After an earthquake, schools hold earthquake drills to remind students of what to do in case of such emergency. The rules are established and the guidelines are standardized for easy adoption by schools. Why should a drill for an active shooter in the school be treated differently?
A drill intended to prepare students, especially schoolchildren, for an actual active-shooter incident on campus should not include requiring the children to experience a simulated attack. That was the position of the Philippine Psychiatric Association and the Philippine Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in a joint statement asking the Department of Education (DepEd) to defer the drills scheduled for last Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
The DepEd decided not to push through with the activity on that date and postponed it to the first week of September. It cited bad weather, the suspension of in-person classes, and the need for more time to seek expert advice.
It had initially ordered schools to conduct simultaneous nationwide school safety drills for active attack incidents on August 25. In later postponing the drills, it said the activity would be “age-appropriate and trauma-informed, focusing on basic protective actions, communication, coordination, accountability, and recovery.” It also said there will be no hyper-realistic or graphic simulations as these could cause unnecessary fear or distress.
The drills would have taken place only days after the August 18 shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School, where one student was killed and the alleged shooter, also a student, later killed himself.
In their joint statement, the medical groups said, “Simulated active-attack exercises expose learners to hyper-realistic scenarios of violence… Multiple studies demonstrate that they can cause lasting psychological harm across age groups.” The drills, in other words, might cause more harm than good. The groups instead recommended preventive, trauma-informed, evidence-based and developmentally appropriate measures, including tabletop exercises.
No need to simulate the violence itself. There should be no gunfire, actors posing as shooters, fake victims or fake blood.
The active attack incident drill is different from an earthquake or fire drill.
In an earthquake or fire drill, students prepare for a physical or natural hazard by practicing a generally established set of actions. During an earthquake drill, for example, students are instructed to “duck, cover and hold,” evacuate through designated routes, assemble in a safe place and undergo a headcount. No actual violent shaking, just as fire drill does not require smoke and flames. These drills can have a template because the protective actions can be predictable.
In the case of an active shooter on campus, the attacker can be unpredictable, can move, change direction, and target persons. The appropriate response may depend on the attacker’s location, movements, and intentions.
Parents should also be part of school safety planning. Knowing how schools screen people entering the campus, how threats can be reported, and how the school will communicate with them in an emergency will be important for parents.