Serenity Seigel's worries about a potential mass shooting at her school began at the young age of 7.
Her fears were ignited by the tragic 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, where 20 children and six adults lost their lives. As she got older, she witnessed more incidents of gun violence in the news. The 2018 Valentine's Day mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, only heightened her anxiety, making her concerned about the possibility of violence in her own North Indiana community.
When she entered high school as a freshman, Seigel and her peers were exposed to a video simulation. The simulation depicted their classmates pretending to be dead while a police officer wearing a ski mask roamed the school halls. Right after watching the video, Seigel and her classmates participated in a lockdown drill, huddling in darkness as a school staff member jiggled the doorknobs.
Reflecting on the experience, Seigel, now 19 years old, shared with CBS News, "Seeing a video that felt so real and witnessing a gunman in the hallways of the school I navigate every day, alongside people I've grown up attending school with, lying on the ground and feigning death, was far too realistic for my anxious mind to handle."
When the lights came back on, Seigel expected that she and her classmates would be able to talk about what they had just gone through — but instead, she said, class resumed as normal, and her third-period Spanish class began taking a test that she said she did terribly on because she was so rattled by the drill.
Students across the United States have experienced fear and anxiety like Seigel's, especially as lockdown drills have become common in the 25 years since the Columbine High School massacre, which left 12 students, one teacher and the two perpetrators dead. At the time, it was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, and remains one of the most high-profile mass shootings. The trauma of the day.
Before the Columbine shooting, schools practiced drills for fires and natural disasters. After the 1999 massacre, states enacted lockdown and active shooter drills, according to a report from the Federal School Safety Commission. As of 2024, about 95% of public schools in the U.S. practiced active shooter or lockdown drills in the 2015-2016 academic year, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, with more than 40 states requiring such drills. Research suggests that the drills can impact students' mental health negatively, and there have been calls for change that could make the drills less upsetting.
Impact of Drills on Students' Mental Health
Research indicates that teenagers in the United States are under significant stress, according to Dr. Christine Crawford, a psychiatrist at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Crawford, who also serves as the associate medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, highlights that while not all stress can be attributed to lockdown drills and concerns about school shootings, these drills do exacerbate the situation.
Dr. Crawford explains, "Today, children have unprecedented access to information about global events. This constant exposure leads to a heightened sense of fear, with the looming possibility of a crisis occurring close to home. Through social media, news outlets, and conversations with adults, young individuals are bombarded with messages portraying the world as unsafe and unpredictable."
Lockdown drills can activate the amygdala, the brain region responsible for processing emotions such as fear, according to Dr. Crawford. Consequently, students may struggle to derive meaningful lessons from these drills.
Dr. Crawford elaborates, "Participating in these drills can lead to trauma as it triggers stress responses within the brain and body. With repeated exposure, students may exhibit instinctual reactions like freezing or fleeing, hindering their ability to follow the intended safety protocols set by school authorities."
"I find myself on edge whenever I hear about a drill. It brings back those terrifying memories and makes me worry about the possibility of getting hurt," shared Lewis, a member of the National Youth Advisory Board for Sandy Hook Promise. "I now have this new fear lingering, simply because I've lived through it before."
Crawford and Gurwitch suggested that schools could take steps to safeguard students' mental well-being while still carrying out what Lewis described as the "necessary evil" of lockdown drills. They proposed that schools should ensure students and their parents are informed about the scheduled drills so they can be mentally prepared. Additionally, allowing students time to relax and unwind after the drill can also be beneficial, according to Gurwitch.
"(Turning stress) on and off that fast is unrealistic for adults, and it's definitely unrealistic for kids," said Gurwitch, who is also a senior adviser at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. "There needs to be something after these drills, at least a little bit of 'What was that like for you? Let's practice some breathing to calm our bodies and resume our day.' There needs to be a recognition that students did well. For some students, that activation (of stress) may last a little longer and we can help if we see that students are continuing to struggle."
Why drills can differ so widely
A major problem with lockdown and active shooter drills is that there's no standardized practice for them, experts said.
Most often, the drills focus on teaching students where to hide in case of an emergency. Some schools might hold simulated drills, like the ones Siegel experienced. Recently, an elementary school in California made headlines when its principal reportedly pretended to shoot at students and teachers, according to CBS News affiliate KTLA. Gurwitch said there is "zero reason ever" for drills like this, and said that they can be even more upsetting for students and teachers who have already experienced traumatic events.
Some legislation to standardize active shooter or lockdown drills has been put forward. A bill recently introduced in California would require that schools give advance warning of drills and ban the use of fake gunfire. Indiana recently enacted a law based on model legislation from Sandy Hook Promise meant to ensure that drills are "conducted in ways that limit trauma," according to a news release from the organization.
Experts Suggest Ways to Make Drills Easier on Students
Some schools are rethinking how they conduct drills in order to minimize stress on students while still imparting important safety lessons. Abby Clements, an elementary school teacher in Newtown, Connecticut, shared that her school has been focusing on conducting lockdown and active shooter drills with a "trauma-informed lens" since the Sandy Hook shooting. This approach involves having only one drill per year and ensuring students understand they are not in real danger. During evacuation practice, teachers aim to make the process feel more like a leisurely walk, emphasizing that students are familiar with the route without instilling fear.
Clements expressed, "It's crazy what we're doing. And you know, I'm not saying get rid of (lockdown drills). That's not what anybody is saying. Instead, let's do it in a trauma-informed way." Having experienced the Sandy Hook tragedy firsthand, she questions the efficacy of causing trauma in the name of preventing it.
Aside from altering drill methodologies, some schools are revamping the overall classroom environment to prioritize mental health and wellness. Gurwitch, involved in developing a program to equip adults with trauma-informed skills, aims to foster positive, supportive, and trusting relationships with students.
Michelle Estrada, a teacher at a Florida elementary school, shared with CBS News that her school implemented Gurwitch's CARE in the Classroom program at the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year. This program has facilitated discussions among students about their stressors, including lockdown drills. At her school, lockdown drills are immediately followed by fire drills, causing what Estrada described as "back-to-back trauma" for the students. To address this, students and teachers now engage in a debriefing session after the drills, providing an opportunity for students to share their experiences and feelings.
"Through these debrief sessions, students can openly discuss their thoughts and ask questions without hesitation," mentioned Estrada.
"This approach has made it more comfortable to navigate challenging conversations," added Estrada.
