1. Holding Emergency shooter drills (Active shooter drills)

Active shooter drills is dominant method that can be used to teach school children and students what to do and prepare them for worst-case shooting situation. Simulated gunfire and rubber bullets can be used to make the drill realistically engaging during a drill session.

Emergency shooter drill usually involves having a lockdown procedural drill for the students whereby the students go behind the door and possibly out of the line of sight. The students and the facilitator get into positions in the lockdown and practise in that manner.

Pros

It is quite effective when the shooter fires warning gunshots probably within the school premise before getting closer to his victims allowing the children and students time to lockdown.

It induces mental alertness in the kids and students’ psychology and makes them become conscious of their immediate environment.

Cons

Active shooters drills can trigger psychological trauma in some kids especially for kids who have experienced violence previously. Some educators maintain that though it is a good corrective step, realistic drills are so terrifying that they cause unnecessary psychological trauma to school-aged kids and students. Psychological trauma is a serious mental condition for children.

Emergency drills would largely be ineffective and also more dangerous if the shooter is a student who would be familiar with the procedures. This was the case with Nicholas Cruz, who perpetrated a massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida, US  on 14th February, 2018. Despite the widespread practice, no active school mass shooters have been stopped through emergency drills in practice.

It would also be difficult to get the kids settled back into academic work after lockdown drills.

2. Use of bullet-proof backpacks

School kids and students’ backpacks cannot give so much comfort in limiting the intended catastrophe of a school mass shooter when he is on rampage. I don’t see the use of backpack as a standalone protective measure but a subordinate and backup procedure to more protective or preventive procedure if it can be conveniently applied when such a shooting incident is happening.

Pro

They are soft armours can help protect against stray bullets.

Cons

They may not be effective against firearms

School backpacks cannot under any circumstances stand up against the assault rifles so often used in school mass shootings

Backpacks will not really help students if active shooting takes place in a class since most schools require students to keep their backpacks in their lockers while lessons are on-going.

3. Use of stop-the-bleed kits

The least in the measures is the use of stop-the-bleed kits. The kits include tourniquets, compression bandages and blood-clotting hemostatic gauze  to prevent excessive blood loss.

Pro

It is used to resuscitate a bleeding victim with a gunshot wound until the arrival of the paramedics.

Con

Stop-the-bleed kits is useless when the gunshot bullets kills the victim instantly or when the bleeding is too much for it to stop from which the school kid or student or school staff eventually dies.