The research was led by N’dea Moore-Petinak, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and reports on first-hand youth experience and opinions surrounding active shooter drills and synthesizes youth perspectives on the negative emotional impacts of drills, which run counter to their effectiveness.
A little over half of MyVoice participants who had experienced active shooter drills in their school—56%—stated that drills made students more prepared for an active shooter event, however, there was a lack of consensus over whether they make schools safer—60% reported feeling unsafe, scared, helpless or sad as a result of experiencing active shooter drills. We covered the paper, with an audio interview with N’dea, earlier this year.
The paper was nominated and selected by peer reviewers and editors of the Journal of Adolescent Health, the research journal of the One of the Society’s primary goals is the development, synthesis, and dissemination of scientific and scholarly knowledge unique to the health needs of young people. To amplify important contributions to the field, beginning in 2020 JAH asked all peer-reviewers: “Does the manuscript merit special consideration in the Journal’s monthly and/or annual collections of particularly important research?” Reviewers who responded affirmatively were provided with the opportunity to enter explanatory comments. Of the 224 scientific articles published in JAH during the 2020 calendar year, 66 were nominated by at least one peer reviewer to be considered for inclusion in a collection highlighting particularly important research. The Journal’s Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors reviewed nominations and selected the articles to be highlighted this year.
Congrats to the team: N’dea, Marika, Blair, and Tammy! Find the paper here.
Article Citation: Moore-Petinak N, Waselewski M, Patterson BA, Chang T. Active Shooter Drills in the United States: A National Study of Youth Experiences and Perceptions. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2020. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.06.015.