Preparing for Beslan

The 2004 terrorist attack on a Beslan, Russia middle school left more than a hundred innocent schoolchildren dead and many more injured. In this tragedy's wake, numerous security experts offered American school officials recommendations on how to protect children in the United States. This study asks, "What anti-terrorism measures would be feasible, suitable, and acceptable in protecting an American school from an attack similar to the one that occurred in Beslan, Russia?" Examination of the Beslan attack enabled the creation of a model to replicate a similar threat undertaken against an American school. Compiling recommended anti-terrorism measures determined how a school could prevent and prepare for such an attack. Field research conducted at a confidential subject school included a site assessment and unstructured interviews with staff. Analysis includes how each identified anti-terrorism measure could affect the subject school in terms of cost, instruction, or school climate. Recommendations are made for school officials to implement anti-terrorism measures found to be feasible, suitable, and acceptable.