95% of schools prepare teachers and children for the possibility of an active shooter. There are a variety of programs and protocols, she writes. Everyone accepts the reality that there are many guns out there and that schools are a target.
Cohen points out that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida did not have active shooter training, and many students were in the halls, increasing the death toll.
But others worry that millions of children are traumatized by drills that pit them against an intruder with a deadly weapon.
Read her article and be amazed at the extraordinary lengths we have to go, the burdens we inflict on children, the commitment of time and resources—because our Republican members of Congress refuse to ban and criminalize weapons of death.
No matter how many teachers and children die, the fictional “rights” of gun owners must be protected.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Several years ago, my daughter said she wondered whether lockdown drills were just a training exercise for future school shooters, who would know exactly how schools would respond to shootings and how to maximize the number of deaths.
LikeLiked by 1 person
time for the nation to sit down and re-watch BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. It is heartbreaking to know that we have learned nothing since that spot on response to Columbine HS.
LikeLike
Active shooter drills are hard on students and even teachers. The teachers at my school did an advanced active shooter drill when students were not present. It was a reenactment of a shooting with the local police playing the shooter. Some teachers were “victims” lying in the hall. The police yelled and shot blanks in the hall while remaining teachers huddled in their rooms. One teacher hyper-ventilated and the rescue squad came to help her. Two others were in tears because it was realistic and scary.
While most of the elementary students handled the active shooter drills well, it did dredge up unsettling feelings about violence that ELLs had experienced in their home lands, and students shared stories of relatives that died or disappeared. Some nervous students did not like the drills, but they are necessary in a violent society with easy access to dangerous weapons.
LikeLike
Kudos to the teacher that refused to be a scapegoat in the Uvalde massacre. She got a lawyer that made the media tell the truth about the front door of the school. The gunman did not enter because the door was propped open. He entered because the door did not lock when she closed it.
LikeLike
Oh my! I was about to tell a couple horror stories of lockdown drills gone awry, but your story beats mine. That’s outrageous! We had a drill a few years ago in which the principal went on the public address system and said there was an active shooter at school without telling everyone it was a drill. Parents got terrified calls and texts from their children. Some teachers were upset with students for using phones during class, so they confiscated the phones. The parents were left with terrified calls and texts and then, silence.
The leadership here insists on having drills without informing people it’s a drill. To me, it’s akin to shouting fire in a crowded building. A couple weeks ago we had an actual lockdown when someone at the school down the street thought they overheard the word gun. Some were afraid, some were quick to act, and some were slow and silly because they figured it was another drill. After all, we have a drill every couple or few weeks.
LikeLike
Yesterday, during a debate on a Red Flag law that would identify troubled teens and get them counseling and make sure that they didn’t have access to guns, Mat Gaetz called anyone who supports such laws a “traitor to the Constitution.”
LikeLike
It is absurd that these drills are even necessary for America’s children . I will refrain from saying much else wanting to keep my Global Entry status.
LikeLike
The Republican subservience to the gun lobby is causing the nation to “harden” everything: schools, religious institutions, universities, courts, post offices, etc. As Robert Hubbell wrote the other day, we are all becoming “prisoners of the Second Amendment” because of the NRA. How many hundreds of millions or billions have been spent on security against domestic terrorists?
LikeLike
These drills were particularly hard on students with anxiety issues and those who fall into some spectrum or another. Were, I say, because I am no longer teaching.
LikeLike
The nuclear attack drills in the ’60s were, for me and my friends, kind of funny. Might have been different for others, but we’d hide under the desks and make faces at each other. I think the threat was very remote and the news coverage was nothing like it is, today.
These lock down drills are a totally different animal. Much more immediate with so much media attention. The possibility of a shooting at any location at any time is frightening.
I’ve been retired from teaching for 2+ years, now, but I do know a thing or two about these drills.
For kids on the spectrum; it’s not so much frightening as confusing. It’s difficult to keep them quiet and motionless in a hidden area for any amount of time. We used to keep favorite toys, items, and treats in the hiding areas. Mixed results but far more positive than not.
I could write quite a bit about the many many pitfalls inherent in the concept of arming the teachers, but it would be kind of pointless to do so. I doubt my opinion would sway anyone who believes it to be a viable solution. Let’s just say that I and ALL of my colleagues were more than just “alarmed” at the suggestion. It’s one thing to be able to hit a fixed target at a firing range. Whole ‘nuther ball game when you’re prowling the halls, pistol in hand, looking to gun down a determined killer with a killing machine semi-automatic firearm.
We used to brainstorm different ideas for protecting the kids. One idea we landed on and seriously considered was spreading oil and/or small ball bearings in the area that the door would open into. Keep a large can of insect killer in the hiding area. Rush the assailant when he went down. Or even if he didn’t.
Pathetic to be in a situation where we’d have to think up solutions like this.
LikeLike