I hate school shooter drills. I hate sitting on the floor, I hate the migraine-inducing PA screech, I hate waiting for the day that the chewed up gum on the bottom of the table becomes lodged in my hair. But unfortunately, those are not the worst of the effects brought about by these drills. 

As school shootings have increased, so have the number of drills in schools across the nation. Jackson-Reed has been having monthly “lockdown” drills during which teachers lock the few fully-functioning doors, students sit on the ground away from windows and doors, and, in the rare occurrence that the PA system decides to work, an announcement is given indicating the start, end, and nature of the drill. 

These drills supposedly serve to prepare students and staff for potential emergencies by training us to follow emergency procedures. However, they prove to be not only ineffective, but actively counterproductive. Although repeatedly simulating real life events can assist in memorization, the more these situations are replicated the less real they seem. These drills and the practices they teach become unserious and unimportant, ultimately reversing our execution of the process the drills hoped to achieve: emergency preparedness. In addition, by the time they reach high school most students already understand what to do in the case of a shooter. Numerous studies are being conducted to figure out whether kids end up with longer lasting trauma from these lockdowns, and they suggest there are at least some psychological consequences. 

Beyond just making students anxious, these drills also further associate violence with schools in the minds of students, making them feel less safe at school. It is even suggested that repeated school shooter drills make students more likely to become school shooters themselves. Regardless of whether or not this can be conclusively proven, it is certainly true that the biggest impact of these drills is students being increasingly focused on school shootings. There is no comparable increase in feelings of safety or preparedness, and thus no benefit.

School shootings have been a problem for a long time now, and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though they are going away anytime soon. We don’t suggest that schools throw away all precautionary or emergency procedures—in some scenarios knowing what to do has proven beneficial—but preparedness is not synonymous with simulation. By discussing what to do in an emergency instead of repeatedly practicing it, the same level of understanding can be reached. “Are Active Shooter Drills Worth It”, a Vox article, compared this to being on a plane: flight attendants discuss the emergency protocols, but they don’t make the passengers practice. Schools need to reassess their use of lockdown drills to better account for the psychological impact they have on students.