Letter to the editor: Please take time to think about this bill

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This letter concerns a recent article that was published by The Reflector. The article was published on March 28, 2022, and is titled “New bill provides guidance after school ‘active shooter’ drills found to be traumatic for students.” This article conveys the opinion of Rep. Amy Walen. She claims that “active shooter drills are associated with increases in depression, anxiety and fears about death among children as young as 5 years old, to high schoolers, their parents and teachers.” As a current high school student who has experienced numerous active shooter drills, I believe that this issue needs to be explored further before a final conclusion is drawn. I, as well as many of my peers, are very thankful to be provided with the opportunity to prepare for such events. Not once have I felt that an active shooter drill has been detrimental to my mental health. In fact, I would feel more anxious knowing that I wasn’t properly prepared, if we didn’t participate in such drills. The statistics provided at the end of the article state that “of the more than 40,000-gun deaths annually in the United States, school shootings account for less than 1%.” This basically undermines the importance of the lives of students. This is completely unacceptable in my mind, as every life should be valued as much as possible, and not just viewed as another number. Please take some time to think about this bill before voting on it. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Colton Sahota,



Battle Ground