In early September, HMSA held their first active shooter drill of the 2018-2019 school year! Quite a tragedy it was, in most classes and perhaps even outside on the black top. The active shooter drill is meant to be taken seriously, helping students and staff prepare themselves in case an actual active shooter were to come onto our campus.

When the announcement of the drill is aired, students are supposed to immediately take action and block all the entrances. If students are outside, they have to run to the nearest gate in an attempt to escape the active shooter.
However, in our recent episode, not all students were taking it seriously in such a critical time. During the drill, a large amount of students across multiple classes cracked jokes. This joking, although a normal reaction to a drill, leads to a higher chance of putting their classmates in danger if they acted this way in a real situation.

“The active shooter drill showed me the obvious, which was that anything can happen at any time. The drill also showed me how much people lack in helping out or functioning as part of a team,” commented an anonymous student. “The class which I was in, during the drill, did make it out okay, but the teacher didn’t help at all and my classmates were all just laughing and not helping out in any way.” This student wasn’t the only one who had a classroom full of chuckles and giggles; there are plenty of others out there who went through the same situation.

Even if the majority of students didn’t help out, there were some who took the drill more seriously. “The more serious students participated in blocking the door with weapons in hand, while the rest of the class were laughing and joking around in the back of the classroom” said Erica, a student at HMSA.

The drill wasn’t a total success for some but it was quite an experience for a few; in fact, I’m sure at least some students and staff have a good idea on what to do next time in a shooter drill or when the real deal actually happens.

“My first experience was actually pretty interesting. Most of the kids in my class were laughing in the back, but some were stacking up the desks, and tying up the door with belts was pretty cool! They managed to open up our door, but it was still interesting either way,” commented another student.

During the drill, students should work together as a team, and should keep quiet until it’s over. Although it was a practice, it should be taken seriously.