The Hidden Damage Of Active Shooter Drills In Schools

By De Elizabeth


Ashley was a freshman in high school whenever she encountered her first school shooting drill; she just didn’t know it was a drill at the time. “We were huddled in darkness under our desks for about 20 minutes before we got notice it was a ‘surprise drill’ meant to catch teachers off guard,” the 15-year-old told MTV News. “Every drill I’ve had since...Has been about same.”


in case you currently attend school, you know that school shooting drills are right now expected to be routine parts of your curriculum, like running the mile in fitness center class or a school dance. According to the most recent intelligence from the National Center of Education Statistics, over 90 percent of public schools ran lockdown drills while in the 2015-2016 school year. And gun violence on school grounds is becoming more typical (2018, as an example, was announced as the worst year for school shootings on record).


However these drills — many of which are unannounced — can negatively impact students in essential ways. “We had a lockdown and I was...In a storage room with my classmates,” Sofia, 14, recalled of a drill in eighth grade. “We didn’t know if it was real or not, as the teachers never tell us…. I was having an anxiety attack and I was hiding under a staircase. I was shaking, nevertheless attempted to keep it with each other because I didn’t desire to embarrass myself in front of my classmates.”


Ashley could relate, telling MTV News that her first drill unnerved her in a way that did not feel like a drill at all. “While we were waiting, I was listening for gunshots, yelling, or  sirens. I was drafting a text to my mom that I was planning to send if I heard a gunshot.” The complete time, the 15-year-old was preoccupied with how she would protect her class and bring down a potential shooter. “My own safety wasn’t a concern in the moment.”


These reactions aren’t limited to students; Emma, a 18-year-old actor, volunteered last year to participate in a active shooter training session with her local police department. “It was very well-organized and I felt very safe, nevertheless once [the simulation] began, it was real,” she described, adding that she was terrified to the point of sobbing. “I genuinely thought I was going to die.”


The emotions that Ashley, Sofia, and Emma experienced are exceedingly typical, and regular. According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), lockdowns and school shooting drills have the potential to “produce anxiety, stress, and traumatic indications in some students or staff.” NASP also recommends that schools announce drills beforehand, using reassuring language like “this is an emergency drill, not an actual emergency.”


Victoria Manik, a co-worker marriage family member therapist in Orange County, California, explained to MTV News that emotions like “fear, nervousness, anger, [or] surprise” would be experienced throughout a realistic school shooting drill. Manik, who works with adolescents dealing with generalized anxiety disorder, mood disorders, and other mental health issues, elaborated that “even though the...Drill serves to prepare build a hypothetical scenario to...Prepare students for a realistic event, the fear or distress could design a sympathetic nervous system response (or fight or flight), which may serve to increase physiological indications like sweating, heart palpitations, or muscle tension.”


According to Manik, a young person “with an already diagnosed anxiety disorder has a more weak emotional baseline.” And the quantity of young people dealing with mental health issues is growing; according to a recent study published in the Journal of Bizarre Psychology, the percentage of teens experiencing anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and other psychological issues has risen significantly inside over the past decade. And dealing with another stressor at school is clearly taking its toll.


“During and right after [school shooting] drills, it was hard to remind myself to breathe,” Dylan, a 20-year-old who has dealt with anxiety for most of his life, told MTV News. His school district in Rhode Island is one of the thousands that has implemented ALiCE Training: a program designed to “minimize the loss of life” while in a school shooting by equipping students and faculty with specific strategies for survival. Throughout a ALiCE Drill, students and faculty role-play various mobile shooter scenarios — including what to do if confronted by a gunman in the classroom.


“We were instructed to close the windows and blinds while the teacher locked the door,” Dylan described. “Then, each person was supposed to grab something they could theoretically use against a gunman...Something small that would be thrown as a distraction, or something bigger...That could hurt the perpetrator if used properly. Alternatively opposed to sitting in a corner, we were right now supposed to stand and be willing to fight back — or run.”


Dylan recalled experiencing “a lot of anxiety” while in ALiCE drills, adding that students were told to run as far away from the school as possible in the case of an actual shooting. “Just standing there in the darkness...Next to my classmates for a good 15-20 minutes in total silence was a lot for my mind to stage name. It might be hard to remember that this isn’t real in that setting,” he explained.


According to Manik, Dylan’s perception makes sense. “Although the drills are intended to prepare build a safety plan and permit [students] to feel more in control in an otherwise powerless situation, an anxious individual can interpret the drill as when a school shooting occurs, rather than if a school shooting occurs,” she mentioned. Likewise, NASP notes that “the perception of safety or risk, even absent a real threat, can have a very real effect on students and staff.” The company reminds schools that students’ developmental and psychological well-being should habitually remain a priority categorize in attempt to “minimize the potential for unintended harm.”


Nevertheless even the perfect intentions surrounding these drills can leave lasting scars; Emma was “completely changed” right after participating in her drill. “Shootings have habitually been a prevalent fear, nevertheless immediately after that, it is the initial thing I think about any time Whenever I walk in a room,” she mentioned. “I frequently have recurring nightmares of mass shootings.”


Dylan recalled feeling “pretty unsettled for a while” immediately after participating in the drills, however the fear of gun violence was also constantly in the back of his mind. “I was on high alert all of the time,” he mentioned. Having grown up with school shooting right after school shooting in the headlines, Dylan was gravely aware of what could happen in his classroom at any given time. “Every room I entered, I put with each other my own personalized plan...If something went horribly wrong,” he described. “Where would I stand? What would I grab? Could I make it to an exit...If we had to run?”


School shooting drills aren’t limited to the walls of high schools. Dylan participated in his first drill in third grade; by the time he graduated, he had been preparing to survive a mass shooting for nearly a decade. Today, children as young as preschoolers are learning what to do in the case of a mobile shooter, and kindergarteners are being taught “lockdown” songs to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”


According to EveryTown for Gun Safety, school shooting drills are one piece in a much bigger puzzle. While the current lack of governmental action all although forces  schools to integrate a safety response plan, the agency notes that “preventing mass shootings and school gun violence requires a multi-faceted plan that begins with modified gun violence prevention policies.” Essentially, today’s school shooting drills are treating the indications of widespread gun violence, not the infection itself, and there’s little to no evidence supporting their effectiveness. However evidence does suggest that these drills have clear negative psychological and emotional effects on the students who are instructed to participate in them — and that matters.


For Ashley, her emotions lingered long right following the drill was finished. “We got released early right after we were told it was a drill and not an actual shooter,” she recalled. “I ran to my mom and hugged her…. I had several nightmares and the following days at school were filled with anxiety and jumpiness at any weird sound or siren. I would keep thinking: ‘This is the day. This is the day that an actual shooter comes.’”