A.L.I.C.E. Program

Chandler Lamb, Staff Writer

    Should students at Canyon Ridge be trained through the A.L.I.C.E. program?  A.L.I.C.E. is a program designed for any violent or dangerous scenario that can help the victims distance themselves from the threat, defend and arm themselves, and as an extreme worst-case scenario, fight the attacker.  A.L.I.C.E. stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

    Though the A.L.I.C.E. training can be applied in any dangerous situation, schools especially could use this technique during times of a shooter in their school, or any lockdown.  Lockdowns are designed for students and teachers to be safe while under attack, especially from an attack from an active shooter. The previous procedures of lockdowns are to lock all doors and windows immediately, do not open any doors unless told to by a safety or school official, instruct the students to stay away from the windows and doors and keep them inside of the classroom, turn off or silence electronics, clear the hallways, bathrooms and any area or room that cannot be thoroughly secured.  Make sure every student is accounted for, etcetera. The way this has worked in past scenarios is you hide in your classroom and hope the intruder does not get in. However, the new A.L.I.C.E. program has different solutions for every situation, and the goal is to evacuate and get as far away from the intruder as possible.

    For example, I previously attended a school that trained the staff and students in this two-day program.  Carter Powell, another student who attended the school, describes his experience with A.L.I.C.E. “We barricaded all of the classrooms, making it physically impossible for an intruder to get in, we also got things to throw at the person if they did happen to get in.  I think that being more active during a real situation like this would be a lot better than just sitting there.” My experience was not exactly the same. I think this story will give others a basic idea of what would happen if they are put under this training. In my first scenario, I was in a classroom with no desks, and the doors were made of glass, but it was also the closest classroom to the front doors, so our goal was to get outside and run away and get behind some buildings.  The intruder was in our side of the school, so we crowded into the small closet in the room. We took an extension cord and tied the glass doors, and the intruder could not open them, and the glass on all windows and doors had been reinstalled with shatter-proof glass. When the attacker was on the other side of the school, we ran outside behind some buildings. In my second scenario, the classroom had desks, so we first tied the door up and locked it, then we barricaded it with all of the desks, then we grabbed anything that could be used as a weapon to defend ourselves, and we hid behind the desks shielding us from the door.  The attacker could not get in, and in a real situation, we would have most likely be safe. This program could make a tremendous impact in schools facing threats like shooters, and it could help take down the number of school shootings we see every year. I believe that CRHS would benefit significantly from this program.