Are Lockdown Drills Actually Beneficial?

Lockdown drills have been many districts' way of attempting to ease the minds of worried students and teachers about possible danger. As we’ve gotten older, we become more and more aware of the dangers we face everyday. Being in high school, you know that your chances of having a school shooting are more likely than an elementary school. More than 50% of school shooters have been found to be current or former students at the school they targeted. It is more likely for a high school or college student to take out their anger this way than a seven-year-old.

During lockdown drills, you're supposed to turn off the lights, lock the door, remain silent and sit out of view from windows. As we get older, teachers seem to take these drills less and less seriously. I've had drills where we stay in our seats but turn the lights off and talk about possible weapons to use, and I’ve also had drills where the teachers ignored them and had us just keep working. I've also heard lots of similar stories from other teenagers at various schools. I don’t necessarily see this as a seeming lack of care and literal indifference to our wellbeing, but more on how helpful the teachers actually believe these drills to be. Most people have gone through a lockdown drill in their life and will probably know where people are hiding or what the protocols are, and after you’ve done one or two, you know what you're supposed to do.

There are many negative side effects caused by the drills themselves. For various students with varying mental illnesses or previous traumas this makes it harder for their brain to differentiate between the reality and the fantasy. A study done at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Social Dynamics and Wellbeing Lab recorded 114 kids from ages K-12 for 90 days prior to a lockdown drill and the 90 days following. They found that there was a 39% increase in depression, a 42% increase in stress and anxiety levels and an overall physiological health problem increase of 23%. This is for kids from ages five to high school students and teachers. Concerns and questions raised about death also increased by 22%. Because of the lack of data proving that lockdown drills actually help or prevent active shooters in schools, they should think carefully if the negative effects seen in studies on mental health from active shooter drills are limited enough to overlook.

The most accurate way to prevent dangerous school situations would be different safety measures like threat assessment programs, more access to mental health professionals in and out of school and social support, having non-punitive disciplinary processes, and well educated trauma emergency planning for all the teachers. Training teachers in warning signs can be extremely helpful as well as notifying parents if they are witnessing any sign of possible disturbing behavior. While none of them are completely guaranteed to stop school shootings from occurring, these alternative methods are much better uses of people's time because these moves might actually help save a life while not endangering the mental health and well being of the students.