Last month, the National Student Council (NSC) offered its recommendations on gun violence prevention and safety to White House and federal officials. In a December 17 letter, NSC President Anjali Verma writing on behalf of the NSC gave feedback on active shooter drills, mental health, and safe firearm storage. NSC is a flagship student leadership program of NASSP.
Following President Biden’s Executive Order on September 26, 2024, NSC representatives were invited to share their insights during three listening sessions with senior policy officials at The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, and Justice.
The letter provided the following key recommendations:
Active Shooter Drills
- Make opportunities available for students and educators to provide constant feedback on drill execution, highlighting what went well and areas for improvement.
- Students must be specifically trained to report alarming behavior from peers, including threatening social media posts, drastic changes in behavior, aggression, or violent tendencies.
- Using the most current data to highlight best practices for drills, including practices limiting the use of hyper-realistic props, sound effects, and unannounced drills.
- ‘Safe language’ education for teachers and school leaders to use developmentally appropriate terms during drills, avoiding insensitive language.
- Informing school leaders about the diverse range of drill programs designed to fit a variety of school needs. Proactively providing accommodations to students with disabilities.
- Speaking about drill protocol in different settings multiple times per year.
- Collaboration with local law enforcement and/or school resource officers (SROs) to ensure schools and students understand their role in the event of an incident.
- Ensuring all teachers, including temporary teachers are properly trained by a trained law enforcement professional, including active shooter preparedness programs, courses, resources, training pre-incident indicators, characteristics, and development of the emergency action plan as similarly provided by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA.gov).
- Trauma-informed practices for students who have personal experience with gun violence or safety threats to reduce emotional stress.
Mental Health
- Funding for student mental health support through Title IV and expanded access to trained professionals such as counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
- Sustaining conversations post-drill to create an environment for students to ask questions and verbally process events.
- Prioritizing mental health resources after school safety threats and other incidents.
- Increased awareness of mental health professionals and other resources.
- Student-led wellness clubs and other teen-led groups to improve school culture and reinforce ‘safe spaces.’ Student groups can help reduce stigma and encourage active help-seeking.
- Mental health risk assessments, peer-to-peer training initiatives, and resources allocated to effectively practice school and student safety.
- In collaboration with law enforcement, to require student and parent involvement in the understanding of consequences when students make threats which rise to the level of a felony and/or incarceration.
Safe Firearm Storage
- School districts receiving mental health or suicide prevention funding should conduct yearly instruction on firearm safety, firearm storage safety, and suicide prevention.
- Age-appropriate education on secure storage of firearms (firearm safes, trigger locks, and cable locks), information on risks associated with incorrect firearm use, unintentional injury, mass shooting, and steps to take if students encounter an improperly stored firearm.
- Required parental/guardian involvement and instruction about home and vehicle gun safety to ensure firearms stay out of the hands of children.
NASSP and the National Student Council will continue to advocate for safe schools and mental health resources.