In an “active shooter” simulation at Alhambra High School in June, a staff member plays the role of an armed student threatening to jump off a landing. Credit: Betty Plascencia, Alhambra Unified School District
Traditional school safety techniques had students huddling in locked classrooms and waiting for rescue if danger approached during school hours. But tragic lessons in Newtown, Conn., and Columbine, Colo., have given rise to new recommendations from the U.S. Department of Education for keeping students safe: Run away and hide, they say. Or if you have to, fight.
The new school safety protocol for staff and students is “run, hide, fight,” a major shift from the static classroom lockdowns campuses have followed for years. The procedure asks teachers and staff to take a more assertive role in trying to survive the unlikely event of an “active shooter” situation on campus. As part of back-to-school preparation, educators throughout California are being trained in the technique, which includes giving teachers the leeway to ignore lockdowns requiring students to be kept inside, to run off campus with students, and to unleash a