Lockdowns at School: Differing Views Over What Works

The basic steps of a lockdown are described

Lockdowns became a staple in school emergency plans following the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999. Lockdowns move students and staff out of the way of potential harm as quickly as possible. This often means going into locked classrooms, offices or other locations considered more secure than open hallways or common areas.

Differing perspectives recently have gained attention as to whether lockdown drills are adequate or if other approaches should be incorporated into school planning. Many representatives from law enforcement or homeland security advocate for options-based training, which encourages school staff and students to run, hide or fight in an emergency.

Other experienced school safety experts oppose such tactics, arguing that running from a shooter versus locking down creates target-rich environments and risks greater losses of life, and teaching to attack gunmen presents greater safety and liability risks. School leaders considering options-based training may wish to consult with their school attorneys and insurance carriers for their opinions on potential risk and liability exposures.

Lockdown Measures

The basic steps in a typical lockdown include:

 Initiate a lockdown call. During lockdown drills, notices often come from school public address systems typically located in main offices. Consider, however, in a real emergency, the main office could be compromised. Having multiple locations and/or methods for initiating lockdown notifications should be a part of planning.

 Move quickly into a secure room or location. Avoid common areas such as open cafeterias, hallways, stairwells, gyms and restrooms.

 Turn off the lights. The goal is to make the room appear as if no one is inside. Lights on could be one of the first indicators that someone may be hiding inside a room.

 Move as far away from the doors and windows as possible. Post-Parkland discussions in Florida have referred to “hard corners,” a law enforcement tactical phrase to describe room locations where it would be harder for a shooter to hit a target when shooting into a classroom from outside of the doorway. While hard corners is not a phrase typically used in schools, the strategy of moving away from classroom doors and windows has been the lockdown guidance given with the same intent for years.

 Minimize your physical exposure. When possible, seek protective cover. Exactly where the most appropriate or available hard corners exist and how to minimize physical exposure will vary greatly within every school.

 Remain calm and quiet. Noise attracts the attention of persons with ill intentions who otherwise might not detect people in a locked room. Teaching students and staff to be quiet while in lockdown is one of the most important but often underemphasized points in lockdown training.

 Wait for an all-clear signal. What an all-clear signal will be and how it will be delivered may vary school to school. This should be discussed with local first responders prior to an actual incident.

 Debrief for lessons learned. Small lessons learned can make a big difference in a real emergency. While school crisis teams may do more formal debriefings, all staff and students should be asked for input from all drills to learn what worked well and how drills can be improved.

Diversified Drilling

School facilities vary greatly. The specifics of how lockdowns will unfold need to be discussed and practiced at each school.

Just as with fire drills, students and staff become proficient and efficient in locking down through practice. It is important for administrators to reasonably diversify lockdown drills. Having lockdown drills only when it is convenient for staff and students does not equate to reasonable and realistic practice.

Diversifying drills by conducting them during lunch periods, between class changes and at arrival or dismissal times can add challenges into the mix to get staff and students to better think on their feet in a real emergency.