They really ought to get some opinions from the people that have actually experienced a school shooting. Ask them what they think/thought of the drills. That'd probably make for an interesting follow-up article.

That being said, all the sentiments expressed in this article were pretty similar to what I remember feeling whenever I had to do them. It was boring, people would goof off, they seemed pointless, etc. It always made me feel like a fish in a barrel.

That's how I felt the day someone actually did come into the school and started shooting in the cafeteria. Sat there for hours in the dark classroom, wondering if he'd be coming through our door next, or if he'd go into a different classroom. Wondering how many people I knew would be hurt or killed. Wondering if my girlfriend was okay. We spent hours in the dark before the all clear was given and we were able to evacuate. Then we would meet up with our classmates to get the story of what happened, who did it, who was hurt. It's crazy to think that today, with everyone owning a cell phone, almost no one would be out of the loop in the school. In the end, no one died. Only the ceiling and a wall were shot before the gun jammed. Then the shooter ran a few blocks before being tackled to the ground by the French teacher.

Meanwhile we had no idea about any of this. We just sat in the dark, waiting and wondering, feeling trapped with no information, left to our imaginations until our eventual evacuation.