School Lockdown is an Option

School Lockdown

"Lockdown only" protocols are ineffective, "lockdown failed Sandy Hook", lockdown led to a 92% failure rate at Sandy Hook.  These are some of the comments found on the Internet in regards to school lockdowns.

A "straw man argument" is when a person creates a weak position for an opponent, in order to falsely strengthen their own.  The "lockdown only protocols are ineffective" argument is just such an argument.  While many schools have Active Shooter Protocols that feature lockdown, I have met few educators who practice "lockdown only."  Good school safety officers teach school staff to constantly assess a situation and make decisions accordingly.  Thus, even if the Active Shooter Protocol says 'lockdown', they may decide the best alternative is to evacuate.  It should be pointed out that "Run, Hide, Fight" advocates state, "There are no right responses," and that their protocol is as bereft of detail for staff as a "lockdown only" protocol.

An actual claim has been made that "lockdown failed Sandy Hook."  This claim does not hold up to the facts.  Principal Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach left a conference room with Natalie Hammond to go see what was going on in the hallway.  When they got out into the hallway, they told the others in the room, "Shooter! Stay put!" (Reuters, 2012) What was she telling them to do?  Lockdown.  Natalie Hammond was wounded, but crawled into the conference room and lay in front of the door to secure it.    The number of people who were killed in the conference room?  Zero. 

Kaitlin Roig was a teacher in the first classroom in the hallway.  She had 14 students.  Her door was shut, with a black paper over the window.  When she heard the shots, she herded her children into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.  The number of people killed in her room?  Zero.

Lauren Rousseau was a substitute teacher in a first grade classroom.  She had a special needs assistant and sixteen students with her.  She did not have keys to the room, but was in the process of getting her children into the restroom.  Two teachers and fifteen children were killed, with one survivor, who played dead in a corner of the restroom.

Victoria Soto was a first grade teacher.  She was not able to lock her door.  In fact, the keys were found close to her body.  However, 11 children were able to survive, nine by running out of the classroom, and two by hiding.

Noone was killed inside of a locked room.  If lockdown was not applied, it cannot fail.

I am very confused as to the '92% lockdown failure rate' at Sandy Hook.  To me, lockdown fails when it fails to keep a shooter out of the room.  I am aware of only one instance, in the Red Lake shooting, in which a locked door failed to keep out a shooter.  No such instance happened at Sandy Hook.

Lockdowns are a valuable safety tool, ironically dating back to the first recorded use in a school in Danbury, CT in 1900.  A jilted suitor went to the schoolhouse to talk to his former girlfriend.  She got her kids inside and locked the door, whereupon he killed himself.

Schools and first responders should continue to work together to make their students and staff safer.  Lockdowns should be a part of the toolbox schools can use.