As school shootings have become increasingly frequent across the U.S., so too have safety drills and other precautionary measures in schools.
As a result, teachers, school staff and parents have been confronted with the uniquely difficult job of explaining to kids – sometimes as young as 5 years old – why they must practice hiding in their classrooms with the lights off instead of working on their math problems.
The recent Evergreen High School shooting – in which a 16-year-old student critically wounded two classmates before fatally shooting himself – was one of 105 school shooting incidents in the U.S. since the beginning of 2025, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun violence advocacy organization.
At least five of those incidents occurred since Aug 1, according to Everytown.
There is no universal response system for dealing with school shootings, in Colorado or nationally. However, the Colorado Department of Public Safety Office of School Safety recommends that K-12 schools implement five basic response actions in the event of an emergency. Those responses include lockdown, lockout, shelter-in-place, evacuation and release and reunification – protocols that reunite students with parents or caregivers after an emergency.
Local K-12 schools conduct various safety drills during the school year, including those that simulate responses to incidents such as an intruder on campus. Many also use the Standard Response Protocol, the Incident Command System and Safe2Tell, and employ campus security officers. Some local schools, such as Animas High School, have bullet-resistant glass installed in classroom windows and doors. Others, including schools in the Ignacio School District, have locked double-door systems that require all visitors to be buzzed in.
Drills and safety measures in local schools are well developed and carefully practiced – but how do schools explain the “why” behind the drills to students ages 5 to 18?
The short answer: It depends on age and the discretion of school leadership.
Across the board, local schools said the wording and level of detail used during drills vary slightly depending on grade level – though the drills themselves are practiced in virtually the same way across all grades.
Some local schools, such as Mountain Middle School, choose to keep communications about drills intentionally vague.
“We’re trying to strike a balance of not being too alarmist, but also being ready,” said Mountain Middle School Superintendent Shane Voss. “So, we don’t use words like (‘shooting’ or ‘gun’) with the students. I don’t think that’s really appropriate. (We say), ‘this is what we do for your safety,’ and they understand that.”
Voss said he prefers to leave conversations about gun violence and specifics behind the drills to the discretion of parents.
Figuring out how to talk to children about school shootings is no easy task – and data show many adults, including parents, are uncertain how to do so.
“I hear from parents all the time, (and) it’s troubling what they’re seeing in the news,” Voss said of Mountain Middle School parents. “And it’s really not just this year, right? It’s been far too many school-related shootings.”
Durango School District spokeswoman Karla Sluis said calm, reassuring language is intentionally used when teachers communicate with students – especially those in primary grades – about safety drills. Like at Mountain Middle, language used by district teachers remains fairly general.
“They might say, ‘This is like a fire drill – something we practice to stay safe, not something to be afraid of,’” Sluis said.
The idea of protecting students by avoiding language that might cause alarm is shared by most local schools. But students – especially high schoolers – have mixed feelings about the strategy.
Durango High School sophomore Acacia Kuster said the vague language from school staff during drills feels comforting, but sophomore Maddison Hopp said she would prefer more direct communication.
“It’s better to just hear it, and know what (is happening),” she said.
Zane Compton, a Durango High School sophomore, shared a similar view. “I would prefer (the language be) more upfront, because I don’t like how they treat us like we’re 4-year-olds,” he said.
DHS sophomore Carter Imel said his parents are direct when discussing school shootings and safety measures. “I feel like my parents, especially, have been more upfront about school shootings than the teachers ever have, because it’s more personal, right?” he said. “I think it’s an unfortunate reality that you have to come to terms with.”
Bayfield School District uses slide decks to communicate with students about safety drills, said Superintendent Dylan Connell. The slides are edited by Bayfield Primary School Principal Jan Alderton to be applicable across age groups.
“She makes those student-friendly, with the intention of not creating fear or anxiety for the students – but making sure they have the education they need to be safe,” he said.
Bayfield Intermediate School Principal Willie McAllister holds training sessions for teachers on conducting drills and communicating with students, Connell said.
Elizabeth Bauer, a first grade teacher who has taught at Bayfield Primary School for 21 years, said students sometimes bring up shootings while practicing or discussing drills. When this happens, Bauer said she gently redirects the conversation.
“They hear things on the news, (and) they will bring up something about shooting(s),” Bauer said. “I don’t think it's good to feed their imagination. When it comes up, I just address it as, ‘we’re going to talk about what we do (during a drill), and we’re going to treat every drill – whether we know it’s a drill or not – like it’s the real deal, so that when we are actually in that situation, we know (what to do), and we can be peaceful about it.’ They just really seem to accept that.”
At Animas High School, “compassionate, clear, direct and supportive communication” is the standard approach for safety drills, said Director of Operations Christine Imming. The Standard Response Protocol video from the I Love U Guys Foundation is previewed by staff before being shown to students, Imming said.
The five-year-old video features a then-teen Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting survivor and the former school resource officer on duty during the 2013 Arapahoe High School shooting. Together, they explain the five Standard Response Protocol actions and what should be done in different scenarios.
The word “attack” is used in place of “shooting” throughout the video.
In Ignacio schools, “honest and plain” conversation is used when introducing drills, said Superintendent Chris deKay.
“At the elementary school, they do something a little bit different than at the middle school and the high school, but they talk about the reason for the drill, and what the different SRP protocols are, and why they’re in place, and why we need to take it seriously when we drill them and practice (them),” deKay said.
“As a school district, you definitely lean on the fact that teachers are trained in the pedagogy of their student, right? So they know about how old the kid is, (and) about what they can handle,” he said.
Some youth mental health experts cite direct, age-appropriate communication as the best approach when talking to children about school shootings. Others, like Jason St. Mary, executive director of La Plata Youth Services, say the key to effective, intentional communication lies in individualization.
Age, trauma history, individual capacity and the presence – or lack – of a foundational relationship between the adult and the young person should all be considered when discussing difficult topics such as school shootings, St. Mary said. With those factors in mind, St. Mary said giving a child or a teen a brief, direct explanation when they ask about safety drills or school shootings can be beneficial.
“I really believe that, ultimately, some information is helpful,” he said. “We have to provide some level of understanding about what’s going on. And people are curious, right? We want to know why things are occurring, not just, ‘we have to do this.’ I think you can answer that question directly without providing a multitude of information coming their way, because that could also be traumatic for a young person, especially with a trauma background.”
St. Mary, himself a father of a teenager, said knowing how best to communicate about such a difficult topic with young people is never easy.
“It’s such a difficult situation to be in, but this is the reality that students face,” St. Mary said. “We continually see these events occurring across our country, and I think there’s merit in preparing and practicing these things in case a tragedy does hit our community. But sometimes, you’re really just picking the least harmful option out of what’s available to you at any given time.”
epond@durangoherald.com
