Ellie Miller knows to arm herself if her school is under attack. She is 8. In fall 2018, Miller’s third-grade class learned what to do in case an active shooter invaded her school. She says her teacher instructed her to pick up a nearby object. This object, whatever it may be, would be Miller’s last defense against an active shooter. If he entered the classroom to shoot her and her classmates, she’d have to throw it to distract the shooter and run.
Surprised by her teacher’s new lesson, Miller remembers thinking to herself, “We have to do this?”
Miller has learned to prepare for an active shooter at Colfax K-8 before. In second grade, the trainings weren’t “as intense,” she said. Back then, her teacher used to lock the door to the classroom and tell the students to hide.
Miller said the new way teachers are talking about shootings is “kind of scaring us.” Her teacher told the students that if they don’t follow the training exactly, they will get hurt by the shooter.
“They still don’t get that we’re kids. We’re still kids!” she said.
The Violence Project’s Jillian Petersn weighs in on how lockdown drills affect students’ mental health and can inspire more violence.
Source: Public Source
Author: Brittany Hailer