Lockdown drills are routinely conducted in schools across the U.S., yet little is known about the impact of such practices on participants--particularly for the faculty, staff, and administrators charged with student safety. The present study considers the effects of lockdown drills and associated emergency response training on perceived safety…

Mass shootings in schools raise important questions about how best to keep individuals safe and increase survivability in such situations. One of the most common techniques used is lockdown drills, which train individuals to build time and space between them and the threat. Despite their use in 95% of public K-12 schools nationwide, their efficacy…

Despite their proliferation in schools across the U.S., the impact of lockdown drills on students remains largely understudied. Despite their goal of preparing students -- along with teachers and school staff -- for situations like the 2018 shooting in Parkland, FL, questions have been raised in both the public and academic discourses about…

In response to calls to evaluate the effectiveness of school crisis drills, this study examined the effects of children's crisis drill participation on their knowledge, skills, state anxiety, and perceptions of school safety. Using a between-subjects, post-test only design, 74 students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades participated in an…