Thursday, December 11, 2008

Training Kids to fight Gunmen

MSNBC reports that a Fort Worth, Texas school district is teaching students what to do if a gunman invades their classroom.  The instruction, provided by "Response Options," that employs military trainers,  is teaching kids to attack the intruder:
rush him and hit him with everything they've got — books, pencils, legs and arms.

One of the trainers, British Army reserve Major Robin Browne recommends that 

students and teachers “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. Go toward him as fast as we can and bring them down.”
Naturally this training is controversial, but as the father of an eleven year old, I'm in favor of it. If someone comes into the classroom shooting, there's no point sitting there, being a target, and waiting to die.  Unfortunately there aren't too many places to hide in a typical schoolroom. As Maj. Browne says:
“The fact that someone walks into a classroom with a gun does not make them a god. Five or six seventh-grade kids and a 95-pound art teacher can basically challenge, bring down and immobilize a 200-pound man with a gun.”
 

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