Active Shooter....

This article is extremely powerful.   Proceed with caution.


Quote #1:
The drills affected him deeply. At home, he bit his nails and did pretend lockdowns while he was playing. Eventually, he refused to go anywhere alone, even to his room or a bathroom at home.

Reflection:  My daughter is three years old.   She will be four in September.  This is her first year in pre-school.  Her first ever lock down drill was a complete disaster.  It was traumatic.  It was scary.   She had nightmares.  At her young age, she is already USED TO the drills.   She knows how to hide and keep quiet.   She knows what to do if you're in the bathroom.   I hate that she has to know these things, we all do.   It's sad that this is necessary.  

Quote #2:
Active shooter drills have become more common as school gun massacre after massacre has made headlines. 

Reflection:  When I read this statement, it reminded me of times in my own classroom where a student will reference a school shooting... and another student will say, "Wait... which one?"   

Quote #3:
But there is hardly any research on the drills’ effectiveness, and while there are some federal recommendations, there is no standard template for schools to follow in terms of how to do them, how often to conduct them and how to explain them to students of different ages.

Reflection:
The reality is, it could happen any time.   There's no way to ever be truly prepared.  

Quote #4:
As a result, a growing number of schools are experimenting with ways to lessen the toll of the drills while still doing everything possible to keep students safe. For some school districts, that means using age-appropriate language; for others, it involves having guidance counselors or school psychologists available during and after the drills.

Reflection:
This is a load of crap.   It is.  While a pro-active approach is definitely necessary and appreciated... we need to be talking more and really TALKING about mental health.    Some people read my last sentence and rolled their eyes.   The reality is, it doesn't matter who is where and when or what credentials they have.   If someone wants to do harm, they're going to do harm.

And the award for most depressing quote goes to...

Virtually all public schools in America teach students some form of emergency preparedness, ranging from fire and tornado drills to mock lockdowns.   While drills date back decades — students in the 1950s dove under their desks during the Cold War’s “duck-and-cover” nuclear bomb drills — it was only in the past 20 years that “active shooter” and “lockdown” entered the educational lexicon.