8 | DECEMBER 2021
NEWS
Hawkeye
PREPARING FOR THE WORST USING ‘ALICE’
By Kaylee Miyamoto HAWKEYE STAFF
As in-person schooling started back up this year, so did the worry and concern about the threats and dangers posed for students at school. For many years and now decades, violent threats and actions have become more prevalent in schools, so much so that drills and lockdowns have been normalized in the average American teen’s life. Every year of in-person school since the late 1990s, not only have these threats increased, but so have the actual school shootings, causing districts to take actions to make sure their students aren’t hurt. On Nov. 30, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Shilling were fatally shot at Oxford High School, 30 miles north of Detroit, Michigan. Six students and a teacher were also injured in the incident. The shooter, Oxford sophomore 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, is now facing charges, and as the case continues, it was found that this situation was likely preventable and something that the school was aware of beforehand. This shooting is one of many, as shootings and violence at schools has increased. People with violent intentions can steal weapons like guns from parents or other adults in their life, then use those weapons to attack their fellow students, whether it be one person or as many people as possible. Following major events like the Oxford
shooting, schools across talk with your students “I feel prepared. ALICE gives us the nation received many options to use, rather than and encourage them to many threats about share with us if they a sequential plan.” shootings, bombknow anything.” Bryan Smelcer STEM TEACHER ings and other violent To counter this risattacks as some make ing problem, schools an effort to garner the same attention or fear across the nation have been working to preas a school shooter. Within our country and vent these situations by encouraging mental even Washington state, multiple schools health and for students to come forward, and were shut down as “copy-cat” and concerning have also been working to prepare students threats came to light online less than a week and staff on what to do in case of a violent following the tragedy in Oxford. intruder, student or not. In the Edmonds School District (ESD), The ESD has been using the ALICE drill police showed up to Edmonds Woodway for years as a guideline for students to follow High School after concerning graffiti was to make sure no one gets hurt in case of a found in the bathroom on Nov. 19 threatenviolent intruder. ing to “shoot up” the school on Dec. 8. Police “I feel prepared,” Bryan Smelcer, STEM presence was put in place on campus, howtecher, said. ”ALICE gives us many options ever many students and families still stayed to use, rather than a sequential plan.” home out of safety. Similarly at Scriber ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, Lake High School, a threat was found on a counter, and evacuate. Each word has a difbathroom stall that students reported to the ferent meaning and teachers guided students school, and later extra police presence was through the drill on Nov. 30, coincidentally put on campus to ensure students’ safety. the same day as the Oxford shooting. During Police were put on alert as well at Brier PASS, a presentation was given, and then Terrace Middle School following a threat classroom doors were barricaded and stumade on Instagram. dents practiced hiding across the classroom To address the increase in threats, the ESD to follow the protocol. sent an email to parents and families. “Our “We set up multiple tables against the door, community is strong, and we are grateful to and chairs to back it up,” Spanish teacher the student who came forward and alerted Marcie Setala said. the school to this message,” stated the email. However, there is still much that could be “We appreciate any additional information improved on how we practice using ALICE. that students may have about this. Please “Administrators should have given us more
of a heads up instead of just a PowerPoint,” Smelcer said. The disorganization and short notice caused some classes to not even make barricades. “I want our preparation to be more streamlined,” Setala said. ”All the classes should be doing the same thing in an organized and planned fashion.” The ALICE drill encourages muting phones instead of turning them off so students can communicate with each other about the situation through technology to help them be aware and potentially escape safely, but not to post publicly for non-students to see. The training also makes it clear that no students should try to be a hero and should only counter the intruder when necessary to regain control, not to fight. Evacuation is the final step of the drill, informing students to leave campus and not come back, contact family, and check-in via the news and school notifications. As in-person learning continues along with the rise in school violence, it is important for students to follow these guidelines and pay attention to these drills as it may be the difference between safety and harm. To prevent these situations, school officials say it is vital to report anything concerning or threatening to staff members or police and through the internet, as students often are the first to know about potential threats. H
NICO FRANCOIS | HAWKEYE
