School board scraps lockdown drills, saying they make some students anxious

Lockdown drills at most French schools in Montreal are now optional.

La commission scolaire de Montreal made the decision earlier this week, saying the drills were making students anxious.

Instead, the CSDM is letting each school decide if it wants to hold drills on a case-by-case basis.

Before coming to a decision, CSDM commissioners discussed a study it commissioned two years ago that analyzed the risks and benefits that drills have on students.

That study determined that young children can confuse imaginary situations with reality and that could make them feel like school isn’t a safe place.

The study used specific examples, such as children who may have gone through a traumatic experience in their life – immigrants who may have fled war, for example – who might be particularly sensitive.

The board determined that it is unnecessary to make children experience a drill that could trigger trauma. Instead, it wants to hold information sessions between school staff and the Montreal police.

“The drills are not necessary. And there’s no report right now, there’s no study, that shows that it does help when there’s an active shooter in a school or inside a building,” said CSDM vice-president Marie-Jose Mastromonaco. “There are no studies that demonstrate that it is effective. And each situation is different, so you cannot predict what will happen.”

The English Montreal School Board has mandatory lockdown drills in every school at the beginning of each academic year and has no plans to change that.

The EMSB said that yes, sometimes the drill can cause some students to feel uneasy, but teachers are there to explain what's happening during the drill. The school board added that the vast majority of students have done it before because it's performed every year.

Drills are important, the EMSB said, because the students need to know what to do in the case of an emergency.