A mum is teaching her kids how to "play dead" in the event of a mass shooting - describing it as essential survival skill for children today."

Eeka McLeod, 43, would regularly talk to her kids about the risks of school shootings.

But it's not until the recent shooting in Georgia, USA, which killed four people, that she began running drills.

Eeka teaches her daughters, Ella, seven, and Diana, nine, how to respond if they ever found themselves in an active shooter situation.

Video shows Ella laid on her back pretending to be dead while Eeka instructs her to "breathe lightly."

Eeka, a single mother from Phoenix, Arizona, said: "I'm teaching Ella all kinds of survival skills, and sadly, this is just another one."

"We live in a world where mass shootings are happening everywhere - schools, movie theaters, grocery stores, even concerts."

While schools run safety drills, Eeka said they often sugarcoat the reality for children.

She said: "When Ella came home from school talking about the drill, I realized they weren't fully explaining what it was for."

Eeka said her daughter Ella initially laughed at the idea of practicing an active shooter drill so she felt she had to intervene.

Eeka said: "For a seven-year-old to deal with this is insane."

"I had to break it down in a way she could understand."

"I told her, ‘There are people who come with guns to schools and they might try to kill kids and teachers. This drill is to help you stay safe.'"

Eeka, a gun owner herself, believes in the Second Amendment, which protects the right to keep and bear arms.

But she is also a vocal advocate for gun reform.

Eeka said: "No civilian needs an assault rifle."

"We need stricter gun laws, wait times—something that strikes a middle ground where people can operate safely."

"I believe you can be a responsible gun owner and still support regulation."

With mass shootings happening daily across the United States, Eeka believes teaching her daughters this skill is necessary for survival.

She added: "It's a sad reality, but it's where we are as a country."

"When I do these drills with Ella, I disassociate from the emotional side of it."

"I trick my brain into thinking I'm coaching her for cheerleading or something."

"It's the only way I can stay calm."