Preparing Your Child to Survive a School Shooting

None of us want to consider the possibility that our child may be at a school where there is a shooting but the reality is that all our children are at risk. There are weekly incidences involving guns in the school, in fact it has become so common place that the news doesn’t even report it anymore. In a survey conducted in 2008, that 100,000 students in the United States report bringing a gun to school daily.

There does not appear to be a profile that encompasses all of the shooters to assist our children in identifying a potential shooter. It is likely that they have been bullied and that they like violent video games, movies and television shows. That describes 95% of all teenagers, so that provides no help. Help your child to understand that they should trust in their gut instinct about someone. The signs are there prior to the incident. In 93% of the shootings, students indicated that the shooters had been exhibiting behaviors that they found concerning. Early identification may assist the shooter in getting the help that they need and prevent a tragedy. In addition, make sure that they know what to do if they see someone with a weapon. They should get away from the person and report it to a school staff member immediately.

Here are some ideas from a book entitled Surviving a School Shooting: A Plan of Action for Parents, Teachers and Students by Loren W. Christensen that might just save your child’s life.
*First and foremost, teach them to flee if they have can and run as fast as they can. If they can’t go out the door, try the window. If there is no exit, barricade the door with filing cabinets or book cases.
*Encourage your child to do some pre-planning by taking a look around all the areas that they are in throughout their school day for exits, hiding places and things that they may be able to use as weapons to defend themselves against a shooter. Remember even a stapler can be a weapon.
*Help them to learn and practice breathing techniques, like Diaphragmatic breathing to use when they find themselves in any crisis situation.

For additional ideas about what you can teach your child to do in this type of situation, read this book or one similar to it. The one hesitation that I have about the information in this book is that it goes into some detail about how to teach your child to fight back. I am not sure that I would encourage my child to fight back, and I think that you should take some time to think about what you would want your child to do in this situation. I recommend that if you are going to encourage your child to fight back when facing a shooter, get them some formal training. Many martial arts schools offer this type of self-defense training.