Participation of Children and Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills and Exercises - Coalition to Support Grieving Students

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POLICY STATEMENT               Organizational Principles to Guide and Define the Child Health
                                                           Care System and/or Improve the Health of all Children

                            Participation of Children and
                            Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills
                            and Exercises
                            David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP,a Marlene Melzer-Lange, MD, FAAP,b Andrew N. Hashikawa, MD, MS, FAAP,c
                            Peter A. Gorski, MD, MPA, FAAP,d,e COUNCIL ON CHILDREN AND DISASTERS, COUNCIL ON INJURY, VIOLENCE, AND POISON PREVENTION,
                            COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH

Children and adolescents should be included in exercises and drills to the extent           abstract
that their involvement advances readiness to meet their unique needs in the
event of a crisis and/or furthers their own preparedness or resiliency. However,
there is also a need to be cautious about the potential psychological risks and
other unintended consequences of directly involving children in live exercises              a
                                                                                             National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Children’s
and drills. These risks and consequences are especially a concern when                      Hospital Los Angeles and Department of Clinical Pediatrics, Keck
                                                                                            School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
children are deceived and led to believe there is an actual attack and not a drill          California; bDivision of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics,
and/or for high-intensity active shooter drills. High-intensity active shooter drills       Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin, Milwaukee,
                                                                                            Wisconsin; cDepartments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics,
may involve the use of real weapons, gunfire or blanks, theatrical makeup to                 Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;
give a realistic image of blood or gunshot wounds, predatory and aggressive                 d
                                                                                             Departments of Pediatrics and Humanities, Health, and Society,
                                                                                            Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University,
acting by the individual posing to be the shooter, or other means to simulate an            Miami, Florida; and eDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Miller
actual attack, even when participants are aware that it is a drill. This policy             School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
statement outlines some of the considerations regarding the prevalent practice
                                                                                            Policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics benefit
of live active shooter drills in schools, including the recommendations to                  from expertise and resources of liaisons and internal (AAP) and
                                                                                            external reviewers. However, policy statements from the American
eliminate children’s involvement in high-intensity drills and exercises (with the           Academy of Pediatrics may not reflect the views of the liaisons or the
possible exception of adolescent volunteers), prohibit deception in drills                  organizations or government agencies that they represent.

and exercises, and ensure appropriate accommodations during drills and                      Drs Schonfeld, Melzer-Lange, Hashikawa, and Gorski all contributed to
                                                                                            the manuscript concept and design, critically reviewed and revised the
exercises based on children’s unique vulnerabilities.                                       manuscript and earlier drafts, and approved the final manuscript as
                                                                                            submitted.

                                                                                            The guidance in this statement does not indicate an exclusive course
                                                                                            of treatment or serve as a standard of medical care. Variations, taking
BACKGROUND                                                                                  into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.

                                                                                            All policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics
Historically, children of all ages have generally not been included in crisis               automatically expire 5 years after publication unless reaffirmed,
preparedness efforts in the United States, including participation in live                  revised, or retired at or before that time.
drills and exercises, and certainly not to the extent that children are
represented in the general population. This lack of planning and practice for                   To cite: Schonfeld DJ, Hashikawa AN, et al. AAP COUNCIL ON
the needs of children represents a significant oversight that increases the                      CHILDREN AND DISASTERS, COUNCIL ON INJURY, VIOLENCE, AND
vulnerability of children in the event of a crisis.1 However, increasing                        POISON PREVENTION, COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH. Participation
                                                                                                of Children and Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills and Exercises.
concerns about the risk of mass casualty events in schools throughout the
                                                                                                Pediatrics. 2020;146(3):e2020015503
United States have given rise to crisis preparedness efforts that now include

