While our children continue to be in danger of active shooters, the schools are continuing to do active shooter drills. While some are saying the drills need to be discontinued this epidemic continues to affect our schools all over the country.
The key to protecting our children from active shooters is multifaceted.
First and foremost parents need to be diligent and get involved. If you sent your child back to school this year without asking questions about the schools safety policy you are missing the mark. Parents need to be in contact with schools as well as local law enforcement agencies to know how their specific school treats this type of threat. Ask how often the drills will take place, as well as what your child can expect. Tell the teacher if your child has a bulletproof backpack or insert. Be sure that the child knows how to use it and practices during drills.
There is no consistency for what schools are doing or guidelines as to how they should be done. Some schools are using law enforcement, smoke, sirens and even rubber bullets. Some of this is taking things way too far. I do believe that these drills are preparing our children for an active shooter situation however I don’t want them to be traumatized.
Every time we have a new active shooter situation in a school the students always say the same thing, “We never thought it would happen at our school”. The other thing they also say is they are so grateful they did active shooter drills and were prepared. Everyone knew what to do and how to react without creating chaos.
We have all participated in fire drills but didn’t need to set the school on fire to understand. This comes down to educating and being mindful without creating panic and anxiety. If your child is prepared and knows what to expect they are much less likely to be effected by the drills. Parents need to be as educated as they can to share the information with their children.
