One in five students has expressed feeling unsafe in school as a new reality of active shooter drills and code reds is commonplace

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

From active shooter drills, hard corners and code reds, from Stop The Bleed kits to bulletproof backpacks, the explosion of gun violence in American schools since the Columbine shooting in 1999 introduced the country’s next generations of students to a once-unthinkable lexicon.

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With the new reality comes an increase in fear: from five-year-olds in kindergarten to high school seniors, figures show that school-age children in the US are ever more conscious of the threat of a campus shooting, while their parents are more concerned than at any time since Columbine for their children’s safety at school.

A Gallup poll last year showed that one in five students nationwide had expressed feeling unsafe at school, and 35% of parents admitted they were worried, up more than 10% since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018, which left 17 people dead.

This is how America’s schools have changed for “Generation Columbine”:

How students prepare

Regular active shooter drills, often conducted with the assistance of local law enforcement agencies, are now commonplace in classrooms across the country.

Forty-one states and Washington DC have mandated various emergency drills in schools. Only four of these – Arkansas, Florida, Missouri and South Carolina – include the specific words “active shooter” in their legislation.

Every public school in the US is required to have an emergency plan to include code red situations (defined as an active and imminent threat to a campus) and while the exact details might vary between states and school districts, students are required to know what to do in the event of a lockdown and follow direction immediately.

Some experts worry about the psychological effect of such repeated and intense training and preparation on children, exemplified by an unannounced drill at a Florida high school in December that traumatised students and staff.

Some families have also taken precautions into their own hands, leading to a growing market for such controversial safety items as bulletproof backpacks, although testimony to their effectiveness is scant.

School security

Completely surrounded by high fences and patrolled by armed law enforcement personnel known as school resource officers, or by trained security guards in uniform, some school campuses now resemble prison camps more than places of education.

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In some states, such as Florida, where the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school Public Safety Act was signed into law last year, an armed security presence on every campus is now mandatory, as is a secure campus with a designated single point of entry.

Inside their classrooms, students have become familiar with “hard corners”, which are designated “safe” hiding spaces away from doors and windows, and the presence of Stop the Bleed kits to save lives during a lockdown.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The spray-painted red icon on the classroom wall designates a ‘hard corner’ at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. Photograph: Nyan Clarke

The provision of security equipment and services in the education sector, meanwhile, has become a $2.7bn industry, according to IHS Markit, with products covering everything from enhanced surveillance systems to bulletproof whiteboards and armoured classroom doors.

Teacher training

The training of teachers and the roles they are expected to play during active shooter situations remains among the most controversial aspects of schools’ response to the threat.

Though initially favoured by Donald Trump and most of the commissioners who investigated the Parkland shooting, the idea of arming teachers is not popular with the US public, and is broadly prohibited by the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. Even so, eight states have laws that allow those who possess a concealed carry permit to bring their weapon to a campus, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Many school districts are increasingly turning to outside companies with expertise in school safety to train their teachers in crisis prevention and response. The companies, such as Safe Havens International and National School Safety and Security Services, also provide threat and safety assessments.

“The key is to have comprehensive school security and preparedness plans, not simply kneejerk, feelgood reactions such as arming teachers and having kids carry bulletproof backpacks,” consultant Ken Trump said in a blog.

Mental health services

Long overlooked and underresourced, the provision of mental health services in schools is now towards the top of the shooting prevention toolbox. A $100m initiative is under way in Texas to better connect students with mental health counselling, and in Florida the Public Safety Act created a $70m state-funded “mental health assistance allocation” for school districts and required them to spend at least 90% of the money on “diagnosis, intervention, treatment and recovery services” for students.

Nationally, Trump’s federal commission on school safety, chaired by the education secretary, Betsy DeVos, in December highlighted “a lack of mental health professionals in schools” and recommended a package of measures to raise awareness, though left the implementation largely to states and school districts.

The demand for school counsellors, essentially an on-campus social worker whose role involves guiding students with emotional problems, is expected to grow by 13% by 2026, faster than the average for all occupations, according to the US bureau of labour statistics.

Legislation and gun control

While efforts to secure stronger gun control laws nationally in the wake of Columbine and the Sandy Hook mass shooting of 2012 were thwarted, there were successes at state level.

In 2000, Colorado voters impose background checks on all weapons buyers, and New York, Maryland and Connecticut were among the states to tighten rules after Sandy Hook.

As part of the Public Safety Act, Florida, a Republican state, raised the minimum age for weapons purchases to 21 (the Parkland killer was 19).

Several of the Parkland parents have been pushing for legislation that would bolster safety and security in schools. In February, New Jersey enacted Alyssa’s Law, named for Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the 17 victims, which requires all public schools in the state to have panic buttons to silently alert law enforcement to emergency situations.

“Our goal is to get Alyssa’s Law passed in every state,” said Lori Alhadef, the student’s mother, who also sits on the Broward school board in Florida.