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PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 3, September 2020:e2020015503                              FROM THE AMERICAN                  ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
children in high-intensity live crisis       other means to simulate an actual               rare events. These events, therefore,
exercises such as active shooter drills,     attack, even when participants are              provide limited opportunities to test
which are increasingly held in schools       aware that it is a drill.2                      the efficacy of interventions in real-life
and involving children of all ages,                                                          situations. School safety, especially
including early elementary school- and                                                       related to school shootings, has
preschool-aged children as well as           STATEMENT OF PROBLEM                            generated opportunities for products
college students. For the purpose of         The majority of school districts                and services that together represent
this policy statement, “children” will       currently require active shooter drills,        major financial investments, without
be used to refer to children and youth       among other emergency drills and                much or any evidence of efficacy.5
of all ages (ie, 0–21 years of age),         exercises within schools and other              Products promoted for purchase by
unless stated otherwise. The American        community settings.3 If planned and             schools now include bulletproof
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)                  conducted thoughtfully with sufficient           barriers or shelters intended to
recommends that children be included         attention to the potential emotional            accommodate the full class and
in exercises and drills only to the          impact of participation and conducted           teacher that can be used as panic
extent that their involvement advances       in a manner that is developmentally             rooms in the event of a school
adult readiness to meet the unique           appropriate, exercises such as                  shooting.6 These types of training and
needs of children in the event of            lockdown drills may be completed                interventions proposed have rarely
a crisis and/or furthers their own           without a major negative impact to              been evaluated, despite an escalating
preparedness or resiliency. However,         most children.4 However, in practice,           demand for both.
there is also a need to be cautious          active shooter drills are often planned
                                                                                             Recently, researchers have begun to
about the potential psychological risks      and conducted without guidance from
                                                                                             question the efficacy of some popular
of directly involving children in live       those familiar with the unique needs
                                                                                             training approaches. For example,
exercises and drills. These risks are        and vulnerabilities of individual or
                                                                                             Dorn7 conducted more than 8000 one-
especially a concern when children are       groups of children, which is critical to
                                                                                             on-one controlled video and audio
deceived so that they believe there is       inform best practices. The unique
                                                                                             simulations and, in the study, found
an actual attack and not a drill and/or      needs of young children (eg, those in
                                                                                             that school personnel who completed
for high-intensity active shooter drills.    early care and education settings),
                                                                                             active shooter training designed to
                                             children who suffered traumatic
                                                                                             train people to make decisions among
A lockdown is an emergency                   events in the past, and those with
                                                                                             various crisis response options (eg,
procedure to minimize risk of harm to        physical, intellectual, and
                                                                                             whether to run, hide, or physically
students and staff when a significant         neurodevelopmental disabilities are
                                                                                             attack a shooter) were almost twice as
threat of violence within (or near) the      rarely considered and addressed in
                                                                                             likely to misjudge many critical action
school is present. A lockdown                live exercise planning. Preparedness
                                                                                             steps in simulations compared with
generally involves the immediate             initiatives and approaches need to be
                                                                                             untrained school staff who relied on
movement of students and staff into          evaluated to ensure that they are
                                                                                             common-sense actions. For example,
rooms in which doors are locked and          effective, and research is needed to
                                                                                             adults who completed the training
students remain quiet. Other security        demonstrate that these initiatives do
                                                                                             were more likely to attack a child who
measures are often followed,                 not cause untoward distress or other
                                                                                             was holding a gun and threatening
including darkened lights, shades on         unintended consequences for
                                                                                             suicide or run from a classroom when
exterior windows, and covered doors,         individual or groups of children and
                                                                                             staying within the room was the safer
and children moving to an area that is       school staff or other adult participants.
                                                                                             alternative.
not visible from hallways. Lockdown
drills are when lockdown procedures                                                          It is possible, and even likely, that
are practiced in the absence of              EVIDENCE BASE                                   other well-intentioned preparedness
a threat, including as a form of             Although there is general agreement             efforts may inadvertently cause
preparation for a possible armed             that the direct involvement of children         children and adults to place
assailant (in which case, some people        should be based on the value of                 themselves in additional danger in
may refer to this as an active shooter       including them in crisis drills and             a crisis situation. Children (and adults)
drill). High-intensity active shooter        exercises, their age and developmental          might be taught to fight a heavily
drills may involve the use of real           capabilities, and their personal                armed intruder, when fleeing or hiding
weapons, gunfire or blanks, theatrical        vulnerabilities, there is a limited             would be a more appropriate
makeup to give a realistic image of          evidence base on how to make these              response. Children taught to provide
blood or gunshot wounds, predatory           assessments. Mass shootings in                  first aid to a bleeding peer or remain
and aggressive acting by the                 schools, although highly visible in the         near an injured person to comfort
individual posing to be the shooter, or      media and social consciousness, are             them may remain in harm’s way in an

