Teaching kids to run for their lives

+ 1920s survey changed ideas of female sexuality US Edition - Today's top story: Today's school children practice running for their lives – but there are better ways to keep students safe from shooters [View in browser]( US Edition | 1 September 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Happy Sunday − and welcome to the best of The Conversation U.S. Here are a few of our recently published stories: - [Got an unaffordable or incorrect medical bill? Calling your hospital billing office will usually get you a discount]( - [COVID-19, flu and RSV shots − an epidemiologist explains why all three matter this fall]( When I was a kid in grade school back in the ‘80s, I did a lot of running – at recess, during gym class and in the halls (though we weren’t supposed to, of course). One thing I couldn’t have imagined is running for my life because an active shooter was on the loose. But that’s exactly what many American children are taught these days as the number of school shootings in recent years has exploded. “Regrettably, gun violence stands at the backdrop of all contemporary American education,” writes Luke J. Rapa, an associate professor of education and human development at Clemson University. “As such, active shooter and intruder drills have become standard fare, not only for my children but for nearly all American schoolchildren.” But Rapa also [worries about the harm these drills do]( to young children, such as causing distress, anxiety and even hysteria. In one of last week’s stories that most engaged readers, he examines the recent trends in school shootings and suggests other ways administrators and communities can help students prepare for these emergencies and also reduce the prevalence of gun violence. 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