While schools across the nation are revisiting their lockdown plans and evacuation procedures in the wake of a spate of school shootings, crisis planning in Burleson, Texas, looks a little different. The 11-school, 8,500-student district is teaching students—even elementary-age pupils—to fight back if confronted by a gunman in the classroom. The district is thought to be the only one in the country embracing such a plan. Students are trained by instructors from the company Response Options, including Maj. Robin Browne, a British army reserve member. Browne tells children to “react immediately to the sight of a gun by picking up anything and everything and throwing it at the head and body of the attacker and making as much noise as possible.” While there haven’t been any parent complaints about the training so far, a spokesman for the local sheriff’s department said he was concerned. “You’re telling kids to do what a tactical officer is trained to do, and they have a lot of guns and ballistic shields,” he said.
A version of this news article first appeared in the Web Watch blog.
