We live in a different world; the world we grew up in is not the same world our kids are now facing, and the troubles we encountered in our youth pale in comparison to what kids have to endure today.
Today, kids face an epidemic level of violence; violence that has made it directly into the public school systems, making them one of the most likely places your child will encounter some type of danger on a daily basis. In my opinion, the public school systems have become so dangerous that I think parents should seriously consider homeschooling their children if at all possible.
If you do have a child in the school system, they need to be ready to respond to the very real dangers they face, and they need to know how to react to each possible threat situation. One of the scariest threats they now face is the active shooter phenomenon. The threat has become such a problem, that we now have companies selling bulletproof backpacks in hopes of protecting children from these deranged shooters.
According to data from the US Naval Postgraduate School, in 2018 alone there were 94 school gun violence incidents. But those are just the number they want you to obsess about, the fact is school violence in general has reached epidemic levels.
Why is it we never hear about the other violence that happens in public schools? Where are the stories on the epidemic of rapes inside schools, the record violence that has swept public schools over the last decade, and the hundreds of stabbings that happen each and every year in the hallways of these schools?
How to Protect your Child from School Violence
The recent rash of school shootings, stabbings, and mass shootings has raised the threat to a level to a point where you cannot afford to ignore the threat.
I’ve covered what you should do to protect yourself during a mass shooting in the past – please read that article, as many of the tips in that post will be helpful during a school shooting as well – but in this article, I want to share some very specific tips and ideas that your child can use to stay safe during these mass shooting events.
Teaching your child to respond to School Shootings
Teach your children to stay alert: One of the best things you can do to ensure your child’s safety is to let them know that these threats exist, and then teach them what to look out for. Hiding the truth does nothing to prepare them for the realities of today’s world.
While I would caution you against going overboard in the fear department, today’s sick world highlights the very real need to inform your children of the dangers that they will face in life.
- Make sure your child isn’t another one of the mindless drones who walk down the streets, head stuck inside a smartphone screen, oblivious to the world around them. Teach them to stay alert while out in public, and to put the technology down until they’re at home.
- Teach them about situational awareness, and take the time to show them examples of what they should be looking for while out in public. The next time you go to the store, make a game out of it. See who can find the most exits, and who can spot the quickest way to those exit points from various spots in the store. These are the kinds of things that will prepare them to face threats and disasters.
- Teach them to be aware of their surroundings, and to start developing mental maps of places they visit. This will not only help them in extreme events like a school shooting, but will also give them a leg up during natural disasters, fires, or any other situation where they might have to make a quick exit.
Teach your kids to run: I have a huge problem with how public schools treat active shooter situations; in large part, most public schools have a policy known as “sheltering in place.” In my opinion, this is probably one of the worst things you can do during a mass shooting situation.
- Teach your kids to look for their school’s exits, doors, windows, and anywhere they can take cover on their way to making an escape.
- Teach them to head for an exit the moment they hear gun shots, or see signs that a shooting is about to take place.
- If your child’s school has a lockdown policy, where they lock children inside the school and tell them to hide, you need to seriously rethink your child’s safety at that school. In my opinion, these lockdown policies make them sitting ducks.
Teach them to fight back: In the past, many experts suggested complete compliance with the shooter. But when you look at the reality of the situation, in most cases these school shooters often kill anyone who is in their line of fire. Compliance is almost never a valid response.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what most schools teach the children to do. If I was the one designing these school policies, I would teach everyone in the classroom to immediately start throwing anything they can at the attacker, while at the same time having the entire class rush the shooter. Even an extremely well-trained shooter would have a hard time reacting to 20 – 30 people rushing them, while also being pelted with cell phones, books, and chairs.
These shooters are looking for easy targets, and they are not prepared to deal with any kind of resistance. In fact, because most of these shooters are not well-trained marksman, the chances of them getting off any kind of shot while being rushed by a large group is not very good. The reward far outweighs the risk.
You must remember that these people are looking to kill as many people as possible, and anyone who looks like an easy target will in all likelihood be taken out. If your child has no way to escape, then their best option is to fight back.
- Teach them to stay calm, and look for an opportunity to overwhelm the attacker. Their best chance is when the shooter is focused on someone else, is in the middle of reloading their weapon, or is distracted in any way.
- If you own a firearm, it might be a good idea to take them to the range and at the very least help them become familiar with firearm safety and the sound of gunshots. Hearing gunshots inside of a school can make a kid freeze; if they’re accustom to the sound of gunfire and familiar with firearms, this can help them react quicker once they hear the shots ring out.
