By Craig Kamba
Knowing what to do in case of the unthinkable is now possible thanks to an informative video that students can now access. A short film posted on the college website re-enacts a school shooting right here at home; the graphic reality of the film has caused a stir among some school faculty.
The short film begins with a few peaceful shots of Lethbridge College and a short introduction. The mood quickly shifts to one of panic and terror amongst staff and students as an actor playing a masked gunman starts killing people off in the hallway. Step-by-step instructions are given on how to proceed in the rare event this event might happen.
“I was alarmed at how realistic it was,” said Heather Gordon, a Lethbridge College staff member and technician in the Sphere Lab.
“The discussion was brought up that as instructors we haven’t seen this type of thing very often. It’s not the norm,” she said.
Some staff members are choosing to show the film in class and some are not, believing it to be too traumatic for students.
Gordon added that the discussion was brought up whether or not the video could ‘plant a seed’–entailing that it may cause an increase in the chances of a school shooting taking place. Gordon disagrees.
“If there is someone troubled enough to do that, they are going to do something whether they see it or not,” she remarked.
The video was intended to be a realistic understanding of what could happen.
In the past few years, the number of campus shootings across North America have increased. Virginia Tech and the University of Alberta are some of the most recent explains Occupational Health team leader, Frank Zappone.
“Some of the staff felt people might be very traumatized when watching these sorts of videos,” said Zappone.
“The intent was to make it as real-life as possible, so people are aware that it can happen and how quickly it can happen, and know what to do in case it does happen,” he continued.
Zappone went on to assure that proper preventative measures have been implemented at the college to minimize the risk of an event such as this ever happening. Examples of this are more patrols by campus security and infrastructure upgrades.
The video was released on the Lethbridge College website in early August of this year in partnership with post-secondary institutions across Alberta to create a standard of what to do in these types of emergency situations.
“It provided a realistic view what could happen should there be a shooter on the campus, with excellent step-by-step instructions,” said LC Communications Specialist Gwen Wirth. The department encourages staff and students to participate in watching it.
The video can be viewed at www.lethbridgecollege.ca/alert.
