Butler students learn safety tips
BUTLER TWP — High school students knowing about what to do in an armed intruder situation at school is just as important, if not more important, than knowing the “stop, drop and roll” moniker in fire safety.
That’s what Conrad Pfeifer, a Middlesex Township police officer, told Butler High School students Thursday during an active intruder assembly.
“It’s sad that you have to learn about active shooters, but that’s what our world has come to,” Pfeifer said.
Students were taught the latest intruder methodology, the ALICE response: Alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. Butler teachers were taught these same methods more in depth in September during in-service day.
While a lockdown mode is good, Pfeifer said, it should be treated as a starting point in an emergency situation that involves an armed intruder.
Specifically, he discussed using a barricade and attempting to counter an individual.
Desks, trash cans, or any classroom materials should be pushed against the door to create a physical barrier, to prevent that shooter from getting through the door or getting into the classroom quickly.
“It does not only mean keeping the door barricaded, but barricading him,” Pfeifer said.
A few classroom props set the stage at high school auditorium, including a set of desks on one side and a door on the other. Various scenarios were played out with about a half dozen students.
Countering, not fighting the intruder, is another important distinction in the ALICE method. If possible, trying to immobilize that person by throwing cans, paper weights, gym class balls, whatever is there that can be used as a deterrent, should be done.
The assembly is meant to provide safety tips and options that go beyond what many students know.
“Something like this can happen at any time, and we have to be prepared,” said Jeff Schnur, principal.
Seniors Kylie Goehring, Halee Pierce and Lauren Skidmore said the assembly was useful, and they learned things they hadn’t given much thought to before.
“It makes a lot more sense than hiding in the corner … even if the door is locked,” said Lauren, 17.
While the Butler School District has taken many safety precautions over the years, including adding armed school police to staff two years ago and having metal detectors for the past several years, students still saw security vulnerabilities, with sprawl and spread of the high school campus.
And although the importance of such an assembly is clear, it’s unsettling for some students to have to be prepared for such dire situations.
“It kind of sucks that people actually do these things,” said Kylie, 17.
Pfeifer also led an assembly with students at the intermediate high school on Thursday. He’s done presentations at Holy Sepulcher School and North Hills High School, and plans to host a similar assembly at Mars High School next year.
