Getting Rich on the Fears of Kids

Getting Rich on the Fears of Kids

If you are old enough you remember air raid sirens in schools. That was when we all huddled in inside classrooms away from windows waiting for the bombs to fall.   These drills were an outgrowth of WWII and the air raid attacks in Europe.  Thankfully the bombs never fell on the U.S. and the war had been over for five years or more but we still hid in bathrooms and inside hallways just in case.

Then came the Cold War and the fear of the nuclear bombs.  We all went through duck and cover drills.  Children were taught to put their hands over their heads and hide under their desks.   These were sturdy wood and metal desks so surely they would offer protection from the nuclear bombs that, again thankfully, never fell.

Now we are engaged in a new shooting war.   There is big money on the line as entrepreneurs seek to train teachers, children and other school personnel to prepare for active shooters entering our school buildings.   Through the first five months of this calendar year there have been 18 active shootings in schools.  There are 98,817 public schools in the U.S.  Those are only the public schools.  That means there is a 1 in 5489 chance that an invader will enter a public school.  Slightly more than the 1 in 6072 chance of getting killed in an auto accident.

One of the differences of the active shooter drills is that there is a new computer simulation created by federal agencies to make the drills seem very real.  Add this experience to our children’s infatuation with video games and you have a recipe for disaster.

When we had air raid drills and when kids ducked and covered, there were no visuals or sound effects to add to the alarm.  The authorities felt they were helping us.   We kids just thought it was one more thing, like fire drills, that we did to prepare for what would not happen.

These active shooter drills have the potential for real harm to kids and teachers.  Already school systems have allowed teachers to opt out of the training if previous trauma or violence experiences would cause them to relive these terrible experiences.

What about the kids!  Do they get to opt out if they confuse computer simulated drills with video games? Do they get to opt out if the computer simulation brings back memories of home or neighborhood violence?  Do they get to opt out if they are already experiencing mental health issues for other reasons?

Capitalism is a wonderful thing.  Our economy is based on entrepreneurs who have struck it big with the next great idea.   Do we really want that next big idea to be on the backs of scaring our kids and giving them nightmares?  Maybe another approach would be to spend that money on getting to know our students so we might prevent these tragedies in the first place.