Last month, New York state Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon proposed changes to New York’s mandate of four lockdown drills each year. They propose the following:
- Decrease the number of required lockdowns from four to one per school year
- Require one week advance notice to parents about the drill, giving them the option to opt their child out
- Provide accommodations to students with special needs
- Give teachers training sessions to provide an age-appropriate explanation
Since the number of mandated drills increased from one to four in 2016, studies have shown, ‘increased levels of depression and anxiety in children.’ Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement fighting to protect people from gun violence, also believes that four drills per school year is too many. They feel that kids sometimes do not know the difference between a drill and an actual threat and also that parents should be able to prepare their children ahead of the drills or choose to opt out. Read more here.
