Schools should heed calls to do lockdown drills without traumatizing kids instead of abolishing them

The Conversation – Jaclyn Schildkraut

“Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an advocacy group, has joined with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Educators Association, the nation’s two biggest teachers unions, to produce a report on lockdown drills in schools. The report calls for drastic changes in how these drills are conducted today. They say that drills shouldn’t be a surprise, involve realistic details or include kids. These concerns reflect questions I consider in my research about the impact of lockdown drills: Is it possible to be prepared without being scared? And do kids need this training or just teachers and other school staff? I agree with some of the teachers’ and Everytown’s concerns, but I don’t agree that kids shouldn’t participate in drills.” (more)