For many kids in the U.S the standard lock-down drills are a normal regular part of any school year. Most kids have never and hopefully never will experience the fright that comes with a real lock-down.

Many kids don’t question the way that they are formed when the lock-down drills occur, they just go with the flow until that ring comes on the speakers with a very calm staff member saying all clear to the drill, which just follows with us going back to our regular schedules, but what if you’re told there is more ways that you could prepare if disaster ever struck.

Many students during the procedural lock-downs just joke around uncaring what is going on during a very serious drill.

“If there was ever a real lock-down I would kill everyone that was loud, well not really but I would be really angry at them,” Valerie Gonzalez, an 8th grader at Dobie.  

Even though Valerie was just joking , she has the right to be upset at the loud, ignorant kids. Why should those kids risk the safety of the whole class. If we are going to allow those kids to be wild and crazy in lock-down drills how will we be able to trust them if a real lock-down should ever occur? If we are going to allow this then there might as well be more than just a wall separating students from a dangerous intruder.

“To make a lock-down safer I think we should have hiding places in each class rooms,” 8th grader, Kathleen Melton.

The idea of doing more than just sitting huddled in a corner has been passed around the U.S for awhile now. Many schools have been teaching their teachers defensive fighting tactics to use if an intruder should ever stumble into their class rooms intending to cause harm. They have also started to teach kids how to defend themselves against an enemy 4 times their size.

One thing that may help schools be more prepared for a surprise attacker, because not all school have the opportunity to warn teachers about an intruder, is a simple strategy plan that many people are being aware of.

This is basically just a set of ideas to go over if the first idea is unable to be done. Ranging in the best and safest plan to the more dangerous plan that should be used if your safety is at risk and you can’t escape it.

 -Run- If there is ever an intruder in the building try to run as far away from any sound that you believe may be the intruder. Do not ever run to the sound of chaos, unless you know you can stop them, but do not put your life at risk if there is a way you can escape or lead others to an exit.

 -Hide- If the intruder is too close to where you are, hide in a safe location near you (room, bathroom, etc.). If that door has a lock then lock it. If the door does not have a lock then try to barricade the door with any large items that may be in your hiding area, this also goes for doors that have a lock. The more the better, so you can have something between you and the intruder.

 -Confuse- At the chance that you never get a warning and the intruder just happens to stumble into your class,which is most likely to occur, try to confuse him/her. To put into more detail, the attacker is not going to wait for you to come up with a strategic plan so you must think fast.

The best thing that you can do to throw the intruder off guard is to throw with all your might the heaviest thing that you may have on your desk or in your backpack at him/her. It could be a book, a journal, if you’re strong enough your whole backpack. That attacker came in there to try to hurt you, thinking that it would be an easy target, but he would never be expecting you guys to react a quick as you did.

Once you have done the whole throwing spree try to jump on the attacker in a whole group. That will knock him/her off his/her balance, giving you time to pin him/her to the ground and disarm them off any weapon that they may have. By then you just have to have someone hide the weapon under a trash can and have them sit on it.

This is to secure that the intruder will not get his/her hands on it again, and ensure that the police will not confuse you for the attacker if you had been holding the weapon in your hands.  

Now those are just a few in many ways to try to protect yourself and others. The thought of even having to be prepared for an event like that is sickening, but it is a world that people now live in.

With many school shooting that people hear about in the news, everyone has to be prepared. If we cannot prevent attacks, let’s at least have knowledge on what to do in one. After all, every life that you can save , no matter who it is, is worth saving.