TELL US: Should Schoolkids be Trained to Defend Against an Armed Attack?
New training techniques are being questioned that call for students to able to actively defend against a Columbine-style attack. What do you think?
The list of shooter attacks on high schools and colleges and universities is way too long. One result: a new approach to training schoolkids how to act in such circumstances. As NPR headlined its story last month about the technique: "to survive a shooting, students learn how to fight back". The essence of the new drill for students is: alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate. Or, ALICE. What's new there? The verb "counter." Proponents of the new approach say there have been too many attacks for students not to be trained in how to more actively defend themselves. Others, especially some parents, ask: does that make sense to expect kids and teens to be able to make such hair-raising, possible life-risking decisions? There is controversy…
Molly Kittleson
4:15 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Wow…this is scary stuff. We receive Robo calls; sometimes multiple calls, for matters as trivial as reminders that the next day is a half-day of school; hopefully, the Dedham School District will have the wisdom to bring this much more important matter to the attention of all parents of school students long before they implement any program involving the kids themselves. I need to ruminate deeply… more ›