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2                                                                                                 FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
active shooter event and place                   Law enforcement personnel who                    complete with a police response and,
themselves at increased risk of                  place their own lives in jeopardy have           in at least one situation, armed
becoming a casualty.                             the unenviable responsibility of                 weapons pointed at school-aged
                                                 protecting children from such acts of            children. This is based on the belief
Some students and school personnel
                                                 violence and may understandably                  that simulations that evoke the same
may feel empowered by being able to
                                                 suggest taking virtually any action              level of distress as real events better
actively participate in live exercises
                                                 that may save a child’s life, thereby            prepare participants to act
because they may feel that it better
                                                 leading them to recommend involving              appropriately at a time of true crisis.2
prepares them for possible events.
                                                 children in high-intensity drills. Their         During one recent live exercise in
These individuals may, however,
                                                 passion may need to be balanced with             which high school students were
underestimate how others with
                                                 concerns of unintended mental and                deceived to believe it was a real
different personalities, coping styles,
                                                 physical consequences and/or the                 event, children sobbed hysterically,
personal histories, and individual
                                                 lack of evidence about the efficacy of            vomited, or fainted, and some
vulnerabilities may respond. Children
                                                 certain approaches.                              children sent farewell notes to
and adults who receive training to
                                                                                                  parents. Children risked physical
respond to a crisis may feel                     Law enforcement personnel benefit
                                                                                                  harm when a stampede ensued, and
comforted because it provides them               from regular and realistic
                                                                                                  students jumped over fences to
an illusion of control. However, such            opportunities to practice critical
                                                                                                  escape.10 In one situation, staff were
efforts could result in increased guilt          skills, much as physicians do. It,
                                                                                                  intentionally shot at close range with
if the individual is not able to respond         therefore, stands to reason that these
                                                                                                  pellets as part of the training.11
in the idealized fashion in a real               professionals would seek
event. For example, children taught to           opportunities to identify and then
                                                                                                  High-intensity crisis preparedness
fight back against an armed intruder              practice how best to respond to active
                                                                                                  efforts may contribute to a distorted
or adult staff who are armed with                shooter scenarios in schools and
                                                                                                  sense of risk in children and perspective
a weapon to shoot a potential                    other settings. The question is
                                                                                                  that adults and peers need to be viewed
attacker may feel substantial guilt if           whether and in which situations
                                                                                                  as potential killers. More broadly, these
they end up fleeing (appropriately) or            children and adolescents should be
                                                                                                  activities can increase children’s anxiety
are unable to save the life of a child or        actively engaged in such live exercises
                                                                                                  and fear that the world is a threatening
peer in an actual attack. These and              and how the exercises should be
                                                                                                  place.12 This atmosphere of
other unintended consequences need               conducted to minimize the negative
                                                                                                  a continuous threat of violent death is
to be carefully considered, and                  impacts on students. Guidelines
                                                                                                  likely to increase anxiety further among
programs need to be evaluated more               developed by the National
                                                                                                  children when frequent threats directed
strategically for efficacy before being           Association of School Psychologists
                                                                                                  at the school or present in the
widely implemented. Even initiatives             and National Association of School
                                                                                                  community lead to lockdown
with good intentions may cause                   Resource Officers recommend that
                                                                                                  procedures. It should not be a surprise
serious harm.                                    schools follow a hierarchy of
                                                                                                  that there are reports of young children
                                                 preparedness strategies, beginning
Unfortunately, there is not much                                                                  writing frantic notes while in lockdown,
                                                 with simple discussion-based
evidence to guide best practices.                                                                 including one 7-year-old who wrote
                                                 exercises, before even considering
Survivors or family members of                                                                    “Love mom and dad” with marker on
                                                 complex (in-person or live)
individuals who died in crisis events                                                             her arm and later explained to her
                                                 operations-based drills. These
may be powerful advocates for                                                                     mother that it was “In case the bad guy
                                                 organizations also recommend the
preparedness efforts and feel                                                                     got to us and I got killed, you and daddy
                                                 inclusion of school mental health
passionately about the need to take                                                               would know that I love you” after her
                                                 professionals in both the planning
active steps to protect students and                                                              body was discovered.10,13 Even infants
                                                 and implementation of drills so that
staff from school crisis events.                                                                  and toddlers in early child care settings,
                                                 careful consideration can be given to
Parents and other community                                                                       who will have little understanding of the
                                                 the appropriate involvement of
members may simply be unwilling to                                                                implications of gun violence, may
                                                 children and potential means to
wait until preparedness approaches                                                                nonetheless react negatively with
                                                 minimize distress for all
are adequately evaluated.                                                                         increased anxiety, stress, and
                                                 participants.8,9
Pediatricians and other pediatric                                                                 helplessness to the stressful context,
health care providers can provide                In contrast, some schools have                   loud noises, and disruptive environment
important insights into the                      conducted active shooter exercises               of active shooter drills, especially when
developmental needs and                          without advance notice and misled                the adults are themselves distressed.
vulnerabilities of children of all ages          students and/or staff members that it            Stakeholders can instead be focused on
that can help inform best practices.             was an actual shooting event,                    equipping children with the skills

