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Home • News

This Pennsylvania School District Is Giving Students Rocks To Protect Themselves Against A Gunman

Florida High School Shooting Leaves Multiple Injured, Possible Fatalities
FREDERIC J. BROWN/Getty Images
By Paula Rogo · Updated October 24, 2020

A Pennsylvania school district has decided that rocks maybe the best way to defend oneself against a gunman in a school shooting.

Blue Mountain School District has armed teachers and students with rocks to ward off potential school shooters. 

“We always strive to find new ways to keep our students safe,” Superintendent David Helsel told The Associated Press. He said they have also arranged for extra security “into the near future.”

A rural school district in Pennsylvania that has armed teachers and students with rocks to ward off potential school shooters has arranged for additional armed security in its buildings. Do you agree with this decision? https://t.co/JUX47Qra02

— WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) March 26, 2018

Helsel argued that the rocks give teachers and students an option to defend themselves rather than just hiding behind school equipment. As a result, a five-gallon bucket of river stones will be placed in each classroom, NBC News reports.

According to USA Today, teachers and students in the district have also been trained in a program called “ALICE,” which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. The rocks are meant to work as an additional line of defense.