This is a download from the BBC. It's the latest edition of From Our Own Correspondent, broadcast on Radio 4,

and it's introduced by Kate Aide.

Hello, today every mother's nightmare.

American children are told what to do if a gunman opens

fire in their school. A princess appears in court. The Spanish Royals wonder if they can come

back after an anous harebelis.

We're in China learning that Jewish and Confucian culture have much in common, and in Denmark

where the robots have arrived at an old people's home.

But don't worry, they're only allowed out at night.

The mass murder which took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School

in Connecticut two years ago

may not have resulted in tougher gun controls, but it did lead to security being stepped up in schools across the United States.

Millions of dollars have been spent on metal detectors, surveillance cameras, fences and gates.

Thousands of teachers and resource officers have received special training in protecting schools from violence and intruders, but still the shootings happen.

Last year there were more than 25 separate incidents in which students were left dead or injured.

On two occasions in the last three months alone, those pointing the guns were boys

aged just 12.

So safety drills are now almost as common in American schools as fire drills, as Laura

Trevelyan, herself a parent in New York City, has been finding out.

My seven-year-old is a chatterbox, and as the youngest of three boys, he's always keen to be heard. Little in his life goes unreported. Every day

has a banner headline. So he couldn't wait to tell me about the safety drill he

and his classmates had practiced that morning.

...