Active shooter drills cause depression, anxiety in students. Lawmakers want to change that
After considering the effects of active shooter drills on students’ well-being, state lawmakers are considering ideas to change how they are conducted in schools.
Sponsored by Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, the legislation would prohibit schools from conducting active shooter drills in their current form. The bill has been slightly amended since it was introduced to refine the language that safety-related drills cannot mimic an actual shooting, and teachers, students and staff must be notified first. Additionally, trauma-informed training must be used with age-appropriate content.
Walen told the House Education Committee that she heard from other parents about how their children are upset by active shooter drills. Her own experience, she said, came from raising her 10th-grade nephew, who described the active-shooter drills in his school. He said shootings were “mimicked” and students were instructed to build barricades.
“School shootings are rare and we should probably not prepare our children to be anxious and afraid at schools,” Walen said. “Active shooter drills are associated with increases in depression, anxiety and fears about death among children as young as 5 years old to high schoolers, their parents and teachers.”
Walen said she supports trauma-informed training for teachers and staff, but said there has been no evidence to suggest that such drills prepare students for an active shooter, or that the drills can help prevent school shootings.
In fact, studies on active shooter training have been conducted by Georgia Tech’s Social Dynamics and Well-being Lab that support Walen’s argument.
Their research showed that active shooter drills increased depression in students by 39 percent, increased stress and anxiety by 42 percent, and increased physiological health problems by 23 percent in students from 5 years old to high school age.
“These findings unveil even more reason to pause before rushing toward active shooter drills as a potential solution to school violence, as evidence suggests that they are causing lasting emotional and physical harm to students, teachers, and the larger community,” the report said.
Research by Everytown Research and Policy, a nonprofit that advocates for gun safety, said that 95 percent of American schools use active shooter drills. Of the more than 40,000 gun deaths annually in the US, school shootings account for less than 1 percent, according to their data. They noted, too, that schools in the US experience more school shootings than any other nation.
Most who testified were in support of the bill.
Kathryn Salveson, a school psychologist in the Lake Washington School District, spoke in favor of the bill and said that emergency drills are “critical” for preparation, but said that those drills should not include active shooter scenarios because they are “ineffective” and “traumatize participants.”
Multiple studies by the National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of School Resource Officers, and Safe and Sound Schools show that there is no evidence to show that armed-assailant drills are effective, but found that typical lockdown drills are more effective, she said.
Only one person testified in opposition to the proposed bill.
Michael Olson, Superintendent of the Kettle Falls School District, told the committee that “staff and students need to know how to respond, they need to know how to protect their lives, and the lives of those around them.” He said he agreed with Walen that drills should be done “correctly” and “sensibly” and in ways that don’t traumatize students, but they still need to be prepared.
“The lives of our students, our children, and our staff are far too precious to chance on a hope that nothing will happen,” said Olson.
Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, expressed some concern about law enforcement’s abilities if the bill was passed, but Walen said this bill would not affect anything related to law enforcement.
More than 100 people signed in for support of the bill, with only one person signed in as opposed.
The bill will go to its second executive session on Wednesday in the House Committee on Education.
