It was a normal December 8, 2018 at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Students were settling into their seats and teachers were going about their lesson plans, when a voice came over the PA system. Suddenly the school was placed under a “code red” lock-down. The voice stated, “This is not a drill.” Suddenly, every teacher in the school received a text message alerting that an active shooter was on the premises.
After being emotionally roiled and panicked, everyone in the school learned that it was just a drill. Authorities wanted to see how the student body and the faculty would respond to an “active shooter” without forewarning. Well, many students had panic attacks. Some couldn’t process what was happening at all, and by the time they did, some were afraid for their life. When they were finally told it was just a drill, some were relieved, some were left stricken, and some were angry. The emotional impact of the drill lingered, traumatizing many. The local sheriff’s office had conducted the drill without warning – shock and awe that took the school off guard.
“Active shooter” drills are now being implemented in schools across America. The Dayton Daily News reported on an elaborate “active shooter drill” that took place on October 1, 2019. The school enlisted actors to fire off multiple blank rounds throughout the school. Teachers and students discussed whether they should barricade their classroom or evacuate. Students were escorted to safe zones outside and instructed on how to cover, conceal, and seek medical treatment. After the drill, students were debriefed in the auditorium and engaged in discussion.
Active shooter drills terrorize children, teach victim mentality
Active shooter drills do not prevent shootings nor do they prepare students and faculty to defend against an unpredictable threat. These drills are a form of police state terrorism. These drills damage the minds of children, causing post traumatic stress, while conditioning them to expect this kind of trauma as a normal way of life.
Much like the “duck and cover” drills that were forced on schoolchildren in the 50s, these “active shooter drills” do nothing but traumatize students, make them fearful, and make them feel like a victim of their circumstances.
James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist told NPR that there is no evidence to suggest that these drills have any effect on preventing or stopping a shooter, and they do not prepare people “any better than in just instructing them verbally or in writing.” When the Parkland shooting took place, many teachers weren’t sure if it was a drill or a real event because they were so conditioned to respond haplessly to unannounced drills. Scaring the school unannounced may have the opposite effect than what is desired.
And the drills have a lingering mental impact on children. “They’re at a heightened risk to then develop more anxiety, more fear as a result of being in what is in some cases a rather frightening simulation,” said University of Central Florida psychologist Deborah Beidel.
Left-wing groups terrorizing children for a political aim
To make matters worse, left-wing groups and politicians are using this kind of manufactured terror to convince the public that certain firearms and accessories should be banned. Anti-gun groups like presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke posted a sick, manipulative propaganda video about kids being terrorized when they go back to school.
Instead of standing up to terror and taking steps toward protecting students, these left-wing groups use the tragedy of school shootings for a political aim. Now, kids are taught to be anxious and fear the inevitability of an active shooter at their school. These drills are designed to make kids afraid of guns, to ultimately demand an end to the right of self defense.
In reality, the only way to prepare for a potential tragedy is to protect the school with resource officers, veterans, and teachers who are trained to conceal and carry a firearm for defense. If wannabe shooters knew that schools were prepared to deter their attack, then these attacks would be prevented altogether or halted before innocent lives are destroyed. There is absolutely no need to terrorize children with “active shooter drills” and make everyone feel like a victim every day they walk into the school.
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