Helping Students Cope with Active Shooter Drills
It’s back-to-school time across the country and as students settle into new classes and routines, they’ll also be practicing lockdown and active shooter drills, an unfortunate consequence of what’s become a new normal in America: mass shootings.
The United States has witnessed nearly 2,200 mass shootings since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, and gun violence is now the second-most-common cause of death for people ages 1 through 19.
With news about shootings like those in Dayton and El Paso still fresh in student minds, lockdown and active shooter drills can be traumatizing.
NEA Today spoke to Janet Shapiro, dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, professor of Social Work, and director of the Center for Child and Family Wellbeing, about the impact on students.
In the weeks following a shooting, the news is impossible to escape. What affect does it have on students around the country?
Janet Shapiro: It’s important to look at the context of your students’ community. They are either directly experiencing violence or its happening elsewhere. Some are exposed to constant media coverage, while others are are not only exposed to the coverage of the mass shootings, but also live in neighborhoods where they experience violence every day — on the way to school, in neighborhood parks and CONTINUE READING: Helping Students Cope with Active Shooter Drills - NEA Today
