Preparing Your Kids for Violence at School

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It isn’t easy to imagine that the school your child attends every day could turn into a dangerous place. No parent wants to imagine willingly sending their children into harm’s way. But reality is harsh. Children face a wide variety of violence at school. The gamut runs from teasing to bullying to physical abuse and occasionally even violence perpetrated with bombs or firearms.

Just yesterday a shooting took place at a school in Kentucky. The question every time America is faced with violence at schools is, “what should be done about it?” There are myriad ways schools, police forces, and governments can better protect children, but it’s up to parents to talk to their kids about violence at school.

Your child or grandchild shouldn’t have to face any abuse or violence at school, and the first step to saving them from abuse is letting them know it’s not OK, and that, even as small as they are, they can have an impact on their own safety. Teach your child to think and act for themselves.

But how do you prepare your child for a shooter? The Department of Homeland Security recommends the Run, Hide, Fight strategy. The plan has many critics, but despite that, it’s easy for kids to remember and it’s a great place to start. The plan breaks down like this:

RUN
- Have an escape route and plan in mind
- Leave your belongings behind
- Keep your hands visible
HIDE
- Hide in an area out of the shooter’s view
- Block entry to your hiding place and lock
  the doors
- Silence your cell phone and/or pager
FIGHT
- As a last resort and only when your life is
  in imminent danger
- Attempt to incapacitate the shooter
- Act with physical aggression and throw
  items at the active shooter

The same plan is also recommended for adults who could find themselves facing a shooter at the office or in a public place. Here’s an explanation video created by the city of Houston in 2012.

Despite some flaws, the Run, Hide, Fight plan is a simple way to focus kids and adults on protecting themselves in the face of violence, not just at school, but anywhere.

Most importantly, Run, Hide, Fight is a way to get a conversation started about your own situation. If the plan doesn’t work for your circumstance, at least you have established that and can work toward a plan that does. Don’t let inertia prevent you and your family from thinking about your own safety BEFORE tragedy strikes.

Originally posted at Yoursurvivalguy.com.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.