Power in numbers

ABC News had a story today about Texas schoolchildren being taught to fight back when faced with a violent shooter in school, rather than cowering under tables and praying for a rescue. The children in Burleson, just south of Fort Worth are taught to use their advantage in numbers to take control. There's some criticism of this approach, but I like the rationale. Kids are being taught to yell, scream, throw books, desks, chairs or pencils -- anything to take control of the situation and take down the gunman.

At the very least, the shooters don't have a clear shot to the had like they do if the victims are just sitting, standing or laying there. There still might be a loss of life, but the shooter will not be in control of the situation and he will at least be forced to rethink his plans. This idea aligns with a self-defense class I took once where the instructor told us that when our lives are in danger, always to fight back with everything we have and never to allow ourselves to be taken to a second location. The second location will only be more to the attacker's advantage.

This change in strategy with the children reminds me of the monumental change that happened in people's minds after 9/11. Prior to the tragedy, the standard procedure for dealing with plane hijackers was to go along with their demands -- most often they wanted to release a comrade from prison or get TV to pay attention to their political grievances -- and probably things would work out OK. Sept. 11 ended all that. If there's a disturbance on a plane right now, you can bet there will be a lot of people piling on that guy. We've learned not to be passive in such situations and some tragedies have been averted because of it. Perhaps the same idea will work with the kids.

I'd like to hear some survivors of violent attacks and some folks in law enforcement giving advice on this. They are the real experts.