During orientation week, the Emerson College Police Department spoke about the active shooter training offered on campus in the first year. Emerson freshmen have not yet had the opportunity to participate in this training, but they are already imparting valuable lessons. They can also occur in college.
From the first year of kindergarten to the last year of high school, there were 67 mass shootings at K-12 schools in America. For the past four years, especially in high school, I have been haunted by these shooting stories. With each new horrifying headline, I mourned the victims and their families. I wish you safety at school. I became very aware of the potential dangers on my high school campus. As I crossed the stage at graduation, I was relieved. Cold and heavy, like crossing an invisible finish line. I said to myself, “I did it.” I didn’t know how or why, but I did. I felt that the danger had passed.
Three months later, I arrived at Emerson College and learned about the ALICE Active Shooter training program offered on campus. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. The purpose of this program is to encourage “proactive tactics” in response to potential campus shootings. New threats and very real threats never thought of before. In recent weeks, I have come to accept that school shootings are not confined to high school or elementary school. I’m here. Oikos University, Umpqua Community College, Virginia Tech.
This newfound knowledge saddened the carefree college life I envisioned. I felt cheated and began to wish the violence had not been brought to my attention. I felt better without it. I thought ignorance might really be bliss. Still, I came to believe that my new realizations were of value.
According to ECPD Director Bob Smith, one of the main goals of the ALICE program is to teach students situational awareness, teaching them to be aware of their surroundings and to recognize threats. is. This skill helps students recognize and communicate threats, and in that moment “weakens the ability of an armed hostile intruder to do harm,” Smith said.
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This situational awareness mindset was already in place even before I participated in the training. Knowing the vigor of training is a reminder that the school shooting was not left behind. It’s devastating, but it’s important.
For the first few years, the first weeks of college often feel like a turning point. A chance to let go of the old and embrace the new. However, you can’t, and don’t have to, leave everything behind. Just as there is value in knowing that we have not left the threat of gun violence behind, there is value in embracing new lessons when addressing gun violence in new academic settings.
The ALICE training is an important safety lesson for all Emerson students, and for those of us who haven’t yet attended, there’s a lot to learn. I hope new Emerson students don’t ignore that class has already started. Let this be our wake-up call.
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