After more than a quarter-century of watching how students react during crises, from the Columbine tragedy to today’s digitally amplified threats, one truth keeps resurfacing: students follow behaviour, not emotion. Real-world incidents, decades of field experience, and a growing body of academic research all point in the same direction. When danger appears, young people take their cues from the first visible actions around them. If others run, they run. If others take cover, they follow suit. Panic is not the dominant response, mimicry is.

This pattern is reinforced by important research emerging in the field today. Dr. David Riedman’s groundbreaking work documenting and analyzing school shootings across the United States has brought unprecedented clarity to how these events unfold and how people behave under threat. Likewise, studies such as Impact of Social Influence and Threat Uncertainty on behaviour in a School Shooting Simulation (2024) provide controlled evidence that mirrors what we’ve witnessed in real events: students are far more influenced by the visible actions of peers than by emotional cues, alarms, or threatening sounds. Social modeling, not fear, is the strongest predictor of their immediate behaviour.

Research from St. Paul-based The Violence Project further reinforces these findings. Their analysis of school shootings over multiple decades shows students and staff rarely respond with panic. Instead, they behave in patterned, prosocial, often orderly ways shaped by the cues and training they have internalized. Their work also highlights how confusion about protective actions, whether to lock down, evacuate, or relocate has contributed to casualties in past incidents. 

This underscores the importance of simple, universal language such as the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and the need for calm, predictable, age-appropriate drills that build behavioural competence rather than fear. All this research aligns with findings from simulations, real-world events, and 25 years of school safety practice, behaviour follows modeling, and modeling must be intentional.

This matters for one reason. Today’s students have grown up in a world where school safety protocols are normalized. For years, schools have integrated lockdowns, secure-and-hold procedures, and Run/Hide/Fight concepts into standard practice. The language is familiar. The routines are predictable. And because this generation has repeatedly learned that action is expected, many students now default to movement, not out of panic, but out of conditioning. It is learned behaviour, shaped by the environment we have collectively created.

This places a clear responsibility on school safety leaders. If modeling drives behaviour, drills must intentionally model the right behaviours. That means calm, predictable, age-appropriate practice, not hyper-realistic exercises that elevate fear. It means teaching students how to secure a room, how to relocate when safe, and how to follow adult directions when conditions are unclear. Thoughtful drills build competence. Competence reduces anxiety. And reduced anxiety strengthens both everyday confidence and real-time survival decisions.

Critics who say drills “do more harm than good” often point to isolated poor practices, not evidence-based ones. The research tells another story. Well-designed drills that are transparent, brief, and grounded in behavioural modeling improve outcomes without traumatizing students.

For school, district and emergency management leaders, the challenge going forward is to continue evolving from procedural training to behavioral rehearsal, grounded in what decades of incidents and emerging research consistently show. When we model the right actions, students follow. And that is how we build safer, more prepared school communities, achieved through measured, practiced behavior.

A Roadmap for the Next Generation of School Drills

If the past 25 years of real-world experience and the latest research from Dr. David Riedman, The Violence Project, and modern simulation studies have taught us anything, it is that drills must evolve from static compliance exercises into intentional behavioral rehearsals. The next generation of state-required drills should reflect what we understand about human behavior, social influence, and decision-making under threat.

The following core principles serves to guide drill reform for schools and districts:

Prioritize Modeling Over Messaging

Students act based on what they see, not what they hear. Drills should visibly demonstrate core protective actions: securing a door, quieting a room, relocating calmly, and exiting efficiently. Adults set the tone, and students mirror them.

Move From “One Size Fits All” to Condition-Based Decisions

Different threats require different actions. Students and staff should rehearse recognizing cues:

• If in a secure location, secure the room
• If in an unsecured location and can safely exit, exit.
• If in transition, move away from danger and seek cover.
  

Integrate Micro-Drills Into Daily Routines

Short, low-disruption practice (30–60 seconds) builds muscle memory far more effectively than a single annual event. Examples:

• Locking a door quickly
• Clearing a hallway
• Quieting and securing a room
• Relocating from a cafeteria or playground

Pair Every Drill With a Brief “Why It Matters” Conversation

Preparedness improves when students understand purpose. A 60-second explanation reinforces calm, autonomy, and the idea that drills are safety routines, not fear-based exercises.

Eliminate Surprise Drills

Surprise drills elevate fear without improving performance. Modern drills must be announced, predictable, and trauma-informed to support emotional safety.

Teach Skills, Not Scenarios

The goal is not dramatic scripts, but competency. Drills should focus on securing, relocating, accounting for students, and communication flow. Simplicity increases retention.

Practice SRP Beyond Classrooms

Most school incidents begin outside the classroom. Drills must include hallways, passing periods, cafeterias, gyms, arrival/dismissal zones, and outdoor areas, especially when students must act without immediate adult direction.

Use Student Leadership to Reinforce Behavioural Norms

Peer behaviour drives peer behaviour. Student councils and leadership groups can help promote calm, confident responses.

Align Drills With Communication Protocols

Every drill should strengthen the district’s communication playbook, and any drill that fails to test communications remains incomplete.

• What message goes to classrooms?
• What message goes to families?
• Who approves it?
• How quickly?

Embed Recovery Into the Process

A drill should end with a brief, guided return to normalcy. This lowers anxiety, models recovery, and reinforces the understanding the school remains a safe environment.

Parting Thought

The next generation of school safety drills must transform into adaptive, confident behaviour. Students already take action during crises from the behavioural patterns they have learned over decades of school safety culture. School leaders’ responsibility now is to ensure those patterns are intentional, consistent, and grounded in evidence. When adults model calm, students follow. When students know what to do, fear decreases. And when drills become purposeful behavioural rehearsals rather than compliance tasks, we build safer, stronger, more resilient school communities.