What advice do you have for a teenager in school during an active shooting?

[Ghost1958]

Escape if possible and LEO hasnt gotten there yet. Running from a building where a shooter is into a bunch of nervous hyped up LEO isnt something Id relish doing. Otherwise know where the most hidden unaccesable place in the school is get to it and stay there, be it inside a locker, air vent, any nook or cranny not likely to be noticed. A mass shooter isnt going hunging thru every little corner for individuals hes there because its a target rich environment where he can kill as many as quickly as possible. If all else ffailed keep moving, fast using cover as much as possible. Hitting a running rabbit in a rabbit hutch of rabbits is harder than shooting a sitting one.
Telling teenagers to try to swarm someone armed with a AR unarmed ehhhhh I dont know about that one

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jakor]

As a high school teacher, my plan is to lock the door, stack desks in front of the door, and fashion weapons from what we have on hand. Text books make good projectiles, my golf clubs in the closet make a good weapon, so does my tactical pen. We have a sledgehammer that's a trophy from a rivalry game that would certainly make a heck of a dent in an attacker. We have black spray paint that will blind an attacker. I've read enough about the shooting in Tennessee (I think) where one kid attacked from the inside while his friend waited on teh roof that I hesitate to flee the school. There is a ton of open ground to cover between my window and any cover, at least a quarter mile.

I'd love to CC. The emphasis on being concealed. I don't want to spook the sheep, but I don't want to be a sheep, either.

[HKinNY]

Took my son lock the door and wedge as many pages of a text book under the space of the door. Stick another one as a ramp. Hell with what the teacher says. Push the desks in front of the door. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR UNLESS IT IS YOUR SISTER. DO NOT CARE WHO IT IS. Grab a fire extinsher and spray powder or liquid in the shooter eyes. Beat them to death with the fire ext.

[tessa]

put teachers desk vertical and against the door. All students desks on their side with the desk tops facing the hallway wall. You want several layers of desks as bullets will go through 3 walls/desktops. Lie on the floor immediately behind the desks so the layers of desktops protect everyone.

[SayVandelay]

I wouldnt send my kids to public school if they came home with a million dollars every day. My advice would be to drop out and go to the library, at least there's a cop there

[EastCoastMojo]

Another weapon that you can consider having in the classroom is a can of wasp/hornet spray. They shoot a stream of nasty about 20 feet very accurately, and I guarantee the attacker will have a world of hurt with a face full of that stuff. Plus, it goes unnoticed by most people, just say you were having a problem with wasps finding their way into the classroom.

[Spirit51]

I wouldnt send my kids to public school if they came home with a million dollars every day. My advice would be to drop out and go to the library, at least there's a cop there

This is your advice??

This is a serious concern for many people. To make light of it is really not the way to go.

I have seen good advice, tactics and comments. Then there is YOUR comment.
Not funny nor helpful.

[sparkykb]

I have always looked at the window route when I find myself planning an escape. Find someone that's been to Airborne School to teach the kids how to perform a Parachute Landing Fall! A PLF could help a lot in a second story jump. When done properly one can hit the ground, roll, and be back up running in seconds with no injuries. Most important part....keep the feet sand knees together and slightly bent!

[nmbr5ml]

There are too many variables for a 'one size fits all' plan.

The advice I drill into my kids' heads, and my wife's, is first, to do SOMETHING. There is no time for denial. If something's not right, if you see someone with a gun, you hear gun shots, screaming, we are conditioned (in our polite society) to downplay; to assume that it's nothing, it's a prank, or a hoax. Kind of like that guy who just reversed course and headed directly at me in a huge parking lot, he probably has a question or something. If I start yelling or run from him, I'll look like a weirdo. The last thing we want is to look like a paranoid psycho by reacting defensively. That hesitation can be fatal. REACT! The consequences of overreaction in a case like this are minimal. The consequences of hesitation can be grave.

Second, is to consciously break out of societal norms in an emergency. This also does not only apply to mass shootings. If you need to escape, the cost of replacing a broken window cannot be a consideration. The emergency exit you know not to use because it's alarmed. Yeah, it's still there. Can you punch out a ceiling tile, jump on a desk and escape through it? Do it. To use a non school shooting example of this in action, I hear people say all the time that they were "blocked in" on the road by a raging motorist. Your car will go over the curb. Some tire tracks across a median or someone's yard are better than sitting in your car, trying to call 911 while you're beaten. Most of us follow the rules and conduct ourselves in a way that when an emergency occurs, we may not consider reactions that would save our life, because in other circumstances they would constitute vandalism or scare other people.

The recognition that we live in a dangerous world, and the willingness to avoid threats may make it difficult to befriend random strangers one would encounter out in totally uncontrolled environments, if that ever even happens, but it will keep you safe, and minimize your chances of having to face down threats with a weapon, let alone be slaughtered. This is as true in a school shooting as it is for adults like most of us here.

[ShrinkWhoCan'tThink]

^^^^^^^..................^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is what I have told BOTH my daughters, one a senior in HS, the other is in college.
A chair and window are your friend.
I don't care if you are on the second floor or higher, usually there are bushes there to break your fall.
Hopefully there won't be too many shards of glass to come into contact with when you land.
Whatever happens to them would most likely be a better alternative than being shot.
Who gives a damn what the school "plan" is.
I worry about my 3rd. grader, for he would most likely NOT be able to facilitate throwing a chair out the window, but he was told that if he can open the window and fit out, to bail and run.

EXCELLENTLY PUT! Much better advice than trying to hide and stay in a room that may or may not lock.


LesbianShrink a conservative libretarian, psychiatrist, and wife to the most amazing woman.
“We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.” This quote has been attributed to both the
Talmud and Anaïs Nin (although an actual citation for neither quote can be found).
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Cold Shot]

shoot back

[ncsteveh]

shoot back

I know for a fact 25 years ago that would have been a viable action at my HS, there were most likely more guns in students cars in the parking lot than in the police station.

You would have heard about a mass defense instead of a mass murder on the news.

Oh how times have changed

[1MoreGoodGuy]

shoot back

I was going to write the same thing...you beat me to it.

[BWBracelets]

Free yourself from the state sponsored progressive propaganda machine and take responsibility for your own safety and education.

[packinnova]

IMHO trying to train young children to respond to an armed intruder in a school would be counterproductive and disrupt the learning process. Parents and school authorities would be better off concentrating on better means to ensure no armed whack-job ever gets past the front door: All exterior doors should be locked from the outside and equipped with crash-bars in case of fire. Security personnel should be stationed at the front door before and after school to protect students as they enter or exit the building. Metal detectors should be part of the entrance equipment with hand scanners for the security people. If possible, the school should be placed on the route of police patrol units with frequent and random presence. Some sort of visual emergency signal, perhaps a blue light, should be fixed in a highly visible location that could be activated like a fire alarm from several locations. Schools, like malls and other public places are extremely difficult to defend without disrupting their purpose. As a retired teacher of 35 yrs. I don't favor arming teachers or students for a plethora of reasons, mainly along the lines of armed security guards in banks. I do think an armed police resource officer is a good idea if the school or district can afford it.

I don't think any of us like that idea, but I think I'd much rather them have the information to form a rapid, educated decision on the spot to gather/create whatever tools necessary if they can't get away. To tell them to just hide and hope the police save them or the shooter doesn't find them is a much less favorable idea to me.
But that education has to happen at home NOW because they're certainly not going to get that at a public institution unless they happen to have one of the few profs that are here on DC...