In today’s world, lockdown drills are regular, put in the same category as fire drills. Unlike fire drills, however, to what extent are they actually preparing us for an event where a lockdown would be needed, and do they do more harm then good for students’ mental health?
On the most recent lockdown drill, my parents arranged for me to step out of class and not participate in it. Before this, I never saw a problem with lockdown drills. Like I said, they have become normal, and in a way, necessary to me. This experience gave me a different perspective.
Before the drill, I never thought twice about having to go through the lockdown drill. I’ve been having to do them since I was in elementary school, so they’ve become regular. I was never anxious when I did them-or at least I thought I wasn’t.
According to research published by NBC, active shooter and lockdown drills can do more harm than good. ‘“When they know what has happened from Columbine to Parkland and that crazed people have walked through schools,” she said, “this is something that reminds them, ‘I could be killed every time I walk into school,’ even if there is a .0001 chance that this will ever happen to them.” (Last year, the Washington Post estimated the odds of a public school student getting shot and killed since 1999 to be about 1 in 614,000,000.)” said the NBC article, titled “Active shooter drills are scaring kids and may not protect them. Some schools are taking a new approach.”
As I looked into this more, it changed my perspective on lockdown drills and how much they actually benefit us. If the odds are so low that something, like an active shooter in the building, could be in the school, why aren’t we preparing ourselves for situations that are more likely to happen, like possibly having to perform CPR on a student? If we retired tornado drills because the possibility of tornadoes in our area happening are so low, how are lockdown drills any different?
I understand why we want to have them, especially today. In our country, lockdown drills and active shooter drills are so important to schools considering how many happen each day, and in Littleton Public Schools the importance is even more apparent after Arapahoe and Columbine. However, by holding lockdown drills, I feel as though a sort of unneeded anxiety is created in students that they may not even know is there.
Shootings can happen anywhere, like clubs and movie theaters. If drills don’t happen there, why are holding them in schools more important? School should be a place where students feel safe and comfortable, and by holding lockdown drills, students have a perception of their school that something will happen and they need to prepare for it.
I fully believe we do not need lockdown drills in our schools. At least, not regularly. While students need to be exposed to what is happening in schools in our country, by holding drills we are telling them that these things can happen and that we need to do everything in our power to prepare because it has happened before and it will happen again. However, that isn’t the case. The chances of needing a lockdown are very low and if we make lockdown drills regular, it will create a mindset that we will need to use the lockdown procedure in the future, when we will most likely not have to use it ever.
By having the choice to not participate in the drill, it allowed me to be completely taken out of the drill and definitely took any anxiety away that I might have had going into the drill. Most students probably don’t know that being taken out of the drill is an option, even I didn’t before. If you ever feel anxious or uncomfortable by a lockdown drill, talk to your counselor to be taken out of the drill.
