School District Arms Students with Rocks to Stop Mass Shooters

The superintendent of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain School District says his students avail themselves of rocks with which to defend against mass shooters.

WNEP reports that superintendent Dr. David Helsel told a Pennsylvania House Education Committee, “Every classroom has been equipped with a five-gallon bucket of river stone. If an armed intruder attempts to gain entrance into any of our classrooms, they will face a classroom full students armed with rocks and they will be stoned.”

Helsel explained how the plan to throw rocks came about: “At one time I just had the idea of river stone, they`re the right size for hands, you can throw them very hard and they will create or cause pain, which can distract.”

He stressed that doors have been re-enforced, making them difficult to break through, and students have also been trained in “barricading the doors” to make breaching them even more difficult. But the students are armed with rocks in the event that a shooter does get through.

An unidentified Blue Mountain School District senior indicated that he likes the plan, saying, “It matters because it will help protect the schools, anything helps, rocks are better than books and pencils.” And at least one parent supports using rocks as a defensive measure as well.

But others in the district mock the idea. An unidentified parent called the idea “absurd” and said teachers ought to be armed.

Dr. Helsel says the district has no plans to arm teachers for school safety.