Lockdowns and School Shootings

Opinion: Students, Teachers Should Not Have To Do Lockdown Drills. In a Chicago Tribune (10/7, Hall) opinion piece, Virginia preschool teacher Launa Hall walks readers through a lockdown drill, an increasingly common practice across the US that schools do to prepare students in the event of a school shooting. Hill explains the difficult nature of explaining to her students that what they are doing is serious, but still just practice. Hill then challenges people to take action to pass more gun control measures so her students do not have to waste time doing these drills or being scared of shootings.

Data Shows School Homicides Going Down Over Long-Term, Children More Likely To Be Killed Outside Schools Than Inside. The Huffington Post (10/6, Klein) reports over the long-term homicides at schools are becoming less common. The ED’s data show that 32 children were killed at schools during the 1992-1993 school year, while only 15 were killed during the 2011-2012 school year. Children are much more likely to be victims of homicide outside of schools than in them. Thomas Snyder of ED’s National Center for Education Statistics said, “Over the long term, schools are getting safer. That doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of room for improvement.”