Beyond the Drill
Cover photo by Caleb Oquendo from Pexels.
Claire Schumacher
In the past school year, there have been more than 83 school shootings throughout America; 38 people have died and 116 people were left injured. On December 16, 2024, Abundant Life Christian School, located in Madison, Wisconsin, became yet another victim of a school shooting. Only an hour away from Sussex, two people died and six others were injured.
This specific school shooting hit home for many members of the Hamilton community—calling into question what would happen if there was a shooting in the school district, the safety precautions set, and how to deal with the chilling reality that school shootings are becoming inevitable in America.
For this article, students and teachers of Hamilton High School were asked a variety of questions on this topic, ranging from “How often do you question your safety at school?” to “Do you believe your school has a plan in place if there was ever a school shooting?”
A common theme, seen through both teachers and students, was that they thought Hamilton could be a victim of a school shooting. 62.4% of the students interviewed said that they were aware of threats made towards Hamilton specifically. However, a majority, for both teachers and students, said that they believed Hamilton had a plan in the event of a tragedy.
When asked for more information regarding their feelings on school shootings, students had three main things they wanted to address: the mental health aspect of school shootings, communication surrounding these events, and more specific safety measures.
Mental health plays a significant role in any school shooting, whether it was the attacker, or the countless loved ones of the victims. It is important to note, though, that many attackers display signs of possible violence before the incident occurs. An article released by the Sandy Hook Promise states “Notably, in 4 out of 5 school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attacker’s plan but failed to report it.” This means that these aren’t random events. The attackers have either shown or explicitly stated their intentions, but have been ignored.
Many students at the high school have taken note of this and in the survey, one student voiced, “I think we need to make more of an effort to notice behaviors that could lead a person to want to start shooting in a school.” A common theme was that they wanted everyone, including teachers, administration, and themselves, to be more attentive of others and to take note of when another person is seeming off or more aggressive than usual.
Additionally, on the student side, many kids have felt left out of the discussion surrounding these events. Parents have gotten a few emails informing them of concerning events that have happened during the school year, but the students get little to no communication when they are the ones actually in the school. A student remarks, “There was a threat recently during the school day that no one at school had knowledge of until after the day was over.” They went on to say how no one knew anything was wrong and how, in the event of a tragedy like a school shooting threat, they would like to be informed as soon as possible so they can have time to process the situation and be in charge of their own safety. Obviously, students don’t need to be informed on all of the events happening each and every day, but keeping communication open with staff and students can improve trust and can help Hamilton stay connected if there was ever a school shooting.
Students at Hamilton High School have also brought up a few concerns with the A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) procedure. While most people surveyed said they believed that Hamilton had a current plan when dealing with possible threats, some students have brought up their concerns. One student mentioned, “...Most shooters [are] students who go through the same A.L.I.C.E. drills like the rest of us.” Another student noted in regards to going over the A.L.I.C.E. procedure at the beginning of every school year: “The plans that we have are essentially useless because no one is thinking back to a presentation on the first day of school when their life is in danger.” Students believe that there is an active safety plan in place in the event of an emergency, but struggle to see the usefulness in real-life applications. Since each situation is different and largely circumstantial, it is hard to come up with an effective plan, but these students beg the question if the A.L.I.C.E procedure is the most effective.
Schools are typically taught a lockdown approach or a multi-option approach. A lockdown approach has students and teachers hide in a locked area, typically a classroom, and wait for law enforcement. Multi-option approaches, like A.L.I.C.E, allow individuals to choose what is best to do based on the situation. Many schools still employ the “Traditional Lockdown,” where students and teachers hide in classrooms and wait for first responders. Another common procedure that schools use for active shooter drills is, “Run, Hide, Fight.” This is similar to the A.L.I.C.E drill due to the fact that they are both multi-option procedures. If possible, this procedure calls for an evacuation first. If evacuation isn’t possible, then the next step is to lock down in the classroom. The last part of this procedure, if the attacker were to gain access to the classroom, would be to fight back, using anything the students can find. United Educators talks about the benefits and drawbacks of both types of procedures. They did a study on both and found, “Participants using the multi-option approach apprehended a classroom shooter three minutes faster on average than those using lockdown procedures.” However, concerns were raised about multi-option approaches because there are worries that, “Staff and students (particularly younger students), who are in the throes of a real active shooter incident, may choose the wrong response option, further endangering themselves and others.” No matter what approach a school uses, it is important to be transparent and prepared. United Educators includes multiple points for how to approach active shooter training including, “Confirm the training method you employ, and any live practice drills, are age appropriate,” “use multiple forms of training,” and “evaluate your training and practice drill outcomes.” Hamilton has a set procedure in the event of an active shooter, but successful practices do not stop after a drill is over. It is important to have continued conversations about what worked well and what could be improved during the drill, different scenarios (different time of day, being in the restroom, after school, etc.) in which a shooting may happen, and how the drills affect the school as a whole.
The teachers, on average, had similar responses to the students: they were nervous for their safety, wanted more communication, and knew about the safety measures Hamilton has, but were not 100% confident in its ability to protect themselves or their students. Many teachers reported that they felt as if they were becoming numb to the severity of school shootings due to the prevalence of them. The growing apathy when discussing this topic worries me, along with much of the school’s population.
One teacher in particular answered the question: “What would you change about your school's procedures?” in a way that centers on the culture of mental health. The teacher remarks,
“We need a better system of ‘see something, say something’ or maybe an incentive program for students to speak up. We could use more mental health awareness for all stakeholders (students and staff alike).”
A teacher at Harvest Middle School mentions the prevalence of school shootings and her worries about how the bullying in their school would affect the mental health of the school. The Sandy Hook Promise provides a free “Say Something” program that promotes speaking up in cases of violence, bullying, or other serious incidents. The middle school teacher reports,
“In the months after having our first Say Something week, the number of students ‘saying something’ about bullying or violent incidents went up dramatically. Our wellness team was able to quickly address these issues and, slowly, the culture started changing around our school.”
Programs like these allow for open conversations about a variety of issues in hopes of improving a school’s culture. If Hamilton were to have more in depth conversations about serious topics and issues, students would be more comfortable reporting possible issues when they see fit.
The Sandy Hook “Say Something” program is just one of many training initiatives that have taken place over the past years. Even just a short training period caused the students at Harvest Middle School to be more responsive, and the amount of students who spoke out about violent instances and bullying “went up dramatically.”
At Hamilton, there is a program, “Character Strong,” that runs during home advisement periods throughout the month. This program is supposed to help students with behavior, safety, and mental health. However, more often than not, these lessons do not run, and home advisements, after the first couple of weeks, rarely occur outside of standardized testing dates. This calls into question the impact of “Character Strong” on students. The message: improving behavior, safety, and mental health is great, but I would argue that more practical and impactful lessons would transpire with programs like “Say Something,” which also focuses on mental health, safety, and appropriate behaviors, but advises students and teachers what to do in the event that any of these areas are threatened.
It is clear that both students and staff alike share an overwhelming consideration for the community at Hamilton High School. They help cultivate this productive learning space, and they see, just as much as I do, areas of improvement surrounding school safety to help benefit everyone. In the event of a tragedy there needs to be more communication—not just on the procedures and protocol, but also on the causes, mental health, and stigma surrounding it. Overwhelmingly, people believe that Sussex Hamilton is a safer space than most schools, but there needs to be more active communication overall if it is to stay that way.
