School's OUT

Schools Reverse on Gunman Defense Tactic

A suburban Fort Worth school district has halted a program teaching students to attack a gunman if he invades a classroom, administrators said Wednesday.

The district will continue to train students in how to respond to life-threatening situations but no longer will show them how to take down an attacker, spokesman Richard Crummel said.

Robin Browne, an instructor for Response Options, the security company that provided the training, had recommended that students and teachers "react immediately to the sight of a gun by picking up anything and everything and throwing it at the head and body of the attacker and making as much noise as possible. Go toward him as fast as we can and bring them down."

Teachers in all 11 schools in the district in Burleson, a working-class suburb with about 26,000 residents, have received the fight-back training over the past 18 months, as have students at one elementary school and the high school.

Crummel said the district didn't know about that aspect until the training had been completed.

"That was not something we believe in and not something we supported," he said.

This story illustrates, better than anything I have ever seen, the dichotomy that exists between the Left and the Right. People who actually believe you should at least fight for survival vs people who really believe it is better to roll over and be the victim. Given the recent incidents of fatal school shootings and their circumstances as widely reported, even with the evidence of dead children staring them in the face on the nightly news - some parents in this school district raised a stink about this self defense program and brought pressure to bear on the powers that be - to eliminate that portion that instructed the students to fight for their own lives. Be assured, that these same parents would fight tooth and nail against having metal detectors or police officers in the schools or random locker searches and would be the first to sue the school district for negligence if one of their precious babies were shot. Nothing deters getting shot better than a gun. Failing that - the next best thing is to fight with all your might, because the alternative is certain death.

Bomb-a-rama left a comment that will help put this into perspective.

Schools Reverse on Gunman Defense Tactic

By JEFF CARLTON

BURLESON, Texas - A suburban Fort Worth school district has halted a program teaching students to attack a gunman if he invades a classroom, administrators said Wednesday.

The district will continue to train students in how to respond to life-threatening situations but no longer will show them how to take down an attacker, spokesman Richard Crummel said.

Crummel said the district didn't know about that aspect until the training had been completed.

"That was not something we believe in and not something we supported," he said.

Browne, however, said district officials have known of the "active response" component since training began. Crummel and Burleson High School principal Paul Cash were even present for a live demonstration of the training for a TV news show, Browne wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Browne also wrote that he considers his company's training "without the active response aspect to be dangerous and liable to lead to multiple casualties." Response Options is withdrawing from its agreement to train Burleson teachers and students and is "handing the matter over to its attorneys for resolution," he wrote.

The district has paid Response Options about $2,500, Browne said.

The district sent letters to parents Friday expressing regret for the training and saying the district "does not, nor will we support teaching our students to attack an intruder."

Burleson officials fielded calls from parents, law enforcement officials and other school districts after the policy made national news earlier this month. Some people expressed fear it would get children killed.

"On a national level, people are calling in and saying, 'Bravo,' for at least looking at other options," Crummel said. "On a local level, people are concerned about one thing: how it affects their children." Link