Just so there are no misunderstandings with these "Fighting Back" posts from the past few days, I am certainly not suggesting that any students who were able to escape - such as those who were told to flee by the Israeli teacher barring the door - were in any way acting cowardly, etc.

That would be a silly and hollow charge for someone to make.

Cho had semi-automatic weapons (with a minimum 15 shots in the Glock alone, per clip). Five grown men could have bum rushed Cho and been unsuccessful (or perhaps so, but that's not the point). We have no idea as to how long Cho had been practicing his shooting. For all we know he may have been an excellent marksman.

There are some reports - I don't know whether confirmed or not - whereby Cho may have ordered several students into a line, facing a wall, for execution. In those circumstances where the student has no chance to escape we have to teach our youth to fight back. Perhaps some tried. We may never know.

But this is about mentality and conditioning. The three of four hijacked planes on 9-11 weren't filled with those to afraid to act. It's simply that the passengers in the fourth plane, United FLT 93, had enough time to gather their wits, realize they had no alternatives and organize a plan. I don't know about you but since that day I haven't boarded an airplane without first studying the faces around me, saying a quick prayer for safety, and thinking to myself what I would do should hijackers appear. One has to at least be prepared so they have an inkling of ideas regarding fight versus flight.

Going forward, as the NBC article a few posts below (yesterday) states, people should try to learn from this terror, whether in an office building or school yard, and condition themselves as to what to do the next time, if the next time be thrust upon them.

And sadly, there's going to be a next time.

Labels: self-defense, VA Tech

Just as the passengers of United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, taught all future travelers that the time may come where they must fight back in the face of death, I think the Virginia Tech shootings will serve as a watershed moment for our youth (and even for those in the corporate atmosphere who also are occasionally victims of the crazed gunman) to demonstrate that the rules have changed and in the end one can only rely on themselves to fight for their own life.

True, it is so much easier said than done. I pray I never must know just how much so. But in the face of incomprehensible horror one must summon all their inner courage to even have a chance to survive.

It's nice to see some of the mainstream media understand and relate this notion:

Schools need to teach students to be aggressive
Security analyst tells TODAY how schools should prepare for attacks
By Mike Celizic
TODAYshow.com contributor
TODAY
Updated: 12:05 p.m. ET April 18, 2007

Cowering under a desk and waiting for help to come is no longer an option. American schools must teach their students to respond aggressively to attacks by people bent on mayhem.

"I would hope that the administrators and folks that are making the decisions would understand that it’s difficult to negotiate with a bullet," security consultant Allen Hill told TODAY. "A person that comes into your facility with a gun intends to kill and do you harm."

The founder of Response Options, a Texas-based security company, said, "Get past this paralysis of fear over liability issues. Our country is so litigious and concerned about doing the wrong thing and about doing the politically correct thing that we don’t do anything."

That only helps people like Cho Seung Hui. "The bad guys are counting on Americans to sit still and do nothing," Hill said.

Students and others need to realize that they do have options, Hill said.

The "bad guys" plan their attacks. Schools need to plan and rehearse their defenses and responses just as aggressively.

"The training should be just as intense and be taken just as seriously as the bad guy takes their mission to kill," he said.

At Virginia Tech, Cho Seung Hui walked into classrooms and simply shot people. There are reports that he even lined up victims to shoot them one by one. But in one Norris Hall classroom, student Zach Petkewicz led his classmates in barricading the door, saving all inside.

Petkewicz’ response was instinctive, prompted by "adrenaline and fear."

Hill’s company teaches acting from knowledge and a well-rehearsed plan.

"Once the bad guy’s inside, how hard is it to hit a non-moving target?" Hill observed.

"Get up and move," he advised. "Do whatever it takes to create chaos and mayhem. Disrupt them. Make them go into a protective mode themselves. We feel that we can become actively aggressive for our own benefit, whether that’s actively running out of the classroom, having to face the gunman and take him down, breaking out windows and escaping that way."

You can’t wait for something to happen and then try to form a response, he said. It’s got to be done in advance.

Security systems are passive, he said. But those under attack can be active.

Said Hill: "There are things that you can do to take the initiative away from the bad guy, to disrupt their plan and to create a situation that’s winnable for you."

Labels: self-defense, VA Tech