Just as we were weighing up the odds of a deranged individual invading my son’s state school in east London, we heard the terrible news of the Manchester synagogue attack and realised that the possibility is something we may all need to grapple with. The Southport inquiry is still hearing horrific details of Axel Rudakubana’s attack, which left three little girls dead and others brutally injured at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year.
Like everyone, I fervently wish there was no need to build something as alarming as a lockdown drill into our kids’ school routines. Only the other day I was talking to a friend who has left Los Angeles for Ireland, partly because the frequent “active shooter” drills were making the threat of violence too uncomfortably commonplace for her liking — and affecting her children’s mental health.
Lockdown procedures aren’t entirely new. The DfE first included a template in its 2019 guidance and many schools — particularly Jewish ones — already run “invacuation” drills. But in April new guidance and the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, known as Martyn’s Law after the Manchester Arena bombing victim Martyn Hett, placed clearer obligations on all schools, both primary and secondary, to formalise these plans.
Not all schools are implementing lockdown drills. “In England it is an expectation rather than statutory guidance,” explains Ben McMullen, head of a west London primary, of his decision not to do so. “There have been more and more events recently in the UK that move us closer to the dreaded American model,” he acknowledges, “but I think schools weigh these measures carefully in terms of the unwanted psychological impact of bringing the issues into sharper focus for young people already exposed to so many worries.” For the time being, “we have decided that the medicine might be worse than the ailment. This may change this year, though.”
My son shared his teacher’s description of the new drill — which will involve pupils hiding under their desks with the lights switched off — with a mix of excitable fascination and a teenage eye roll that it’s deemed necessary. He was more curious than worried, but as we got into the nitty gritty of exactly what he might be being protected against, I realised I was slightly at a loss about how to be reassuring rather than alarming.
Many parents will be weighing up the same dilemma: how do we talk to our children — part of a generation already deemed more anxious than any other — about the threat of terror attacks in a way that won’t add to their worries? Here’s what the experts advise.
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“It’s shocking and it feels like America has landed on our doorstep,” says the psychotherapist and author Julia Samuel, “but it’s important that you sound calm when you talk to your child about this subject.” Work out what you are going to say and, if you have more than one child, talk to everyone all at once so they all hear the same information at the same time.
“Children of all ages need the same truth as the adults around them,” Samuel says. “What children don’t know, they make up. And what they make up is often much more frightening than the truth. Say that very few but some people want to harm others because of their beliefs; that there are some dangerous people but emphasise that they are vanishingly rare.”
Maria Shooter is deputy head of a primary school in Skipton, North Yorkshire, which has followed lockdown drill procedures for several years. “We tell them it’s a challenge to stay super-quiet, like a game of hide and seek, which is a good way to reduce any stress or anxiety.”
As you talk, Samuel suggests checking their understanding and their view. “One question I ask all young people is: what are your worries? An open question like this could result in them saying, ‘Will it mean I will miss my lunch?’ or ‘Will it mean I will be killed?’ And you can respond accordingly.” Whatever their fear, she says, don’t dismiss it.
“Children are quite savvy,” Shooter says. “If they ask specifically about an intruder I will say, ‘Our school is a safe place with locked doors and windows but it’s a good idea to practise hiding to stay safe.’
“Teachers are aware of which children will need support during drills and will assign themselves and support staff to be with them as it happens,” Shooter adds. “Some children do get very anxious and those are the children that, as a class teacher, I will have with me or a nurturing TA [teaching assistant].”
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“Fundamentally, for any age child, whether they are 6 or 16, schools are safe places to be and that is the thing to focus on,” says the educational psychologist Dr Gavin Morgan, chair of the Division of Educational and Child Psychology at the British Psychological Society.
Point out that incidents are extremely rare. Share any facts you have. For example, you could say that there are more than 32,000 schools in the UK but there has only ever been one shooting (in 1996 in Dunblane).
“Don’t sugar-coat the possibility of danger but don’t make it worse,” Samuel advises. “Remind them that feeling frightened does not mean something bad is going to happen. Feelings are not facts.”
A growing body of research in the US suggests that lockdown drills can increase stress and anxiety in some students. One 2023 study showed that post-lockdown drill anxiety was reported by almost one in three (27 per cent) young adolescents, and most likely among those with experience of bullying or skipping school for safety.
“After a drill, talk to your child about what happened and how it unfolded,” Samuel says. “Ask them what felt odd and how they felt emotionally.” Even if they appear unperturbed, keep the lines of communication open. “Say, ‘If you want to talk about it, come back any time.’ This conversation is not a case of one and done.”
