HOW QUESTIONS FOR SCHOOLS TO ASK WHEN PREPARING FOR AN ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILL, MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT NECESSARY.. (396 hits)
For Immediate Release From National Alliance on Mental Illness!
Five Questions: Utilize, or hire, mental health professionals to support the week of the scheduled drills, to provide expertise that informs the protocol as well as to provide emotional support before, during and after these events.
Research has demonstrated that active shooter drills have a long lasting impact on students:
“Results revealed that social media posts displayed a 42% increase in anxiety and stress from pre- to post-drills (as evidenced by an increase in such words as afraid, struggling, and nervous) and a 39% increase in depression (evidenced by words such as therapy, cope, irritability, suicidal) following drills. This trend was sustained at least 90 days following drills and spanned diverse school districts and drill tactics.” –Everytown USA
Ensuring access to professional mental and emotional health support is essential to any active shooter drill protocol.
Read more here:
Creating School Active Shooter/Intruder Drills
This fact sheet by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network describes a detailed trauma-informed protocol that schools can follow to design emotionally and psychologically safe active school shooter drills: https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/...
Managing Emotions Around School Violence: A Guide for Educators This article describes exercises that can be used to help calm anxiety related to school violence: https://momentousinstitute.org/resources/m...
School Shooter Drills: Is There a Right Way to Do Them?
Active shooter drills are scaring kids and may not protect them. Some schools are taking a new approach This article describes the benefits as well as the potential harm of active shooter drills in schools. Safer, more trauma-informed approaches are highlighted, as well as some of the policy barriers to implementing these alternatives: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/activ...
NASP and NASRO Urge Accuracy With Regard to Lockdown Versus Other Types of Armed Assailant Drills This statement was prepared by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) with the goal to educate schools and communities that “Skills development and preparedness are critical, but these goals can be accomplished without inflicting psychological harm on students or staff.” The brief provides descriptions of risks and benefits of active shooter drills in schools, and makes recommendations for best practices: https://www.nasponline.org/about-school-ps...
The Impact of Active Shooter Drills in Schools
This report reviews research conducted at Everytown USA to understand the impact of active shooter drills on the emotional well-being of young people, and includes recommendations for how to address the threat of school violence in a way that does not cause long term emotional, mental and psychological damage: https://everytownresearch.org/report/the-i...
