ALICE Training for the elementary aged child is age and ability appropriate. ALICE Training Institute always leaves the grade level of implementation up to the local school district.
1. Children should be taught to follow direction the first time they are given in an emergency. We don’t want teachers to give directions to Evacuate or Lockdown and have students standing around asking, “But why?”
2. Students should be trained to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN to announcements at the time they are given. If the PA system serves as the main information source in a school, students must be trained to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN every time it comes on.
3. In a Lockdown, be quiet, listen to directions, stay out of the line of sight from the door, but DO NOT hide in a closet. Be ready to move or evacuate if the intruder comes into the room.
4. In a Counter situation when the secured location has been breached by an intruder, and evacuation is not possible, the best line of defense is to have kids up, moving, making noise, gaining distance and throwing items at the intruder.
5. Evacuation is always the best defense, if the information indicates it is safe to do so. Parents, staff and students must know where the RALLY/REUNIFICATION point is located. This location is usually away and separate from the school. Students should know how to get to the RALLY/REUNIFICATION point from every part of the school, and how to move quickly with OR without the teacher. It should be emphasized to parents that the RALLY/REUNIFICATION point is the place to go in case of an emergency.
6. Upper elementary students have more developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills and should take a much more active role in ALICE than children in the lower elementary grades.
7. We teach all aspects of ALICE EXCEPT the “swarm technique” (grabbing onto the appendages of an intruder and using your body weight to immobilize him) to elementary students.
8. Special needs students are planned for ahead of time, given their individualized situations. If a student cannot evacuate, plans must be made to fortify his/her location. When students with special needs are included in the general education class, teachers need to decide what is in the child’s best interest and plans should be made ahead of time. We cannot give a one-size-fits-all answer to the situations involving a student with special needs. The school must consider each case individually.
9. Education and empowerment are the keys to preparation and relieving fear.
10. Kids are taught in realistic terms what to do in case of danger. ALICE is much like a fire drill or a tornado drill. Its purpose is to prepare students for life inside and out of the classroom. The ALICE concepts are the same at school, home, the mall, the afterschool program, restaurants, church or any other place the child goes. We are teaching a lifelong safety skill.
