Despite the massacres at Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, despite President Trump’s pledge to remove concealed carry restrictions from schools on “day one,” most American schools remain “gun-free zones.” Parents, teachers, administrators and school employees remain disarmed under Bush the Elder’s Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990. And yet there is some good news when it comes to protecting our school children from criminals, crazies and terrorists . . .
ALICE Training (as above) is based on a simple recipe: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. Judging by their training calendar, the program has popular support across the country. Well, the Midwest and South.
Yet even in these conservative enclaves, and certainly on the left-leaning coasts, educators take exception to the “counter” part of the program. The bit where students are taught to barricade, attack an assailant with thrown objects, scream and run around in a zigzag pattern, if the bad guy(s) enters the classroom and more.
Strangely, the “debate” centers mostly on the supposedly negative psychological effects of ALICE training on young minds. Do Schools’ ‘Active-Shooter’ Drills Prepare or Frighten? edweek.org asks. A different Trump reckons it’s the latter:
Outspoken school safety consultant Kenneth Trump, who regularly writes about ALICE training, says it’s not supported by evidence and “preys on the emotions of today’s active shooter frenzy that is spreading across the nation.” Trump and other critics say schools shouldn’t train young children in the ALICE response when school shootings, typically the focus of such drills, are statistically rare.
Where’s the evidence that “shelter in place” works? You’d think Sandy Hook would’ve put paid to that theory. And the possibility of an active shooter at school is not so rare that Uncle Sam hasn’t issued federal guidelines for dealing with the threat.
The bureaucratic behemoth known as the DOE is all over it. And some of their guideline recommend active measures against active shooters — at least for teachers.
A 2013 federal report, created in response to Sandy Hook, outlined a safety response that called on school staff to “consider trying to disrupt or incapacitate the shooter by using aggressive force and items in their environment, such as fire extinguishers, and chairs.” It didn’t advocate involving students.
That report, released by the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of a group of federal agencies, drew concern from some school safety consultants who said such a “run, hide, fight” approach is unproven by research and may even be dangerous in the event of an actual shooting.
Common sense and recent history suggest that remaining completely passive against an active shooter, waiting for the police to eliminate the threat, is far more dangerous than doing, well, something. To its credit, edweek.org ends on a pro-ALICE note:
Some parents and teachers say responses like ALICE ease their fears that children would be “sitting ducks” in a shooting situation.
After Matt Holland, a 3rd-grade teacher in Alexandria, Va., learned about ALICE in his own staff training this summer, he called his 7-year-old daughter’s school in a neighboring district to ask leaders to transition away from a lockdown approach.
“While, yes, statistically speaking, the chances [of a shooting] are very slim,” Holland said, “I don’t want, heaven forbid, something to happen to my students or my daughter and to say, ‘There was a small chance it would happen, and it happened. And no one ever planned for it.’ “
ALICE and its ilk aren’t as effective answers to a lethal threat on school grounds as allowing teachers, administrators or school employees to exercise their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms at work. But it’s better than nothing.
From all the hedging, they don’t even know that he used a silencer. “They say” he did.” It “appears” he did, and “it appears” the use of a silencer may have prevented people from hearing and identifying the shots.
On that evidence we should definitely violate everyone’s rights.
Negative psychological effects on children of ALICE training? uh–WHAT? When I was a kid we had tornado drills, filing out into the halls to cower and cover our heads. I bet they still do it today–because staying in a classroom with windows is extremely dangerous. We had fire drills. And although my schools did not have them, my wife’s schools had nuclear “duck and cover” drills. I don’t remember being scared by any of these drills.
Can’t teach the kids to fight back. That might instill the value of self defense. We couldn’t have that now, could we?
You can’t have kids learning to do stuff in here; this is a classroom.
Education, modern, n, a multi-year program of regimented activity and conditioning to create people who operate at your discretion. Contrast with
Education, classical, n, a multi-year program of skills-building, knowledge acquisition and cultivation to create people who operate at their own.
Aw, c’mon you spoilsports. These guys are a hoot! Keep ’em comin’ until you do the one with the pork rind round.
****ing Bluetooth won’t pair up with my rifle!
“…milk, bread and eggs…”
They kill so many folks that they need two different words just to describe the cause(s).
iatrogenic: caused by medical treatment
nosocomial: originating in a hospital
Those high grade rare earth magnets only have a small amount of neodymium. The chem. formula is Nd2Fe14B. So there are only 2 atoms of neodymium for every 14 atoms of iron, with a little boron thrown in. With a density of 7.4 gm/cm3 it is a lot less heavy than lead.
What the hell? H&K won’t deliver the kit I specced for that little side job in Israel!
“this one’s got teet tris.”
Stupid liberals should be bleached out of our gene pool or rounded up put in padded rooms and call them zoos where peeps can go view n what a nut house looks like….
Criminals don’t obey laws and anyone with .0000001 of a brain cell can suppress a gun in so many ways its utterly ridiculous….even for stupid keyboard commandos…..
Donald Trump is a champion of guns rights.
1. Neil Gorsuch 2. Potentially 1-2 more Supreme Court Justices. 3. He isn’t Hillary. 4. His son’s are very pro gun. 5. HPA /SHARE Act is actually being considered. HPA wouldn’t even have been introduced if anyone else was president. Putting Neal Gorsuch on the Supreme Court did more for your gun rights than anything in the last 10 years. Corrupt courts all across the country now realize it’s a terrible idea to elevate 2nd Amendment challenges to the Supreme Court.
So let’s look at this logically… It’s less than 9 months into his presidency, give him time.. He is currently dealing with Liberal turds, Republican cucks, 3 Hurricanes, North Korea, fake Russian Hacking story, Iran, The Media, The Hollywood Establishment, the New World Order, Obamacare repeal, Fake news etc. etc…. Everybody take a breath and thank god that Hillary has been relegated to the trash heap of history.
2018 could be a huge year for Gun rights. If the Republicans are able to gain a super-majority after the mid-terms, and then nothing is done then we can begin to grow impatient. 2020 will be even bigger, if Trump can regain the White House then it’s highly likely he gets to pick 3 Justices during his term.. This would be a huge and multi-generational change to the court.
Sound suppressors only reduce the sound of the muzzle blast, not the supersonic pressure wave, (sonic boom), of a rifle bullet several hundred yards downrange.
If I have to enter my username and email one mo’ ‘gain just to comment on a TTAG article I swear…..
Is Transform Minnesota a front organization? Take a look at its website. It looks like one of those “sportsmen’s” organizations setup by the left. https://www.greendecoys.com/
Bring home the scraps for the dog!
I have a couple of the ruger American 308 and a savage axis 223 they all are super fine shooting and hunting rifles very accurate