Yesterday I listed on CNN Radio to one emotional mother talk about how her six year old son survived the terrible shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She had always told him if someone comes into the school with a gun he should run away.
This advice probably saved her son's life. The shooter came into the classroom, standing at the door and shot this child's teacher. The six year old, rather than hiding in the classroom or just staring in shock, had the presence of mind to follow his mother's advice and ran for the door, running past the shooter still standing there. He and a couple of his buddies ran down the hall and out of the school where a Good Samaritan woman picked them up and took them to the town's police station.
What a horrific thing for a six year old to watch and now have to live with for the rest of his life. I heard another father who said that day he was supposed to come to the school that day in the afternoon to make ginger bread houses. A little factoid that will never be forgotten. Such a senseless waste of human life and well being for that school and all the people who now have to have survival techniques drilled into them.
This is exactly what needs to happen. Tell anyone, children, teens, adults that the one key survival technique in a shooting incident is to run away, even if it means running past the shooter. Your chances go way up by doing this. I say that "Repetition is the Mother of Remembering." It is not enough to give this message just once. It has to be repeated again and again. A couple of months from now repeat the message. I remember my father always saying, "Safety First" it was drilled into him and he drilled it into me.
I still recommend the Run-Hide-Fight Back video for adults who might be subject to workplace violence. Note the first survival technique is to run--which is the most appropriate for kids. Hiding can work too, but fighting back on an adult is not recommended.