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PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 3, September 2020                                                                                            3
needed and expectations of peaceful           However, the AAP also recognizes the                 vulnerabilities, such as anxiety or
coexistence rather than an expectation        importance of ensuring that                          past traumatic experiences) and
for and preparation to recover from           preparedness efforts are effective but               told that they are under no
mass violence. Resources directed to          do not cause children untoward                       pressure to volunteer. For this
prevention efforts are more cost-             psychological distress or lead to other              reason, active consent (for those
effective and have wider benefits to           unintended consequences.                             youth able to provide consent) or
potential victims, survivors, and society.                                                         active consent from a legal
                                              RECOMMENDATIONS                                      guardian and assent from the
The December 2018 report of the
                                                                                                   adolescent should generally be
Federal Commission on School                    1. Eliminate children’s routine
Safety14 included the following                                                                    required for live high-intensity
                                                   involvement in high-intensity
statement: “While there is some                                                                    exercises, rather than the use of
                                                   drills and exercises. Children
disagreement over whether it is                                                                    passive consent procedures.
                                                   should generally only be involved
appropriate to subject students to                                                                 Children who are of an age and
                                                   in crisis exercises when their
active shooter training, as school                                                                 developmental ability to provide
                                                   involvement is of direct benefit to
shootings become more prevalent,                                                                   consent/assent for procedures that
                                                   them and/or other children,
more schools are opting to drill their                                                             may cause modest physical
                                                   rather than only of benefit to
students on how to respond to an                                                                   discomfort or modest emotional
                                                   adult professionals. If the goal of
active shooter situation. According to                                                             distress to an average child (eg,
                                                   a high-intensity drill or exercise is
a 2016 US Government Accountability                                                                donating blood in a blood drive for
                                                   for adult responders to practice
Office report, an estimated 67% of                                                                  example) may be permitted to
                                                   their roles (eg, to train law
school districts conduct active                                                                    provide consent/assent to
                                                   enforcement and/or medical
shooter drills involving their                                                                     participate in such exercises;
                                                   personnel), then alternatives such
students. Whether to conduct active                                                                younger children should not be
                                                   as manikins or adults playing the
shooter drills with the student                                                                    allowed to participate. Even
                                                   roles of children should be
population is something each                                                                       adolescents who have been
                                                   sufficient, or the activity can occur
community must determine for itself.               outside of the hours when                       appropriately briefed and are
For those that do elect to conduct                 students are present in schools or              capable of providing consent/
active shooter drills with students,               preschools. First responders may                assent may still not disclose
they should ensure that the training is            need to practice being in a high-               personal vulnerabilities and/or
age-appropriate and designed in                    stress situation involving active               may underestimate the distress
a manner not to unduly traumatize                  shooters, but the same is not true              that participation may
any of the participants.”                          for school-aged children.                       ultimately cause.