- Once the gunman enters the room, and there’s no way to escape, your child should grab whatever is around that can be used as a weapon or something that can be used as a means to distract the shooter while they can make their way to safety. Keys, books, desks, and chairs can all be used to throw at the attacker, which will temporally distract them long enough for your child to make his next move. If at all possible, your child should be yelling “get him” which will hopefully rally others to the cause, or at the very least cause the shooter a moment of panic that can give your child the upper hand.
Safety Products & Preparedness Advice for Kids at School
- How to Make sure your kids are ready to face Disasters: When planning for emergencies, it’s extremely important to involve your children in the planning process and talk to them about emergency preparedness. These tips can help better prepare them for real-life emergencies and disasters.
- Preparing your Child for School Disasters & Emergencies: Preparing your child for disasters and threats means preparing them to face them without you, this is especially true if your child attends public school.
- The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide: Self-Reliance Strategies for a Dangerous World: When I wrote the book, I intended on including this school shooting article in the crime section; unfortunately, I guess my publisher thought it was a little too political in nature so they pulled it before it went to press. That being said, the book is filled with advice for surviving these types of threats and goes a long way into understanding the criminal mindset and how to protect yourself from these sick people.
- Tuffy Packs Bulletproof school backpacks: These backpacks are Lab tested to stop knife stabbing and all handgun threats up to .44 Magnum and .45cal
You need to take the Threat Seriously, because the Public School Systems Don’t.
We live in a world filled with politically correct morons who are going to get kids killed because of their idiotic policies and ideology.
When researching what technologies were out there that could help protect a child from these shooters, I came across something NBC’s Today Show ran about protecting kids from school shootings. Their top advice: Teach kindness and tolerance, and teach kids to talk about their feelings.
What in the hell are these idiots talking about? Teach kindness and tolerance? How are any of those things going to protect your child from a shooter? These people are so warped, and so blinded by their ideology, that they can’t see that they are part of the problem. It’s this overly P.C. feelings and diversity garbage that breeds these psychopaths.
The Tolerance that is being taught in our school systems has nothing to do with accepting other races or cultures – something that I would be all for if that what the actual goal of these tolerance programs – they are teaching our kids to tolerate immoral behavior, debauchery, and that their feelings are more important than reality.
But the worse part of these tolerance programs is they are making people into victims and demonizing anyone who has a sense of morality. This is a dangerous thing because it is actually the complete opposite of tolerance. These people actually HATE tolerance when it comes to accepting morality, and in doing so they are painting targets on the backs of anyone who lives life with a moral compass.
We need to start preparing our kids for the real dangers that are out there and stop it with all of this tolerance crap. I’m all for being kind to people, and loving our neighbors, but I’m sick of tolerance being used as a way to blind people from what’s really happening out there.
There are some things in life that we should not tolerate, and one of those things is the sick immoral culture that leads directly to these shootings. It’s the victimization culture that leads these people to commit these horrific acts of violence because they have been taught that their actions have no consequences and everything should be accepted in the name of tolerance.
When I taught high school math, I practiced regularly with my students what to do in an emergency- even more than the school did. I would randomly ask questions in the middle of a lesson- “what would you do if a bad guy came through the door right now?” They all were issued laptops by the school district, and thought it would be cool to throw it at an attacker. I positioned my desk near the entrance of the classroom so an attacker would have to get past me to get to my students. I told the students, “not on my watch, not in my classroom.” One punk kid said one time, “I bet Mr. XXXX don’t even know how to fight.” And I said, “you’re right. I don’t know how to fight…I only know how to kill.” The idiots in the school district posted signs all over school property “weapon free zone”. Stupid.
I realize at 60, I am old. Raised two boys who are smart, ready and willing to finish the fight. We were considered the dinosaur family when they were young, No cell phones, no computers or tvs in their rooms. Can anyone tell me why anyone 8 years old up “needs” a cell phone, or why they “need” facebook or twitter? Cyberbullying seems easy to stop…DON’T START WITH THAT CRAP!!
A sharp wooden pencil would work If you can get close enough you could stab the attacker. It is perfectly legal to carry a pencil to school.
Yesterday Oct 5 2015 a 12 yr old brought a gun to school… I’m panicked right now… like OMG I have to teach my sons more….this is too close to home
An uninformed and untrained child will most likely be a dead child. NOT MINE!!!!
