Boston police plan to increase patrols at city schools after Connecticut shootings

Over 300 school districts nationwide have adopted ALICE ' alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate. (Cq) It is currently the subject of explatory discussions in numerous school districts in the Greater Boston area. The protocol emphasizes making active decisions, such as barricading classroom doors; coordinating on-the-spot evacuations; and, if all else fails, throwing objects and using body weight to topple a shooter. The 'counter' option that teaches children to resist an attacker when cornered has generated controversy. Globe Staff writers Deirdre Fernandes and Emily Sweeney and correspondents Meg Murphy and Zachary T. Sampson contributed to this report.