A bill proposed Tuesday would ban fake shots from active shooter drills in California public schools and require schools to notify students, teachers and parents in advance if a drill is planned. It is also mandatory to do so.
The measure was introduced by Democratic Rep. Chris Ward, who argued that some school districts are going too far in preparing students for possible tragedies, including reenacting shooting scenes in an all-too-realistic way. There is.
Schools across the state have ramped up live-fire training in recent years in response to a rise in mass shootings, but there has been little guidance on how to conduct the drills.
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In the absence of formal guidelines, Ward said some drills involve trainers acting as school shooters, students pretending to be dead, and fake weapons being used to fire blanks. This was stated when the bill was introduced.
Last month, the principal of an elementary school in suburban Los Angeles was placed on administrative leave after pretending to shoot a student during a drill and then announcing that the student was “dead,” KTLA reported. In some cases, schools fail to notify teachers, parents, and students about active shooter drills, creating confusion and panic.
Ward said such simulations could do “more harm than good.”
Democratic Rep. Chris Ward spoke at a press conference about a bill that would set standards for active shooter training in schools. The bill would ban fake firings and require advance notice. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)
“When it comes to fire drills, we don’t fill the hall with smoke or turn up the thermostat,” he said. “We shouldn’t be doing the same thing to our kids when it comes to active shooter training.”
As school security has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry in recent years, some groups have called on lawmakers to eliminate active shooter training. His 2021 study by Everytown for Gun Safety and the Georgia Institute of Technology linked active shooter training to increases in depression, stress and other mental health issues among students.
The bill would require the state Department of Education to provide standardized instruction on active shooter training. It would also ban the use of fake gunfire and require schools to notify parents before and after active shooter drills and make a school-wide announcement before the drill begins.
Schools also need to plan age-appropriate training and make mental health resources available afterwards.
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“Currently, there is no standardized process for school active shooter drills, and this is mind-boggling to me,” said Democratic Rep. Mike Gipson, who is sponsoring the bill. “This is common sense law.”
Ileana Marie Williams, a member of Students Demand Action at California State University, Sacramento, said active shooter drills and lockdowns have been traumatic for students. When high schools went into lockdown a few years ago, Williams was locked out of the classroom. She wasn’t sure if it was training or not.
“There are no words, no way to describe the horror of feeling like a sitting duck, waiting for a gunman to come around the corner and start shooting,” Williams said Tuesday. “Every lockdown, every drill, every second spent looking for a way out is a form of gun violence.”