The determination of what is                       Therefore, only adolescents who              3. School personnel or other adults
generally age-appropriate and/or                   have a personal desire to                       present during drills should
likely to be traumatizing to children              participate (eg, volunteers from                remain vigilant for psychological
when conducting a live crisis exercise             a drama club or teenagers who                   distress. It is critical to minimize
or drill is something that can be                  plan a career in law enforcement                the distress children may
determined at a national level. There              or as an emergency medical                      experience throughout any
is a general lack of national                      technician) should have the                     exercise. Simulations involving real
recommendations on whether to                      option to be included in high-                  weapons, gunfire or blanks,
include children in active shooter                 intensity drills and exercises until            theatrical makeup to give
exercises and other crisis drills. This            evidence is gathered that such                  a realistic image of blood or
policy statement aims to provide                   drills or exercises are of sufficient            gunshot wounds, predatory and
those recommendations.                             benefit to warrant the likely                    aggressive acting by the individual
                                                   distress of other participants.                 posing to be the shooter, or other
                                                2. Obtain active consent/assent of                 means to accurately simulate an
CONCLUSIONS                                        adolescent volunteer participants. If           actual attack are likely to still be
The AAP supports advocacy efforts at               adolescents volunteer to be                     traumatic to some and should
the national and state levels to ensure            involved in high-intensity live                 require careful justification. Even
that the unique needs of children                  exercises, they should be carefully             if children have agreed to
are fully considered in crisis                     briefed on what will be involved                participate in an exercise, they
preparedness efforts, including, when              and the feelings that the experience            ought to be instructed to
appropriate, the involvement of                    may engender (including for those               discontinue participation if it is
children in live exercises and drills.             with undisclosed personal                       causing any physical or emotional

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4                                                                                                  FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
distress and explicitly given                    actively testing them in a more                  or guardians can be notified at
     permission to take a break from                  pressured context that may                       the start of a school year about
     the exercise for any reason. Adult               degrade performance, thereby                     the likely drills that will be held
     monitors should be observing                     helping to promote and                           and invited to bring any concerns
     children’s reactions and checking                demonstrate competence rather                    about their child’s participation
     on them periodically throughout                  than overwhelming people by their                to the school’s attention.
     the exercise. Even when exercises                failures. Stakeholders planning                  Pediatricians who become
     or drills do not include any                     drills and exercises should                      aware of such concerns should
     elements that may be felt likely to              articulate that the learning                     encourage and assist parents to
     engender distress, some children                 objectives for adult and child                   communicate them directly to
     and adults may nevertheless                      participants are different and                   school authorities. In some
     experience distress. For this                    ensure that the drills and exercises             situations, the accommodations
     reason, adults should carefully                  highlight or teach specific                       may be part of a 504 Plan or
     monitor the reactions of children                behaviors that promote safety                    incorporated into a student’s
     and adults to any exercises and                  rather than simply being used to                 Individualized Education
     drills, with oversight by an                     highlight potential dangers or                   Program. School personnel must
     experienced member of the team                   convey the seriousness of a crisis               be conscious of the unique needs
     planning the exercise or drill, and              event. Feedback from all                         of early childhood, child care,
     provide supportive services as                   stakeholder groups, including                    Head Start and Early Head Start,
     indicated.                                       students and staff, should be                    or preschool programs located on
                                                      obtained after exercises and drills              campus and consider ways to
 4. Eliminate deception in drills and
                                                      to identify any remaining gaps in                exclude or mitigate the impact on
    exercises. Notice of drills should
                                                      knowledge and skills and ascertain               this vulnerable population.
    be provided to parents, students,
                                                      if participation caused any distress          7. Seek and incorporate student
    and staff members. Students,
                                                      or other unintended consequences.                input. School personnel can give
    staff, and families of students
    should not be led to believe that             6. Make accommodations that are                      thought as to how to incorporate
    an exercise is a real event or                   based on children’s unique                        the input of students into safety
    misled about the injury to or                    vulnerabilities. In most                          discussions and planning for
    death of others. Such a practice is              situations, active shooter drills                 exercises and drills. Students can
    harmful and unethical and is not                 should be conducted as fire drills                 provide important insight into the
    justified by a theoretical benefit                 are generally conducted (without                  risks that students may face in the
    of evaluating people’s response                  simulation of there being an                      event of a crisis, vulnerabilities
    under extreme levels of stress.                  active fire) using a well-                         that adults may not anticipate, and
    State AAP chapters can advocate                  discussed, calm approach to the                   how best to prepare peers for
    that schools and emergency                       safe movement of students and                     exercises and drills and minimize
    response agencies prohibit the                   staff in the school building. In                  their distress while participating. It
    use of deception in live drills and              general, adults should avoid                      is important, though, to remember
    exercises and any related                        referencing these drills with                     that some students and staff may
    simulations (eg, mock death                      names that may engender further                   feel empowered by opportunities
    notifications and funerals).                      distress, such as calling them                    to engage actively in exercises and
    Instead, it should be mandatory                  “active shooter drills”; instead,                 underestimate the distress it may
    to notify parents, students, and                 terms such as “lockdown,”                         cause other students with different
    staff members of planned live                    “shelter in place,” or “safety                    personalities, coping styles, or
    crisis drills and exercises.                     drills” are preferable. Children                  preexisting vulnerabilities. Adults
    Pediatricians can review the                     with a high level of personal                     can talk with students after
    policies of local school districts,              vulnerability (eg, students with                  conducting drills and exercises to
    inquire about their current                      an anxiety disorder, previous                     obtain their feedback about the
    practices related to drills and                  traumatic experience, or physical                 experience and suggestions on
    exercises, and offer guidance as                 disability) may require particular                how to optimize future exercises
    described in this policy.                        accommodations, including being                   and drills.
 5. Focus on teaching skills rather                  excused from certain drills or                 8. Obtain multidisciplinary input into
    than simulating distressing crisis               exercises when such                               exercise and/or drill planning. To
    events. The goal of live exercises               participation may be                              give careful consideration to the
    and drills is to teach skills before             overwhelming.15,16 Parents and/                   needs of all children in drills and

