It is the beginning of the school year; teachers go through safety protocols with the class. To you, it might be an annoying and repetitive topic to hear about throughout the day. But to others, it saves lives. School is supposed to educate students, but how can students stay focused with all the “what ifs” in their mind?
As we know, ALICE drills happen every year, sometimes multiple instances within that year. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. This drill is made to prepare students for the possibility of knowing what to do if they were put in a harmful position. ALICE drills were created by a Dallas/Fort Worth police officer, Greg Cane. He made this training program after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, while his wife was an elementary school teacher in the district. Today, teachers must go through an ALICE drill training program in order to educate not only themselves but how to protect their students in a situation that they may encounter.
School shootings have been happening for decades, but this year particularly has seen a rise in school shootings. It has been reported that there were 300 mass shootings this year. One of the largest shootings that has ever happened in a school was the Virginia Tech incident in 2007, in which a 23-year-old who shot and killed 32 students and teachers in two separate attacks before taking his own life. The Virginia Tech students did not go through the drill beforehand. This could have been a factor in why so many students unfortunately lost their lives. This situation is a prime example of why ALICE drills are so important to learn and practice. Another incident was the Sandy Hook mass shooting, which took place in Newtown, Connecticut. A 20-year-old entered the building and shot 20 children and 6 adults before killing himself. The remaining students who survived used their knowledge of ALICE to survive.
As the daughter of a teacher, I think about what would happen if there was a shooting in her building. I talked to her about some procedures she must go through to keep everyone safe. She explained, it is required to take a class that informs her to know what to do if she encounters a situation like that. They have powerful tools that teachers purchase to stay prepared. As a student, I feel prepared to make the right decisions if I was placed in a circumstance like this. However, not all students feel this way. I interviewed a Harrison senior, Alicia Hernandez and she said, “I think too much of the possibility that something bad could happen to me in a blink of an eye.”
It is a reoccurring thought in my mind that something could go wrong in any point in time. Learning ALICE drills and being surrounded by adults who are educated on the procedure, makes not only myself, but other students at ease too. It is a sensitive topic to talk about but is needed in order to keep students and teachers safe.