As a college student, I am slightly concerned about all of the violence in classrooms lately. I would like to start a discussion about some preparations that could be taken to help survive an incident similar to the one in Virginia Tech.

I will start the discussion by mentioning that in the backpack I carry to class every day, I have at least 100 feet of paracord. During the shooting in Virginia Tech, there were several students that jumped from the fourth story window and injured themselves fairly severely, but probably saved their lives in the process at the cost of only a broken leg or two. If I were ever to find myself in a situation where the door to my classroom was barricaded temporarily, I would strongly consider tying the paracord to a large, sturdy object such as a large desk, and abseiling down to (hopefully) safety.

What do other people have to say about this idea, and more generally, other classroom violence preparations?