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PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 3, September 2020                                                                                             5
exercises, planning teams should        10. Promote legislative advocacy. All           COUNCIL ON INJURY, VIOLENCE, AND
       be multidisciplinary and include            legislation requiring active                POISON PREVENTION EXECUTIVE
       pediatricians or other                      shooter drills in schools should            COMMITTEE, 2019–2020
       professionals with expertise in             be required to follow best-                 Benjamin D. Hoffman, MD, FAAP,
       child development and behavioral            practice guidelines, such as those          Chairperson
                                                   from the National Association of            Phyllis F. Agran, MD, MA, MPH, FAAP
       health, such as school mental
                                                                                               Michael Peter Hirsh, MD, FAAP
       health providers (eg, school                School Psychologists and the                Brian Duncan Johnston, MD, MPH, FAAP
       counselors, psychologists, and              National Association of School              Sadiqa Kendi, MD, CPST, FAAP
       social workers). Such planning              Resource Officers.8 Among other              Lois Kaye Lee, MD, MPH, FAAP
                                                   recommendations, these                      Kathy Wingo Monroe, MD, FAAP
       teams should also explore how
                                                   guidelines recommend that                   Judy Schaechter, MD, MBA, FAAP
       best to incorporate the input of                                                        Milton Tenenbein, MD, FAAP
       students, school and/or preschool           schools begin with simple                   Mark R. Zonfrillo, MD, MSCE, FAAP
       staff of different professions,             discussion-based exercises (ie,
       parents, and other community                tabletop exercises) before
                                                   considering complex live drills.            LIAISONS
       partners. Teachers and other
                                                                                               Suzanne Marie Beno, MD – Canadian
       school professionals care deeply        11. Conduct research on the impact
                                                                                               Paediatric Society
       about protecting children and may,          of exercises and drills. Funding            Jonathan D. Midgett, PhD – Consumer Product
       therefore, have more emotional              for research is needed to evaluate          Safety Commission
       reactions to such exercises and             the goals, efficacy, and potential           Bethany Miller, LCSW-C, MEd – Health
                                                   unintended consequences of                  Resources and Services Administration
       drills than planners anticipate,                                                        Alexander “Sandy” Sinclair – National
       even in the absence of any                  crisis preparedness activities
                                                                                               Highway Traffic Safety Administration
       personal vulnerabilities such as            involving children. Strategies that
       preexisting trauma or loss. The             are likely to cause significant
                                                   distress or other unintended                STAFF
       impact of drills and exercises on
                                                   consequences, such as high-                 Bonnie Kozial
       adults should be given careful
                                                   intensity live exercises, should be
       consideration as well.
                                                   evaluated before they are                   COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH EXECUTIVE
    9. Emphasize the role of prevention.           implemented, especially in the              COMMITTEE, 2019–2020
       Sufficient emphasis should be                absence of evidence of their                Cheryl L. De Pinto, MD, MPH, FAAP, Chairperson
       placed on the prevention of                 efficacy.                                    Marti Baum, MD, FAAP
       violence, including the necessary                                                       Nathaniel Brittingham Savio Beers, MD,
       financial resources and                                                                  MPA, FAAP
       professional efforts. These efforts     LEAD AUTHORS                                    Sara Moran Bode, MD, FAAP
       include, among others, efforts in                                                       Erica J. Gibson, MD, FAAP
                                               David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP
                                                                                               Peter A. Gorski, MD, MPA, FAAP
       social-emotional learning, positive     Marlene Melzer-Lange, MD, FAAP
                                                                                               Viju Jacob, MD, FAAP
                                               Andrew N. Hashikawa, MD, MS, FAAP
       school climate and culture, early                                                       Marian Larkin, MD, FAAP
                                               Peter A. Gorski, MD, MPA, FAAP
       identification and effective and                                                         Sonja C. O’Leary, MD, FAAP
       readily accessible treatment of                                                         Ryan Christopher Padrez, MD, FAAP
                                                                                               Heidi Kristen Schumacher, MD, FAAP
       behavioral health concerns and          COUNCIL ON CHILDREN AND DISASTERS
       mental illness, educator and school     EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 2019–2020
       administration training,                Steven Krug, MD, FAAP, Chairperson              LIAISONS
       deployment of sufficient mental          Carl Baum, MD, FACMT, FAAP                      Shashank Vishnuprasad Joshi, MD – American
       health and support personnel in         Sarita Chung, MD, FAAP                          Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
                                               Deanna Dahl-Grove, MD, FAAP                     Linda Mendonca, RN, MSN, PHNA-BC, NCSN,
       schools, and interdisciplinary          H. Dele Davies, MD, MS, MHCM, FAAP              FNASN – National Association of School Nurses
       threat assessment.5 The AAP and         Eric Dziuban, MD, DTM, CPH, FAAP
       its members can work with others        Aaron Gardner, MD, MS, FAAP
       nationally to balance the rights of     Stephanie Griese, MD, MPH, FAAP                 STAFF
                                               Scott Needle, MD, FAAP                          Stephanie Domain, MS
       gun ownership with the need to
                                               David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP
       protect the safety of children in       Joelle Simpson, MD, MPH, FAAP
       a way that does not allow society
       to view mass shootings involving                                                          ABBREVIATION
       children as inevitable or as a “new     STAFF                                             AAP: American Academy of Pediatrics
       normal” in society.                     Laura Aird, MS

