The Mental Health Toll Of Active Shooter Drills In Schools

On Tuesday, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. This horrific shooting has again shone the spotlight on school safety and the increasing prevalence of active shooter drills.

During the 2005-06 school year, an estimated 40% of American public schools conducted lockdown drills for students. By the 2015-16 school year, that number had risen to 95% .

Today, at least 42 states require schools to conduct safety or security drills related to human-caused threats, like an active shooter or a bomb. These drills involve children of all ages, including preschool students.

One thing I wasnt prepared for when my kid started pre-K this year was that he would be doing active shooter drills where they hide in the library. He is 4.

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One thing I wasnt prepared for when my kid started pre-K this year was that he would be doing active shooter drills where they hide in the library. He is 4.
Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) May 25, 2022

insane how the only notable change since Sandy Hook is that kids are now formally trained to hide, barricade doors, fight, or run for their lives. that was the solution. to literally put the responsibility on them to figure it out and wish them luck.

Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) May 24, 2022","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Zara Rahim","author_url":"https://twitter.com/ZaraRahim","cache_age":86400,"description":"insane how the only notable change since Sandy Hook is that kids are now formally trained to hide, barricade doors, fight, or run for their lives. that was the solution. to literally put the responsibility on them to figure it out and wish them luck. 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insane how the only notable change since Sandy Hook is that kids are now formally trained to hide, barricade doors, fight, or run for their lives. that was the solution. to literally put the responsibility on them to figure it out and wish them luck.
Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) May 24, 2022

But theres much debate surrounding the effectiveness of active shooter drills. And many experts have expressed concerns about the psychological impact of these practices on young children.

What is the psychological toll?

There have been countless reports of students and teachers experiencing severe emotional distress during and even long after high-intensity drills that simulate violent situations at school.

A 2021 study from the Georgia Institute of Technologys Social Dynamics and Wellbeing Lab found that active shooter drills in schools were associated with a 42% increase in stress and anxiety, 39% increase in depression and 23% increase in physiological health problems in children from as young as 5, up to high schoolers, teachers and parents.

Teachers who participated in the study recalled students texting their parents, praying, crying because they felt like they were going to die during these kinds of trainings. Parents noted that their children subsequently started experiencing extreme reactions such as panic attacks and downright fear in response to innocuous things like hearing a fire alarm go off.

The impact of these active shooter drills varies depending on the child, their understanding and interpretation of it, their past experiences and their personal worries and fears, Dr. David J. Schonfeld , director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, told HuffPost. Children who are highly anxious or just a bit concerned may become more anxious and more concerned because going through these scenarios raises the perception of the likelihood that this might occur to a level that is not tolerable for them.

He emphasized that frequent drills and discussions in anticipation of active shooter events gives children the expectation that these sorts of things will occur and that the world is an inherently unsafe place. This is particularly true with young children, who may develop a sense that there are lots of people out there looking to harm them, so they are in danger which shapes their mental well-being and the way they interact with the world.

A common reaction is for a child to worry about their parents or caregivers safety as well, said Stephanie Marcello , chief psychologist at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care. They may ask more questions like, Where exactly are you going? and What time are you coming home? My son now always says to me, Be safe. He never did this before, but he says it all the time now.