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"KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Hundreds of colleges across the nation have purchased a training program that teaches professors and students not to take campus threats lying down but to fight back with any "improvised weapon," from a backpack to a laptop computer. The program — which includes a video showing a gunman opening fire in a packed classroom — urges them to be ready to respond to a shooter by taking advantage of the inherent strength in numbers. It reflects a new response at colleges and universities where grisly memories of the campus shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University are still fresh. "Look at your environment through the lens of survival," said Domenick Brouillette, who administered the course at Metropolitan Community College, which serves more than 20,000 students. "Survivors prepare themselves both mentally and emotionally to do what it takes. It might involve life-threatening risk. You may do something you never thought you were capable of doing." Nearly 300 professors at Metropolitan Community College were shown the video as part of a training exercise before the first day of classes on this downtown campus. The training, produced by the Center for Personal Protection and Safety, a for-profit firm based in Spokane, Wash., is also available for the school's students. 'Survival mindset' The training drills teachers and students in a "survival mindset," said Randy Spivey, a former U.S. Department of Defense hostage negotiator who is executive director of the center. The center's roster includes retired FBI agents and others with federal law enforcement experience. "There are two extremes. On the one hand is paranoia, and on the other is oblivion," he said. "We're just trying to get people to keep this on their radar." The training discourages cowering in a corner or huddling together in fear, Brouillette emphasized at the Kansas City session. Instead, Metropolitan Community College faculty members were taught to be aware of their surroundings and to think of common classroom objects — such as laptops and backpacks — as "improvised weapons." The program has been bought by nearly 500 colleges, which tailor the company's safety messages — laid out in instructional videos and other training guides — to craft localized violence prevention programs. Spivey expects that by year's end that number will have grown to about 1,000 schools. Schools may provide the training to students as well as staff, as at Metropolitan, or limit it to instructors or security personnel. Campus safety experts interviewed by The Associated Press said they are not aware of any similar survival training courses marketed specifically to college campuses. "It's a dark subject," Brouillette said. "But we can't say 'It's never going to happen again.' It's 'When is it going to happen?' And we have to be prepared to survive that." Some troubled by approach The sort of aggressive survival response cited by Brouillette troubles school violence researcher Loren Coleman, a retired University of Southern Maine professor. Showing students violent images of school shootings could trigger post-traumatic stress or other reactions that resident advisers, graduate assistants and similarly untrained workers would be unequipped to handle, Coleman said. And the techniques shown in instructional videos such as "Shots Fired" could provide inspiration for troubled students considering their own acts of violence, Coleman suggested. "You more or less are giving them a blueprint for how to avoid law enforcement," he said. At the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, officials are looking for ways to incorporate the training as part of the school's "Alert Carolina" program. Campus police chief Jeff McCracken said the school may offer hands-on training to students and faculty, or simply post a link on the university Web site. Despite the relative rarity of deadly violence on campus, colleges can no longer assume that they are immune from such problems, McCracken said. "I do think it's important that we talk to our folks and give them some guidance on how to protect themselves and others," he said. "It's not something that 10 years ago we thought we'd be talking about. But unfortunately, it's something we need to do now." Todd Bowdish, a Metropolitan Community College life sciences professor who participated in the recent training session, agreed that today's classroom climate requires extreme caution. "It's a really basic thing," Bowdish said. "We have drills for fires and tornadoes. This is just another tool for the toolbox." "

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26410431/

Is this really necessary or is this some douchebag trying to make a buck? I mean is showing a video to students on how to stop a shooter really going to do any good whatsoever? It seems to me that it could create more problems or even show a potential shooter what to expect.

8/27/2008 1:31:10 PM

I have no problem with this. Actually, it is fucking brilliant.


What I do have a problem with is people like this:

Quote :

"The sort of aggressive survival response cited by Brouillette troubles school violence researcher Loren Coleman, a retired University of Southern Maine professor. Showing students violent images of school shootings could trigger post-traumatic stress or other reactions that resident advisers, graduate assistants and similarly untrained workers would be unequipped to handle, Coleman said."

