Blog #431: Columbine High School 25 Years Later: From a Neurodivergent Perspective
- Jeffrey Snyder
- Apr 23, 2024
- 4 min read
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The date of April 20th has plenty of intrigue in my family…April 20th is my mom’s birthday, but its also the date of one of the darkest days in our country’s history when on April 20th, 1999, two teenagers in Colorado carried out the deadliest school shooting in US History at the time and set in motion the routines of preparing for a life and death situation in schools everywhere.
At the time of Columbine, I was in 4th grade, 10 years old and still too young to understand the dangers of the world around me. Until that moment, no one had ever heard of a shooting taking place at a school and it was a thought that certainly never crossed my mind. However, 25 years after that dark day, I’m taking a closer look at how far we have come from a neurodivergent perspective.
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For one thing, in addition to all those affected, I couldn’t help but think of what the special education students at Columbine High School went through that day. What was going through their minds? Were they thinking that they were ever going to get out of the situation that they found themselves in? I’m pretty sure that all those thoughts were going through their minds.
When the gunfire erupted in the hallways, many special education students were like deer in the headlights, frozen and unable to react to what was happening around them. Some were panicking and unable to keep quiet so that the two gunmen couldn’t hear them, despite the fact that they had their teachers with them.
I can imagine that some of the students probably didn’t want to go back to Columbine after that dark day, but they had to go back because they had an education to pursue. In fact, most special education students as well as differently abled students are often left behind in the responses following such a travesty. If I were in their shoes, I would probably feel the same way at first, but I would ultimately return because going to school was like going to a job, you are making a living for yourself with grades and socialization.
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But it wasn’t until I reached 6th grade when we began practicing lockdown drills, preparing for something that would we hoped will never come. Back then, the nice accommodation was that only the junior high and high schools in my town prepared for them and not the elementary schools because they were too scary for them. Now all grade levels practice them and now they are going the next level with A (Alert) L (Lockdown) I (Inform) C (Counter) and E (Evacuate).
As someone who experience school safety drills as a special education student, I still believe that we have a long way to go to ensuring that the special education school population is prepared for participating in simulated situations that are deemed frightening. But it’s hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the drills. In fact, some students will often get curious and wander into the danger because that’s what their brains are telling them.
One of the challenges was that during Columbine, the shooting was unexpected and many students like predictability when it comes to school safety drills. Some neurodivergent and special education students oftentimes struggle with what is real and what isn’t real and the only way those fears can be quelled is if there is going to be a drill that day. The mindset most schools have is to keep the information about the drill hidden from the special education student because it ruins the element of surprise of the real thing.
Even now, 25 years later, some students cannot tell what is real and what is fictitious. Perhaps one way we can help special education students tell the difference between fact and fiction is by showing them social stories about what goes on during a drill and what is the real thing. If its a drill, they know it’s coming, if it’s real, then they know its real based on noises, stimulations, etc. Social stories can go a long way towards a better mindset as well as community partnerships between schools and law enforcement/emergency personnel.
On April 20th, 1999, there was no warning and most special education students at Columbine knew this because they were never told a drill was happening that day. Either way, ensuring that special education students get adequate warning time to school safety drills remains one of my top priorities as an ambassador and public speaker.
Still, we can never forget what happened at Columbine High School 25 years ago because there were heroes that day from both students and teachers that special education students probably consider as saviors for the fact that they live another day because of their actions.
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Catch you all later!!
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