I am an elementary teacher and we practice typical lockdown procedures. Is it really best to stay locked in the room than to run out of my side door that opens to the front of the school? Or lock myself/others in my storage closet?
I would say whole-heartedly, Yes! It is only common sense that says it is safer to NOT be where a shooter is than where a shooter actually is. I would much rather my kids hit the door and keep running until they are far away from that school as soon as they hear gunshots. If they are 12 blocks away, then chances are, they will not be one of the victims.
Out the door or out the window. Take a good look at your room and think: If these kids need out NOW which would be best.. If they run out the door, how exposed would they be? Is the door opening to a long or short hallway? Out towards a playground?
Which way does your door open and what is it made of? If you tipped your desk and blocked the door, is it made of metal or wood? Wood is not going to stop bullets.
Where is the closest fire extinguisher? GET IT! If you are trapped in the room, stand just inside the door, as the attacker opens the door, use it, discharge the extinguisher in their face until it is empty or they are unconscious. If you have to HIT THEM with it when it runs out!
Flee if you can but if you must hunker down, PLAN a FIGHT!
I don’t understand why people continue to argue over gun laws rather than making sure our kids are safe first. We will never convince the idiot’s who the NRA has convinced banning assault rifles is taking thier gun right’s awsy. No one needs an assault rifle! But our children’s saftey has somehow been put on a back burner while we continue to argue over something no one will ever agree on. Where are our priorities as a nation? My child’s school had never done a drill or even talked to them about what to do in an emergency. I am trying to prepare her as best I can. They say drills traumatize them. I don’t want to frighten her to the point I traumatize her but I want her to be prepared. I did tell her to hide and lock herself in, which I will now tell her only as a last resort. I told her if she is running and they are shooting in her direction to zig zag because it is harder to hit someone that way, unless it is slowing her down. if she hides behind a vehicle, hide behind the engine not the rear. I hate that they have to be afraid of this but being afraid of scaring them and not preparing them is just stupid.
Are there any panels that we can buy to put into our child’s back pack that have a ballistics rating high enough to stop assault rifle ammo?
Absolutely my 5 year old daughter will be attending school this year and this is defiantly gonna be on her school list. It’s a little pricy but how much attention your children worth to you.
“…assault rifle ammo?” What is that? Oh, you just mean rifle ammo.
lol
I teach my 6 year old self defense and have since she was the age of 3. She is fully capable of protecting herself if need be, however in an active shooter situation being that she is a 1st grader, what do you believe would be the best for a 6 year old to do? Her school has adopted the “ALICE” system, not sure how well the teachers would follow that but it does involve locking the doors, turning off the lights, and barricading the door. Again, I’m not sure how well the teachers will actually follow this but I’ve always been very proactive when it comes to preparation. If they have nowhere to run and have barricaded the door, turned off the lights, and concealed themselves until they have been seen, now they must find cover. When they find cover rather than all hiding in a closet (like shooting fish in a barrel), if the active shooter is advancing further into the classroom, should they run to cover and throw things at the shooter to cause distraction? Hopefully by doing this, it will help chances of escape. What’s your take on this?
Talk to her teacher about the options as YOU see them… also a large chemical fire extinguisher would make a great Christmas gift for all your fav teachers.
;)
Telling kids to sit still and hide is stupid. My kids have been raised to look for threats, run if they can, fight if they must. Get to safety, even if that means disobeying a teacher or administrator and then pull out a phone and call 911 with as much info as they can, then call myself and or mom or text us. Any gun bought today above .38 can punch a flimsy lock on a class room door and even worse, doors with windows into the classroom. My kids are both black belts in High motion Hap Ki Do and combative Tae Kwon Do and can if need be put someone, even a larger someone down. They also understand that is ALWAYS a last resort if the person is armed etc. Prepare your children people, I have served all over this world and terror is something we are just starting to know in our country.
A child with a black belt or any other type of training is not match for a grown man intent on killing. Run Run Run but telling a child he is prepared to take down a shooter is ridiculous.. My neighbors child is a 3rd degree black belt and has all kinds of martial arts certifications but he is 13 and no match for some one 10 times stronger. I say run run run don’t sit or huddle waiting to be killed.
Um, teaching tolerance and acceptance with open dialogue PREVENTS the bullied kid from BECOMING a shooter. Idiot.
