Wondering what not to tell your kids to do if they’re ever in the absolutely horrible position of being near an active shooter? Then you should watch the Fox & Friends segment in which Elisabeth Hasselbeck talks to self-defense experts. According to the piece, your child should run toward the shooter and do Krav Maga. Regardless of your level of safety expertise, that doesn’t sound right… right?
In the segment, there’s a mock shooter, and the instructor and one of the kids he’s with demonstrate how to essentially charge the shooter and take him down. Basically the show concludes that running toward the gunman and doing Krav Maga is the best — and should be the first — line of defense if your child finds himself in a school shooting.
No.
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Of course, learning some form of self-defense so you’re able to protect yourself in certain situations is a good idea. But using said self-defense to “take down” a shooter isn’t the way to go. Well, according to Homeland Security, at least. But what do they know, right?
In the event of an active shooting situation, Homeland Security advises people to first, try to escape; second, attempt to hide; and third, take action against the shooter. Its website says:
“As a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the active shooter by:
- Acting as aggressively as possible against him/her
- Throwing items and improvising weapons
- Yelling
- Committing to your actions”
After a few perusals of its recommended steps, there still doesn’t appear to be any mention of Krav Maga.
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In the segment, there’s a brief mention of finding a hiding spot, but neither Hasselbeck nor the expert says anything about trying to evacuate if possible — not to mention that Krav Maga is something kids need to actually learn. Like, in a class. It isn’t something they can employ after watching a quick clip on a morning show.
Parents’ and experts’ opinions may vary a little bit on how to talk to children about school shootings, but that’s OK. How we broach these subjects is a very personal choice. However, when it comes to the course of action our kids should take to deal with something this horrific — something that is actually life or death — we all should stick to what the experts say.
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And by “experts,” we mean the Department of Homeland Security. Not Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the people of Fox & Friends.
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