NATION

Psychiatrists oppose live shooter school drills

Lisa Marie Apacible · Aug 24, 2026, 2:06 AM

STUDENTS and school personnel participate in an active shooter simulation drill designed to prepare campus communities for emergency threats. The training initiative follows recent school-related violence, including the 22 June shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City. — PHOTOGRAPH by analy labor for DAILY TRIBUNE

A planned nationwide school drill simulating live shooter attacks should be postponed because it may expose students to psychological harm without clear evidence that such exercises improve safety, two leading psychiatric groups said.

In a joint position statement, the Philippine Psychiatric Association and the Philippine Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry said preparedness was essential.

They stressed that the methods used must be trauma-informed and evidence-based.

“The conduct of a simulation of a live shooter attack drill should be deferred. Simulated active-attack exercises expose learners to hyper-realistic scenarios of violence,” they said.

The groups cited a 2025 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which they said found insufficient evidence that school active-shooter simulations improve safety outcomes and advised against high-intensity drills or deceptive practices.

They also cited a study of 54 million social media posts across 114 schools that found a 42 percent increase in language related to stress and anxiety and a 39 percent increase in depression-related language after school shooter drills, with the effects lasting at least 90 days.

The groups said schools should instead use tabletop exercises, in which teachers, staff and parents discuss hypothetical emergency scenarios and work through how they would respond.

“For example, participants might ask: ‘If an intruder enters, who locks the doors? Who calls parents? Where do students go? “This approach builds coordination and preparedness without frightening children,” it said.

“That goal is best achieved through preventive, trauma-informed, and evidence-based measures, so that schools remain places of safety, resilience, and hope,” they added.

The Department of Education earlier directed schools nationwide to conduct a simultaneous School Safety Drill for Active Attack Incidents on Tuesday, 25 August, to test their ability to respond to an active threat, safely evacuate students, and reunite learners with their families.