A DIVE INTO WHAT SAVES LIVES

ALICE is an acronym that includes 5 steps you can apply to increase your chances of survival with an Active Shooter. These 5 steps include: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. “You may use only 1 or 2 parts of the response plan or you may have to utilize all 5. In this type of incident, your perception is the reality. You will be deciding the appropriate action to take.” (Tuscaloosa County Sheriff ’s Office) ALICE training has been implemented into PRJUSD safety.

The campus can talk about the defense protocol in case of a shooter

Christina Reid, Teacher

A in ALICE means Alert. Being alert can mean a variety of different things such as gunfire, witness, PA announcement, phone alert, etc. “Situational awareness of what’s going on around you, knowing what’s going on around you. "Who is saying this? When you are situationally aware you might ask yourself “Are there people acting strangely?” Teacher Christina Reid said.

Elliot Krames, 12

L stands for lockdown. Performing a lockdown may signify to counter, evacuate the room, or barricade if evacuating is not an option. Students and faculty must be prepared to defend themselves from the intruder, then dial 9-11 once it’s safe. While school administration has put ALICE into effect, and teachers educate students on procedures like lockdown, worry still lingers for some students. Senior Elliot Krames expressed, “My biggest issue with school safety is that anyone can get on and off this campus very easily.” Krames went on to discuss how she would like teachers to have deep and thorough conversations with students’ fears about lockdowns and sensitive topics on school shootings.

Michael Godsey, Assistant Principal

I in ALICE stands for Inform. Inform is one of the important factors in protecting students and faculty. In an at-risk situation, inform is used to transfer quick communication about the armed individual’s location to school faculty, or the local authorities. Several inform methods include making PA announcements, using video surveillance, or calling 9-1-1. When discussing the procedure at Paso Robles High, Assistant Principal, Michael Godsey was asked about how he’d perform the inform procedure Godsey replied, “I would get on the loudspeaker, if I knew where they (the shooter) were, and say they are an active shooter. You’d call 911, or somebody so I know where they are. ”

Tony Van, 12

C in ALICE stands for Counter, a distraction meant to prevent the shooter from harming people on campus. After putting together a ratio of what students would use to throw at the shooter, 11th grader Rylee Perske said, “Chromebooks, textbooks, anything that's like a heavy object that you can get them off balance or get them out of the way” (Rylee Perske). Along with other students like Tony Van saying, “backpacks, books, anything heavy, anything that's distracting enough so that people have a fighting chance and they subdue the person who holds the gun” (Tony Van). According to that ratio every student at PRHS is given a Chromebook for school use and there tends to be 27-30 students in a classroom, so there are plenty of materials to throw at the shooter.

Noah Huen, 10

E in ALICE stands for Evacuate, and evacuation can be done whenever a student knows where the shooter is and they have a safe route to get off campus and get to safety. When interviewing students on where good exits off campus to evacuate were, most students said the west side of campus is the best way to go as the parking lot is a really good exit. Sophomore Rand Naji said that, “the front gates, the one by the art building, the one by the science buildings and, the one by the 100 buildings are good exits” and sophomore Noah Huen said that, “the west side, and the main entrance make pretty good evacuation options”.

Crimson Newsmagazine

A DIVE INTO WHAT SAVES LIVES

Crimson Newsmagazine