On October 27th, during second hour at Dakota High School, an Avoid, Deny, Defend drill took place. This drill is mandatory by law and must be performed by all staff and students at least twice within the school year. One needs to take place within the first sixty days and the other can be held any time after that. Because of the events that have occurred in the state of Michigan within the last year, it is particularly important that everyone takes these drills seriously. This drill’s main purpose is to ensure the staff and students safety within the school building, preparing them for any internal or external threat. The threats include an intruder, active shooter inside of the building, or someone outside of the building causing community violence. During this time, each class is required to take action, do anything necessary to protect themselves, and make crucial decisions while keeping themselves calm. Below states how to act in an avoid, deny, defend drill. 

Avoid- The first thing you should do is try your best to avoid the situation and make sure you are in the safest place possible. If you happen to be near an exit when an internal threat is announced, leave the school, and get as far away as possible. Make sure you remember to keep your hands up as you are walking out of the building so that officials know that you are not armed. Most importantly, do not get in your car and drive away. This could cause a grid lock on the campus, making it harder for officers to lead staff and students to safety. 

Deny- If you are not able to leave the building because shots are fired near your classroom, you need to deny the intruders entry. You can do this by blocking any entrance to your room with tables, chairs, bookshelves, anything that is heavy and would be hard to move over in a fast amount of time.  

Defend- Although your door will most likely be locked and barricaded, if an intruder happens to be near you and in your sight, it is necessary to pick up the largest, heaviest object near you and throw them as a form of distraction. Objects that can be used are chairs, books, and scissors. Anything that you can pick up that is able to cause harm will be effective.  

Each teacher is given a folder that provides them with information about emergency response plans that could take place. Although it is very unfortunate that we must speak about something like this happening, it is real, and everyone needs to know what to do if ever in this situation. Some students think it is a good idea to make light of this situation by making jokes whereas others obsess over the fact of a situation like this occurring at their school. The number of school shootings is not decreasing, in fact it has continuously increased since the year 1970. It is crucial that we, as a community, take action to recognize the importance of practicing the Avoid, Deny, Defend drill with students in all grades. 

https://education.ky.gov/school/sdfs/Documents/Trauma%20Toolkit%20-%20Lockdown%20Drills.pdf 

https://fightingchancesolutions.com/pages/how-lockdown-drills-save-lives 

The importance of fire drills: https://thedakotaplanet.com/18146/news/importance-of-fire-drills/