Think back to your earlier years when lollipops were rewards for hard work, strong collaboration, and overall good behavior in general. Remember the immense joy brought simply from receiving a sweet treat in class. Children today still get to experience this innocent delight but for the wrong reasons… In this decade, teachers have been forced to conduct school shooting drills in over 95% of American public schools since 1999. Many teachers turn to lollipops to help silence innocent children as young as three years old during these terrifyingly realistic drills. How effective are these drills, and do we really need to put our students in these disturbing situations to keep them safe?

 

As students, we are rarely asked, do you support these drills?Are these drills effective?

 

The most important question remains, is there really a right way to prepare for these tragedies?    

 

The New York State Education Department requires, “public and nonpublic schools [to] conduct

four lockdown and eight evacuation drills each school year.” While this is a New York State mandate, many administrators and parents question the efficacy of these drills as the intensity, or lack thereof, results in mixed emotional responses and questions authenticity and preparedness. 

 

A typical hold in place drill consists of a “restriction of movement of students and staff within the building while dealing with short-term emergencies,” according to The New York State Education Department. 

 

The simplicity of these drills concerns many parents as they believe a possible predator can easily fight past these procedures. 

 

Some schools simulate more disturbingly realistic drills, such as active shooter drills. The Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization that fights against gun violence, mentions the confusion between hold in place drills and active shooter drills: “Without a doubt, many of us might think active shooter drills are like fire drills. They should help educate and train students on how to take a crisis seriously. Certainly without putting them in harm’s way. Instead, many of these drills have become live-action simulations of fatal shootings. Rather than empowering students, these simulations can include shooting pellet guns at teachers and spreading fake blood to mimic the scene of a shooting. Sometimes, students aren’t even aware the exercise is just a drill. Moreover, these tactics hurt students and do not help prevent school shootings.”

 

Certain states have even begun banning these realistic drills. According to Education Week, “New York state, home to the largest school district in the country, is the latest to ban schools from conducting ‘realistic’ active shooter drills with fake blood and the sound of gunfire.

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The new rule, which goes into effect at the start of this school year, calls for a more ‘trauma-informed’ and ‘age-appropriate’ approach to shooter drills that excludes the use of props, actors, or tactics depicting violence when school or extracurricular activities are in session. New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington have enacted similar measures, and California is considering similar legislation.”

 

Considering that states throughout the country vary in terms of mandates for how to best prepare, opinions are widespread on what is most appropriate. For instance, according to PBS Frontline, “While a majority of states require frequent active shooter-related drills in schools, 13 don’t require such instruction. They include Colorado and Connecticut, which had two of the worst mass shootings in history: the 1999 Columbine school massacre and the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.”

 

What complicates matters even further is the fact that “Active shooter training can be expensive, but state lawmakers should commit to providing the necessary instruction if they want law enforcement to be better prepared for a mass shooting,” Frontline informs. Regardless of cost, many would argue that the safety of children is worth every penny.

 

Although parents would agree with this fact in terms of safety, there are some  parents who disagree with the required drills in their children’s school district. 

 

For instance, Matt Lashof-Sullivan, a father in the Watertown School District of Massachusetts said, “Proceeding with this plan to conduct lockdown/active shooter drills will do nothing but scare our students, many of whom are already emotionally conditioned by the pandemic into a heightened state of anxiety, falsely expecting danger around every corner. School should be a place where kids can feel safe. Objectively, the schools are very safe – risk of violent incidents is extremely low.”

 

Although these drills are pretty simple and easily memorable, they can give students the wrong message and cause intense paranoia in association with school.

 

With American school shooting rates on the rise, is it worth it to put these traumatising drills to a halt?

 

The effectiveness of these drills is distressingly low, which leads many parents to question their place in American school procedures. 

 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, “examined school shootings and found: Half were committed by current or former students.” Since almost every American K-12 student must attend these drills annually, isn’t there a chance that shooters also would have? 

 

The Sandy Hook Promise believes  “Now, a dangerous trend is making active shooter drills more traumatizing than helpful.” 

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Works Cited: 

“Active Shooter Drills - Helpful or Harmful?” The Sandy Hook Promise. https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/advocacy/active-shooter-drills-harmful-or-helpful/

 

Banerji, Olina & Sam Mallon. “Active Shooter Drills That Prepare But Don’t Traumatize: Advice From Principals.” EducationWeek, 31 July 2024. 

 

Churchill, Lexi & Lomi Kriel. “Check Your State: Here Are the Active Shooter Training Requirements for Schools and Law Enforcement.” PBS Frontline, 8 February 2024. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/active-shooter-training-requirements-law-enforcement-by-state/

 

“Creating School Active Shooter/Intruder Drills.” The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/fact-sheet/creating_school_active_shooter_intruder_drills.pdf. 

 

“Letter: Parent Opposes Holding Lockdown Drills at School.” Watertown News, 26 Jan. 2024. https://www.watertownmanews.com/2024/01/26/letter-parent-opposes-holding-emergency-drills-at-school/

Nowicki, Jacqueline. “K-12 Education: Characteristics of School Shootings.” US Government Accountability Office, 9 June 2020. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-455