“Nick
DECEMBER 6, 2016 AT 11:28 PM
Um, teaching tolerance and acceptance with open dialogue PREVENTS the bullied kid from BECOMING a shooter. Idiot.”
ROFL really? I had noooo idea it was that simple. What were we thinking!
I live dailey in sadness watching my Grandkids have to grow up in the world we live in today, what a shame. So why the hell don’t the school systems do more to protect our little ones, like cops on duty at elementary schools?
The only solution is to allow lawful concealed carry in schools, government buildings, malls, churches and other deadly “gun-free zones”. Psychotic, suicidal murderers care not for your stupid “no guns” signs and warm feelings of tolerance. Those only stop lawful, sane folks from carrying. I swear, sometimes I think that liberalism is a mental defect.
My kids schools leaves the gate open all day any1 can just walk in and after what happened in manchester it realy makes me worry how can i get the school to seriuosly think about protecting owr kids im unsure of what to tell my kids as dont want them to live in fear and as it is kids do what teachers tell them its about time we all got a grip and protect owrselfs and admitt what is happening schools are the last to accept this and want to keep things the way they are maybe if we start a campain to get school security looked at and methods of dealing with situations that could arrise
This being a world wide campaign to make sure measures are being taken that we can send kids to school come on its illegal to not send your kids to school and yet there targets sat there waiting the law sucks here in england we pansy around everythink is roses and meanwhile sick people are walking round killing why should i send my children to school when im unsure that the school can keep my kids safe to goverments sat in there big houses etc not walking the streets as we do dont worry everyday like we do were just numbers waiting targets to be hit on we are the people they serve owr countrys for us to make a better place and i dont see serious action being taken a attack takes palce and for a week were on high alert then its taken down why the sick people are still walking owr streets we need to get active
How about finding root cause of problem and solving that problem…kids bully…need to find out why they bully and treat that problem. Cyberbullying…teaching parents about cyberbullying and holding the parents accountable for what their child says and does on social media. Teaching teens about cyberbullying and make it a crime to cyberbully on social media. Training peers to intervene when this is happening in school…leading your peers in school teaches responsibility and how to react in the real world. Bullies as teens become bully and abusive adults…need to stop it while they are young!
Do not put guns in the arms of teachers but armed security who are trained in these situations. Do not place guns in a classroom with children…something will go wrong!
Next – put your child in a self defense / martial arts class and teach them how to think in a crisis…using a weapon other than a gun can thwart a disaster. I am a gun advocate but not for in a classroom. Everyone throwing something at the shooter all at once can disarm him…I have seen it and it works. Yes, someone may get shot, but one or two, not the entire class and they may not be deadly shots, but in the arm or leg.
Last – there is a mentality of this generation that it is all about them…for some reason, they cannot take criticism, they have no social skills (social media is to blame), the part of the brain that can accept the word no without getting angry has not developed due to not bonding with parents…parents put their children in daycare and have nannies and babysitters. Parents are not allowed to discipline their children or their children say they are going to call the police and lie and say you abuse them if you do not give them what they want. Do your children justice and spend time with them from the time they are born and stay off of social media…play games, go for hikes, camp, boat, fish, ski, snow ski, hike in snow shoes, horseback ride, etc etc…bond with your kids and get out of the house. And it is time to allow parents to discipline their children without beating them. And every time a child screams abuse, do detective work and quit assuming they are telling the truth…kids learn to lie very well these days, especially now because of social media.
Mental Health has become a crisis because those who should not be among the general population are, thanks to liberal minded fools. They should be on meds and monitored in a loving home like locked facility. Safe from the streets and we are safe from them.
Next are the illegals and refugees…people take a look at how these people have lived and because of their situation, their brains do not work like someone who has been raised in a civil law abiding environment. These people steal, lie, cheat, kidnap, rape, murder and have no conscience whatsoever about doing this. And these are the people liberal minded fools want around your families. We only hear of school shootings – you do not hear about the rest of these crimes until someone decides it is worth hearing.
How about teachers also having a sign ready to place on outside of door at the first sign of trouble that says “Everyone meets in the cafeteria today, or everyone meets in the library today…or my favorite…Ms./Mr. So and So’s class is on a field trip today to the museum or Aquarium…and then lock the door and turn out the lights. I am sure the whole school cannot get away with this, but it would buy time and save lives.
“Next are the illegals and refugees…”….you had me going and then your mental illness came to light.
I guess is “I Love” hasn’t had the pleasure of being around many of our finest
illegals and refugees.