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6                                                                                                   FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
This document is copyrighted and is property of the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Board of Directors. All authors have filed conflict of interest statements
with the American Academy of Pediatrics. Any conflicts have been resolved through a process approved by the Board of Directors. The American Academy of
Pediatrics has neither solicited nor accepted any commercial involvement in the development of the content of this publication.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-015503
Address correspondence to David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP. E-mail: schonfel@usc.edu
PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275).
Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
FUNDING: No external funding.

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 3, September 2020                                                                                                                  7
Participation of Children and Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills and Exercises
David J. Schonfeld, Marlene Melzer-Lange, Andrew N. Hashikawa, Peter A. Gorski
  and COUNCIL ON CHILDREN AND DISASTERS, COUNCIL ON INJURY,
VIOLENCE, AND POISON PREVENTION, COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH
             Pediatrics originally published online August 24, 2020;

Updated Information &         including high resolution figures, can be found at:
Services                      http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/08/21/peds.2
                              020-015503
References                    This article cites 5 articles, 1 of which you can access for free at:
                              http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/08/21/peds.2
                              020-015503#BIBL
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Participation of Children and Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills and Exercises
David J. Schonfeld, Marlene Melzer-Lange, Andrew N. Hashikawa, Peter A. Gorski
  and COUNCIL ON CHILDREN AND DISASTERS, COUNCIL ON INJURY,
VIOLENCE, AND POISON PREVENTION, COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH
             Pediatrics originally published online August 24, 2020;

 The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is
                        located on the World Wide Web at:
 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/08/21/peds.2020-015503

Pediatrics is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A monthly publication, it
has been published continuously since 1948. Pediatrics is owned, published, and trademarked by
the American Academy of Pediatrics, 345 Park Avenue, Itasca, Illinois, 60143. Copyright © 2020
by the American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved. Print ISSN: 1073-0397.

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