Because formal, comparable data on “school lockdowns for security threats” is scarce even in many countries, comparisons are necessarily approximate and often drawn from qualitative, media, or specific case studies.
United States
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The US has far more established data (though still imperfect) on school shootings, “active shooter” incidents, and lockdown / lockout protocols in schools.
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Gun violence in U.S. schools is a significant driver of lockdowns / emergency responses. In the U.S., the phenomenon of “active shooter drills” is much more widespread.
Wikipedia -
Many U.S. schools maintain formal written “active shooter / lockdown” plans. For example, an article notes that in U.S. schools:
92% of schools have written plans for active shooter events; 78% lock building doors; 81% have security cameras; 67% have classrooms that lock from inside; 11% use random metal detectors in high schools.
Wikipedia
These protocols are far more entrenched owing to the higher baseline risk (in terms of firearm incidents) in many U.S. jurisdictions.
Europe (select context)
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In most European countries, the number of “school lockdowns for active threats” is lower (or less visible) compared to the U.S., partly because gun violence is less common and partly because threat profiles differ (e.g. knife attacks, intrusion, etc.).
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all European countries used full school closures or partial closures as a public health measure. For example, in OECD countries, face-to-face instruction was disrupted between 4–9 weeks (net of holidays) replaced by remote learning in many cases.
OECD -
There is some aggregated data on school closures (for pandemic reasons) via UNESCO’s global dashboards, which track closures by country/region.
covid19.uis.unesco.org -
A European study on learning losses indicates that, on average, students lost roughly a half year of learning (in that first major wave) in Europe due to the interruptions.
aricafoundation.org
But those are closures for health reasons, not security lockdowns.
Interpretation & What This Suggests
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Lockdowns for security threats are rising in visibility in the UK, though data is fragmented.
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The trend appears consistent with broader changes in threat environments: presence of weapons, increased violent behaviour, malicious communications, and higher community tension.
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The U.S. experience underscores what robust preparedness looks like (formal plans, drills, infrastructure).
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Europe (excluding the UK) tends to have fewer of these incidents (or fewer reported), but the baseline security profiles differ.
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