Growing up in the public school system, I can vividly remember having to practice active shooting drills from as early as elementary school. We were taught how to fight off a shooter and were told where to hide or where to escape if a shooter were to ever come in. Children of any age should never have to worry about such a thing, yet the state of our country makes these types of trainings necessary.

I understand that in a place where school shootings are quite common, it makes sense to train students on what to do if this ever occurred in their school. Being prepared and educated can be extremely helpful in a situation like this, so training students for an active shooter is perfectly logical.

I think the children in this country have been conditioned to think that active shooting drills are a completely normal part of their education. Growing up, I never thought it was strange that we learned these things. I knew that school shootings happened in our country and although the thought of it happening at my school terrified me, I never thought twice about active shooting drills.

When you stop and think about it, the fact that these drills are normal for children in America is devastating. School is supposed to be a place where you go to learn and make new friends; it should be a safe place where students feel secure. No child should have to worry about potentially being killed by an active shooter while they are at school to get an education.

Although I realize that these drills are necessary to keep our children safe in case there ever was an active shooter in their school, I hope our country reaches a point very soon where this is not needed. We should live in a society where the prospect of a school shooting is extremely unlikely, and the need to train our children on what to do in this situation is not necessary. The gun laws in this country need to change immediately, and then maybe kids can focus on their education, instead of having to learn how to survive a school shooting.