Intruder drills are intruding on our kids

In order to shield some children from the possibility of a vicious school shooting, some schools have exposed their children to the possibility of a vicious school shooting.

Due to the recent tragedies across the nation involving violence in schools, many schools have implemented drills so that students know what to do should a violent intruder enter the building.

This is great and something that I fully support.

I’m of the school of thought that you can never be too prepared, so I think drills of every kind should be held across the nation.

But some schools’ methods have me jumping off the bandwagon.

Recently, an intruder drill at Cary-Grove High School in Illinois featured a blank fired from a starter pistol.

But they don’t stop there. Howe Hall Arts-Infused Magnet School in South Carolina featured an intruder who only verbally shouted “bang, bang” but still left teachers and school staff limp on the floor with bloody, fake wounds.

Staff claim this is only to help prepare students for what would really happen, not to scare them.

But I’m going to go ahead and say it’s scaring the children as well.

I’ve survived 20 years of my life playing some violent video games and shooting guns on camping trips, but if a teacher were to play dead next to me with a fake, oozing gunshot, I’d probably sob.

A 2007 study in the School Psychology Review examined the effects of crisis drills on students.

The researchers ultimately concluded that fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders had an increased knowledge of what to do, with standard levels of anxiety and perceptions of safety.

None of the cases in this study used extreme realism.

Co-author of the study Amanda Nickerson only said the following about extreme realism: “I don’t think that’s necessary, and I would think it could raise people’s anxiety unnecessarily.”

Kenneth Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services, has similar feelings as Nickerson.

When asked about the subject, he said, “We don’t need to teach kids to attack armed intruders by throwing pencils and books at a gunman or to have a SWAT team at the kindergarten doors, but it’s not unreasonable for school leaders to make sure that students, teachers and support staff know what to do in an emergency.”

Clearly, many officials are skeptical about the use of extreme realism in intruder drills.
What’s worse is that the use of fake gunshots and wounds could also lead to desensitizing children to the violence. Eventually you stop being scared of the fake blood. What’s so different when real blood happens?

I will always back schools practicing intruder drills, but they don’t need all the razzle-dazzle.

I distinctly remember the administration having us practice a “code red” drill in high school.

For me, it was essentially a bunch of choir kids just hanging out in the dark, but the memory still sticks. I didn’t need fake blood for that to happen.

We’ve survived fires for centuries without drills that include smoke and principals shooting flamethrowers down the halls. It’s the same case for intruder drills.

­— sjostrow@indiana.edu