Active Shooter Drills in the United States: A National Study of Youth Experiences and Perceptions

The purpose of this study was to understand youth experience and opinion surrounding active shooter drills.

MyVoice is a national text message poll of the youth ages 14-24 years that collects youth opinion on salient policy issues. Participants are recruited to meet national benchmarks. Five open-ended probes were posed to participants on August 2, 2019. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis; quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics.

Among respondents (815 of 1283; 63.5%), the average age was 18.7 years (SD = 2.9). Most were girls (52.9%), non-white (42.8%), and with < high school diploma (56.9%). Responses centered around three themes: drill methods vary, active shooter drills cause emotional distress, and youth perceive drills to have questionable benefit. The majority (60.2%) mentioned that drills make them feel "scared and hopeless," but many (56.1%) also noted drills "teach kids on what to do." Others (24%) stated drills do not improve safety because they inform potential shooters or are ineffective because "people will likely panic, forgetting their drill."

Many youth report that active shooter drills have a negative effect on their emotional health and are conflicted on their effectiveness.