So I was reading the local paper (online) the other day and periodically I get drawn to the comments on social media. The article, which can be accessed here , was about the increased use of active threat drills in schools. The picture used in the headline showed a group of armed officer with rifles and tactical gear clearing a building.

As I read the comments, I see a comment or two about how traumatizing these drills can be for children. I posted a reply to help explain the history of these drills and how they are a good thing and more so, how they are actually conducted.

These drills are not meant to scare or threaten someone. They are a method of practicing steps that a person would take in the event of a fire, tornado or other threat. 

For years we have been practicing fire and tornado drills. Those have come about as a result of tragedies. Fire drills for example came about after the Our Lady of Angels Catholic School fire in 1958 in Chicago. In that fire, 92 students and 3 nuns died. The ensuing report revealed that a majority of the students and staff had no idea how to get out of the building safely.

Fast forward 40 years and we are seeing another threat to our students safety. Taking a page from fire and weather drills and how we have not had a fire tragedy like that in Chicago since, emergency planners are conducting active threat drills. 

Studies of past incidents such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Aurora to name a few have revealed areas of improvement for response which will ultimately save lives!

Other steps have been taken to mitigate and prevent these incidents from happening, but a person’s reaction from avoiding/fleeing to denying the bad guy entry to the room and not being visible has proven to work.

The picture in the article is not really how these drills are practiced with students in school. The drills conducted in schools are usually without any officers around or there may be a school resource officer there. They typically don’t last any longer than a fire or tornado drill.

When drills are conducted as the one pictured (with officer entry teams, gear, etc), those are in a controlled environment with role players that are not juveniles. These are large scale events that require quite a few resources and time and couldn’t be held during an actual school day.

Some students may be traumatized by fire drills, tornado drills and threat drills but going through an event is something that no one wants to experience and the nightmares of that will last forever!!