Story by Ashley Traylor, Interim Editor-in-Chief

Photo by Rhiannon Branch/The News

With the rising numbers of school shootings in the United States, first responders and law enforcement officers are no longer the only ones training for active shooter situations. Active shooter simulation will now be available to teachers — making virtual reality their worst nightmare.

Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi and Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky both fell victim to a school shooting in 1997 and then the Columbine High School massacre occurred in 1999. Three months into 2018, the nation has already seen its fair share of mass shootings. According to CNN, 14 shootings have occurred since the beginning of the year, which includes high school, college and university shootings.

The question lingering in the minds of school administration officials, teachers and parents is, “How do we prevent violent attacks on our schools?”

The Department of Homeland Security and the Army Research Laboratory partnered to create a computer simulation training to prepare teachers and other school employees for active shooter scenarios. The simulation brings chaos to life through realistic details like the pops of the gunfire, shattering glass and cries for help from the students.

The simulation, part of a program called EDGE, Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment, should be released this spring for any school system that passes the verification process.

According to The New York Times, developers of the simulation studied the mass killings from Virginia Tech in 2007 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 to create the virtual training.

The simulation includes 20 classrooms, a library, a cafeteria and a gymnasium and options to play along as students, teachers, school employees or law enforcement officers.

In a demonstration of the training, teachers must choose one of the seven commands, including “Get out through a window,” “Find a place to hide,” or “Follow me” to protect their students.

The typical lockdown drills of shutting off the lights, pulling the black curtain over the door and students barricading in the corner of the classroom are no longer enough to keep students safe. School employees and administrators must be prepared to respond to a crisis.

“We want our teachers to feel comfortable,” Josh McKeel, director of pupil personnel of Calloway County Schools, said. “We want them to feel knowledgeable about what to do in the event of any emergency…[Safety] truly is a team effort of how we approach it. The main thing is, ‘Do we know how to respond in the event?’

How one local school seeks to prevent violence

As a way to deter violence, McKeel said Calloway County began bag checks for middle and high school students in 1999. The school system also has a school resource officer on school grounds, and teachers participate in active shooter training performed by the Kentucky State Police.

According to the KSP’s safe schools’ program, the state police do not set safety plans for schools, but they have four levels of assistance they offer to school districts:

• Level 1: Provide on-site visits to the requesting schools and give recommendations for security and safety protocols
• Level 2: Assist and participate in school lockdown drills
• Level 3: On-site walk through to assess the schools’ strengths and weaknesses
• Level 4: Provide a three-hour block of specific training to instruct teachers on what to do during these situations and the opportunity to partake in active shooter scenarios  

Active shooter simulations compared to combat virtual simulations

The federal government has conducted little research on the active shooter simulation, but computer and virtual simulations are commonly used by the military to train soldiers for combat operation and decision-making and control skills.

Bruce Knerr of the United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Simulator Systems Research Unit studied the effectiveness and current issues of virtual simulation training.  

“The Army now recognizes a need to train soldiers and leaders to be adaptable and capable of responding to rapidly changing situations and attuned to cultural conditions, in addition to being proficient in high-intensity combat operations,” according to Knerr’s study.

His research showed soldiers do not perform as well in an indoor simulator because they could not identify enemy gunfire or effectively maneuver around furniture, walls, objects or other personnel.

Knerr noted little empirical research suggests the impact and effectiveness on a person’s decision-making capability with computer games.

Virtual reality development has progressed, now using interfaces and 3D designs to create an illusion of reality, according to a study on visual simulation by the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute.

“Creating technologies that engage the game player’s mind via sensory simulation and providing methods for increasing the sense of presence contribute to building a feeling of immersion,” according to the USC Information Sciences Institute study. “This work includes computer graphics, sound and haptics; affective computing, sensing human state and emotion; and advanced user interfaces.”

Both studies show exposure to traumatic experiences can psychologically prepare and improve a person’s decision making skills, but educators do not train specifically for trauma-induced environments, like law enforcement and soldiers.

“When someone signs up to be a police officer or in the military, they made that choice to do so,” McKeel said. “When we have people go into education, when they decide that they want to be teacher, that’s not what you think of. Teacher preparation is evolving, but it doesn’t involve the use of a firearm. You don’t become an educator to respond to those type of situations. You do go into law enforcement…because you understand why taking that oath and signing on to be a law enforcement agent is part of what you are going to do.”

Exploring the psychological implications of simulation training

With limited research on the active shooter simulation training, many questions are left unanswered about the psychological impact a simulation training could have for teachers.

Marie Karlsson, assistant professor of psychology at Murray State, said a simulation training could cause emotional distress, but it also has potential to translate to mental preparedness for an active shooter scenario.

“Teachers need to be able to function in these crisis situations,” Karlsson said. “It makes sense to have a simulation because it is going to help them psychologically prepare. The more you practice the drills for fire alarms and all these things, active shooters, what not, the better we get psychologically at just acting, instead of shutting down and being overwhelmed.”

While simulations can cause emotional distress, Karlsson said PTSD cannot occur from simulation training because it does not meet the three requirements under the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: threatened death, injury, or sexual violence.

“A school shooting would qualify,” she said. “I could be there. I could be targeted. I could feel like I’m likely to die. I could witness other people, or I can learn my teacher or my best friend died. That would qualify. But technically it doesn’t qualify for simulation because it’s not actually happening and you know you’re going into a simulation.”

In these simulations, Karlsson said teachers will practice for these scenarios and they will become acquainted with the sounds and learn to focus in these intense situations. She said it becomes problematic when teachers can no longer “turn off” and process the stress.  

“You can’t be hypervigilant and on and be ready for the shooter at any time and be present with your students, you’ve got be one or the other,” Karlsson said.

Should school employees and staff engage in active shooter simulations?

McKeel is hesitant about the new technology, because of the psychological trauma it could cause, as he said every person copes with stress in different ways.

“People’s familiarity to situations, people’s response to situations, people’s responses to traumatic things differ, so I definitely would think that it wouldn’t be something for everyone,” McKeel said. “Might it be something on a volunteer basis or something that people that are so inclined might participate in.”

For McKeel, he said teachers have a desire to be prepared, but this training may have more negative effects than positive.

Dennis Thomas, public affairs officers with Kentucky State Police Post 1 in Mayfield, said state police are always reevaluating their training programs, but he has not heard of the simulation.

“I prefer not to judge it without any knowledge of it,” Thomas said. “Any training that the schools do for their employees will benefit all involved.”

With the Marshall County High School shooting, McKeel said Calloway is reevaluating their schools’ safety plans to make the school as safe as possible, as well as educating students on what to do if they have security concerns.

“In order for kids’ needs to be met, they have to feel safe and they have to be secure,” McKeel said. “It is a team effort. It’s not students v. teachers, its not teachers v. administrators, it’s not parents v. schools, if we are going to solve this problem, which is going to be a multistep process, involving legislators and involving communities, we have to understand we are all on the same team. Our ultimate goal is the safety of our kids, wherever they are, including our schools.”

For more information about EDGE, you can call 877-EDGE-011 to reach the EDGE help desk.