Friday, November 16, 2007

Scary times


I went to the girls' Elementary School yesterday to drop off an inhaler (my little one is asthmatic). The nurse spotted me and said "come in quick" frantically. So I quickly skipped into her office and asked "what's going on?" She replied, "we are practicing a lockdown drill of the school, if you don't get out of here in 5 minutes, you will be locked in with us."


Needless to say, I got out before the lockdown drill began.


Last night at dinner, Cal said "we had a lockdown drill today."

me "what was that like?"

Cal "it gave me butterflies"

me "what was it like?"

Cal "the principal said on the speaker, 'teachers lock down the school'"

me "so what happened next"

Cal "the teachers locked the door and pulled the shades down and we went to the cubby area"

me "did your teacher explain why you are practicing this"

Cal "in case a dog comes in the school we need to stay safe"

me "ok, well that sounds like a good reason to keep your class safe"

Cal "right, or if a man comes in and tries to shoot through the door" (I am sure another child told her that scenario)


UGH



I understand the need to keep the school secure and ready for that type of emergency. And I am thankful that it only gave Cal a mild case of the butterflies. My older daughter was completely unphased by the event. Its just a sad thing that we live in a world that has to take these precautions in an elementary school.


~T


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a scary world when this happens. I remember having fire drills and a drill where we hid under our desks if there was an earthquake or tornado...which is weird because we've never had an earthquake in PA where I live.

Anonymous said...

It seems they didn't properly warn the children. We're in NYC and my son just told me they've never done this. Sorry she was scared.

Anonymous said...

We do this at least twice a year at each of our schools....the local cops are there with us for suggestions on better safety procedures.

Anonymous said...

Very scary, but unfortunately very necessary.

Unknown said...

It is very sad that we live in a world that requires drills like that. As a kid, the scariest drills we had were tornado drills.

Anonymous said...

So many schools are doing this now. It is sad that this has become a way of life for our children.

Pam said...

I'm with you. We just discussed this at the school I teach in and were informed that we will be doing these drills as well. I understand that this is the reality of the world we live in....but I hate that we have to do it. I hate that I have to explain to kids that we need to do this as practice- just in case. I keep it simple and kid friendly like your child's teacher...but I don't like doing it. I don't like that kids have to think about and deal with these issues - what happened to being a kid?

Jennifer said...

Oh how scary. I used to work in the schools and luckily never had to deal with a lockdown situation. Our principal didn't call it a lock-down, she used a code word over the intercom so as not to frighten the kids.

Kris said...

It's funny, my son mentioned the lockdown on the way to practice and there were two other friends in the car with us. They were very aware of the incident in Needham recently where a man was shooting in the downtown area and the schools went into lockdown. They dicussed it openly and none were upset by the suject matter. The one thing I am grateful for is the fact that the schools prepare for this type of emergency....sad but relieved.

Too Cool for School said...

hmmmm...having an its-a-small-world moment. This happened in the town I live in, Needham. coincidence?

And yeah, I try to balance the need for caution against the ills of hysteria. I'm critical of hysteria but then I think of Virginia Tech, and you know if they had only locked down the university sooner....but of course hindsight is 20/20.

Trish K said...

This was in Franklin, I am wondering in MA had some kind of initiative