DepEd: No more realistic simulations in school safety drills

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday said that there will be no more realistic simulations during school safety drills, after experts warned these may have negative psychological effects. “Ipinagbabawal po natin ang anumang simulation na parang totoong insidente. Kailangan din po ang pahintulot ng magulang bago makilahok ang mga learner,” DepEd said in a Facebook post. (We are forbidding any simulation of realistic incidents. The parents also need to give their permission before a learner could participate.) The DepEd said that it is collaborating with medical and mental health partners so that the drills are age-appropriate and sensitive to trauma. “Our goal is to prepare [the students] with confidence, not fear,” the DepEd said. The DepEd is set to implement a nationwide school safety drill on Thursday, September 3, after being postponed due to these concerns. The school safety drills come in light of a string of school-based violence, with a school shooting in Tacloban killing four students. A few months later, a shooting in a Zamboanga high school left two students dead, including the shooter. — Jean Mangaluz/BM, GMA News