EVERETT, Wash -- When View Ridge
Elementary principal Kert Lenseigne heard of the mass shooting in
Roseberg, Oregon, he knew it was only a matter of time.
"My immediate reaction was, 'Here we go again,'" Lenseigne said.
Lenseigne and his colleagues in the Everett school district trained for an active shooter earlier this year. He hopes he never has to put the training to use.
"There's a certain sadness to it," Lenseigne said. "But the fact is, this is the reality we live in now."
Everett schools are also taking a new approach with social media in times of crisis. District officials say they know they can't stop students and parents from texting and posting online in an emergency, so they're working with both to improve the accuracy of information.
A video shared with students and parents instructs them in how to communicate quickly, clearly, and effectively in a crisis at school.
"What information people share and how they share it could make the difference between a clear, comforting message, and chaos or panic," the video states, going on to list a series of "Dos" and "Don'ts."
"We're capitalizing on the fact that we can use our students as allies in the midst of a situation," Lenseigne says. "Depending on what it is, they can communicate out to their families, as well."
Over at Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Fred Rivara has spent nearly 30 years researching gun violence across the world.
"We see it again and again," says Dr. Rivara, a pediatrician who also works with the hospital's Center for Injury Prevention & Research. "But I don't think we're becoming desensitized to it. I hope we're not becoming desensitized to it."
Dr. Rivara considers issues of gun violence and gun control in the United States to be particularly unique.
"We are unprecedented among developed countries in access to guns," Dr. Rivara says. "That's the big difference. It's certainly not that we're a more violent society."
And while any solution to gun violence in the country may be deeply divisive, those like Lenseigne - trusted to keep children safe - remain hopeful one will be found before it's too late again.
"We never want that day to happen," he says. "But the events in Oregon show it's become all too routine."
"My immediate reaction was, 'Here we go again,'" Lenseigne said.
Lenseigne and his colleagues in the Everett school district trained for an active shooter earlier this year. He hopes he never has to put the training to use.
"There's a certain sadness to it," Lenseigne said. "But the fact is, this is the reality we live in now."
Everett schools are also taking a new approach with social media in times of crisis. District officials say they know they can't stop students and parents from texting and posting online in an emergency, so they're working with both to improve the accuracy of information.
A video shared with students and parents instructs them in how to communicate quickly, clearly, and effectively in a crisis at school.
"What information people share and how they share it could make the difference between a clear, comforting message, and chaos or panic," the video states, going on to list a series of "Dos" and "Don'ts."
"We're capitalizing on the fact that we can use our students as allies in the midst of a situation," Lenseigne says. "Depending on what it is, they can communicate out to their families, as well."
Over at Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Fred Rivara has spent nearly 30 years researching gun violence across the world.
"We see it again and again," says Dr. Rivara, a pediatrician who also works with the hospital's Center for Injury Prevention & Research. "But I don't think we're becoming desensitized to it. I hope we're not becoming desensitized to it."
Dr. Rivara considers issues of gun violence and gun control in the United States to be particularly unique.
"We are unprecedented among developed countries in access to guns," Dr. Rivara says. "That's the big difference. It's certainly not that we're a more violent society."
And while any solution to gun violence in the country may be deeply divisive, those like Lenseigne - trusted to keep children safe - remain hopeful one will be found before it's too late again.
"We never want that day to happen," he says. "But the events in Oregon show it's become all too routine."
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