The nation's two largest teachers' unions want schools to revise or eliminate active shooter drills.
The American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association say they can harm students' mental health and there are better ways to prepare for the possibility of a school shooting.
Steve Webb is the superintendent of the Goreville School District, a school resource officer and the author of Education in a Violent World. He says there are concerns in exposing kids to violent scenarios. But, Webb says schools should tailor their drills based on age levels.
"Certainly high school kids could handle a lot more of the realism that you can portray within a drill than a kindergartener. So, you got to use a little common sense whenever you develop these drills."
Webb says a new Illinois law he supports requires students to be involved in drills, which must be conducted within 90 days of the start of the academic year. He says students are also involved in the planning.
"They have a stake in their facility and how we provide their safety net."
He says schools should conduct active threat drills to identify what to do if the danger is someone on the inside who wants to cause terror.
"Most active shooter drills or lockdown drills are somebody coming from the outside. What keeps me up at night is what's already on the inside."
Webb says beyond drills, schools need to address all types of behavior, not just typical threats.
"Last year, there were 26 total school shootings and I'm sure we heard about them all. At the same time, there were thousands of student suicides...young people suicides. Thousands! We hardly heard anything about that. Where is the outrage for how kids are dealing with their social lives?"
Webb says schools in southern Illinois take the threat very seriously and their plans are improving, but they lack the resources to handle the mental health of student behavior.
