When children take part in a disaster drill at school, they are not necessarily thinking, “There might really be an earthquake or fire today.” For many students, it feels more like one of the regular things that happens at school. Some may even joke around while doing it.
Schools still repeat these drills because when a real disaster happens, there is no time to start figuring out how to evacuate.
During an earthquake, students may first need to protect themselves and then follow the teacher’s instructions. During a fire, some stairs or hallways may be unusable. A school can have hundreds of students, and if everyone starts making separate decisions at the same time, a great deal of time can be lost before the group even begins to move.
Disaster drills are therefore not only about teaching each student an evacuation route. They also help students and teachers share a basic understanding of what everyone should do first when something happens.
If a real emergency occurs, the whole group can move much faster when everyone does not have to start from zero. Even students who did not take every drill very seriously may still have absorbed the basic pattern: listen to the announcement, follow the evacuation routine they have practiced, and move according to the teacher’s instructions.
Teachers need the practice as well. They have to guide students, check that nobody has been left behind in classrooms or other areas, and take attendance after reaching the evacuation point. A drill is also a chance to see whether the entire school can move into an organized emergency response without unnecessary confusion.
Doing this once is not enough. New students enter every year, students move to different classrooms as they advance through school, and teachers may change. People also forget procedures if they never repeat them.
Depending on the school and the local risks, drills may prepare students not only for earthquakes and fires but also for disasters such as tsunamis.
To students, the drill may feel like just another annual routine. But repeating the same basic actions makes it much easier for students and teachers to move quickly together when a real emergency occurs. Simply reducing the time lost to hesitation at the very beginning can make the drills worthwhile.
The purpose of a school disaster drill is not to frighten children every time it is held. It is to make sure that when a real disaster happens, the whole school can move toward safer action without first having to stop and work out what to do.