"Aggressive survival response?" When my survival is on the line you're goddamned right I'm going to be aggressive! The hell if I'm going to let someone dictate my death when I have an input. That doesn't mean flipping the bird, charging the guns, and dying like a viking, but if the opportunity presents itself then you should be ready and if this training helps, so be it.

8/27/2008 1:39:17 PM

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"I have no problem with this. Actually, it is fucking brilliant. "

It's not brilliant, it's obvious.

The strategy requires someone to be a decoy and open themselves up to be shot, while someone else takes down the shooter. The problem is that no one wants to be a decoy, which is why you don't see more people rising up in these types of situations.

But, if people cooperated with each other, like they did on that flight where the guy was trying to light his shoe on fire, and felt a collective sense of doom, that encourage them to fight back more than anything else.

In any case, I would have thought most people (most males at least) have considered what they would do in this situation, and determined that fighting back using anything they can in their environment was the best course of action.

8/27/2008 2:19:19 PM

I would not feel less safe if professors were allowed to keep a gun hidden in their desk. We should do that.

8/27/2008 2:24:49 PM

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"It's not brilliant, it's obvious."

Ok, perhaps this was a bit of hyperbole, but the article got me worked up a bit On the other hand, they say the definition of genius is pointing out what becomes obvious in hindsight.

Either way, most people get their resistance techniques from Hollywood. Not exactly a good source. So understanding what may or may not stop a bullet, and reviewing improvised cover / weapons that may already exist in the classroom seems like a good idea.

8/27/2008 3:34:17 PM

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"I would not feel less safe if professors were allowed to keep a gun hidden in their desk. We should do that."

Forget that. What good is a gun in a desk? We need open carry.

8/27/2008 3:50:25 PM

^ bingo

8/27/2008 7:57:07 PM

umm i think i'm probably the only one that feels that everyone carrying guns, especially on college campuses, will probably make us LESS safe.

8/27/2008 8:02:33 PM

i want the option because i am the only one responsible for my safety

8/27/2008 8:35:31 PM

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"taking advantage of the inherent strength in numbers. "

8/27/2008 9:08:44 PM

^ someone should have told that to the slaves or the Jews.

8/27/2008 9:21:52 PM

this doesn't seem like a terribly bad thing, but in general, it is almost certainly a wasted effort. Despite some high profile attacks over the years, college campuses, and schools in general, are still some of the safest places you can be.

8/27/2008 9:24:45 PM

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"The training, produced by the Center for Personal Protection and Safety, a for-profit firm based in Spokane, Wash."

not a tragedy goes by without somebody trying to make a buck. USA #1

8/27/2008 9:30:39 PM

I guess it just seems to me that in order for the training to be effective, it would have to introduce every conceivable situation. That is, how you would stop a shooter that entered from the front of a lecture hall with stadium seating would be very different from one that entered from the rear. Even then the size of the room would make a difference as well, I mean how exactly would you fight back sitting 30 or 40 yards from an armed lunatic? Even the number of exits would come into play, what would be the best strategy to take down a shooter that just busted into a smaller (<30) classroom with one entrance/exit and started shooting. Even the strategy here would be radically different between a classroom with fixed seating/desks and one with stand-alone desks. All of this covered (and more) in the same amount of time as the 1 in 5 college women are raped video during freshman orientation? It seems like telling freshmen, "If you are in a situation that gives you an opportunity to stop a murderous madman from slaughtering your fellow classmates, then don't be a pussy!" would be just as effective.

8/27/2008 9:48:25 PM

this whole question is negated when you simply allow citizens their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Case closed.

8/27/2008 10:03:52 PM

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"umm i think i'm probably the only one that feels that everyone carrying guns, especially on college campuses, will probably make us LESS safe."

That is an arguement for a different thread, this article isn't addressing guns in the classroom (well not law abiding ones).

Quote :

"I guess it just seems to me that in order for the training to be effective, it would have to introduce every conceivable situation."

Most emphatically NO. The nature of a violent encounter of any sort is its unpredictability, you simply cannot cover every possible situation because of the human factor of the protagonists actions. What you can do is give students the tools to assess their surroundings and react accordingly to different scenarios.

8/28/2008 11:44:13 AM