CURMUDGUCATION: The Next Big Problem With School Shooter Preparedness

CURMUDGUCATION: The Next Big Problem With School Shooter Preparedness

The Next Big Problem With School Shooter Preparedness

We think we're seeing the worst side effects of our national preoccupation with school shooters.

We aren't.

The problems with active shooter drills have already been widely documented. In the best of circumstances, active shooter drills are disturbing, even if they are focused just on the adults in the building. I've been through a drill with shooters using blanks; it's rough. But we've ben seeing stories about drills that went wildly over the top-- execution-style shootings with pellet guns, and drills that are treated as an actual real event.

The trauma experienced by children is widespread and severe. Stories on facebook and twitter and in the supermarket abound. Children who are worried about sneezing or afraid that if they can't learn to stifle tears, they might give their position away to the shooter. The NEA felt the need to create a guide for helping students cope, while a steady stream of articles catalog the fears such drills awaken and the reasons active shooter drills should be stopped.

But from Florida comes news that hints at the next level of trouble sparked by drills and news coverage and the business of building fear into our children:

A ten-year-old girl is facing charges after she brought a steak knife to her elementary school in Florida, according to authorities.

According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the girl said she brought the knife to Stanley CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: The Next Big Problem With School Shooter Preparedness