The names Columbine and Virginia Tech have both become tragic shorthand for school shootings in America. In the wake of those shootings, schools have developed a fairly typical lockdown procedure when there’s a threat: sound the alarm, call police, lock doors and stay put.
The standard school-lockdown plan is intended to minimize chaos so police arriving on the scene don’t shoot the wrong people. Students practice following directions, getting into classrooms and essentially, waiting.
But some security experts think that response plan is inadequate and may actually be dangerous. A growing number of schools are now adopting controversial training that offers a different type of response — including how to fight back against a gunman.
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