Schools Prepare for On-Campus Threats

Will the economy tanking and the upsurge of people facing foreclosures, unemployment and bankruptcy erupt in increased levels of violence? How could it not? Coping with the stress of a life on the brink of disaster, whether real or preconceived, isn't a usually a recipe for calm or foresighted action.

Maybe schools and companies should be doing more to prepare for an armed attack. In the last decade, in the U.S., more students were killed on campuses as a result of gunmen than from earthquakes, fires and tornadoes combined! Yet, schools around the country still spend time each month practicing disaster drills, despite the infinitesimal percentages that such an event will occur.

It seems that some California elementary schools are not only revising their "Lockdown" procedures, but eliminating mandatory drills that prepare students for a natural disaster. Instead, these schools will instead practice for more realistic threats: Gunfire on campus, armed assailant in the building and civil disruption.

Students practice laying on the floor of their classrooms in the dark for a minimum of 30 minutes. They also learn where the safest places to hide from an attacker on campus and what a secured room looks like. According to one school's "Lockdown" procedure teachers should only resume normal classroom activities after a "recognizable school staff person" directs them to do so over the school intercom.

While admirable, school's efforts to prepare for a more likely threat seem less than adequate. Couldn't a gunman take a "recognizable school staff person" hostage and have her give the all clear over the intercom?

After all, you never know where a man with a grudge will decide to release his wrath.