They should have notified you our district sent out a notice. I know some places let parents opt out for the younger kids.
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Email from my son's (kindergarten) classmates father
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They should have notified you our district sent out a notice. I know some places let parents opt out for the younger kids.
Dandy Crocodile
Member
We had active shooter drills when I was in high school 5 years ago.
Teacher's desks are usually pretty big, and plenty of kindergartners could hide there.
ErnieMcCracken
Member
Care to elaborate?
This is normal as far as I know. Ever since middle school started we would do lockdown drills like once or twice a year. The idea being that they have a plan of action in case there is an active shooter because it happens so often nowadays.
When we would do it they would lock the doors to the classroom, turn lights off and move away from the windows. Someone would come around and confirm that the door was locked outside the class.
Probably sounds alarming but it's standard now, as sad as that is. We did these drills in college too.
When we would do it they would lock the doors to the classroom, turn lights off and move away from the windows. Someone would come around and confirm that the door was locked outside the class.
Probably sounds alarming but it's standard now, as sad as that is. We did these drills in college too.
CrocMother
Banned
It's probably half true. It's almost certainly not an actor but a police officer walking around making sure everyone is executing the drill properly.
I could see how that would be really scary from a little kid's perspective though.
Prinz Eugn
Member
11 years ago we were doing the same, it's probably post-Columbine. It was called "lockdown" like other people have said, though it was pretty much assumed to be a shooter.
ZombieSupaStar
Member
i know, im in my 30s and all we ever did was the sit in the hallway with our heads down if the tornado siren goes off, or the walk outside fire drill.
columbine happened when I was in high school but we never did drills afterwards, must of just missed it. we did have random weapon checks though, with metal detectors.
Darren870
Member
We had active shooter drills growing up in NY (I am 30). That was 15-20 years ago and like everyone else has said it was hiding in a spot where you couldn't been seen from the door/windows.
Sometimes that would be being around the teachers desk.
I am guessing the guy in camouflage was probably the police or someone that worked there. Who knows, I guess ask. But I don't see the problem.
I remember talking to friends growing up in the west coast and they had earth quake drills. I thought that was weird! But its all relative I guess!
Sometimes that would be being around the teachers desk.
I am guessing the guy in camouflage was probably the police or someone that worked there. Who knows, I guess ask. But I don't see the problem.
I remember talking to friends growing up in the west coast and they had earth quake drills. I thought that was weird! But its all relative I guess!
You have a problem with the school trying to teach your child how to survive an active shooter situation? That seems ludicrous. Many schools have police officers that are trained to educate teachers and students the best ways to survive. Children should be taught at an early age just like tornado and fire drills that are done routinely. Do you know how many kids have died in a school fire in the last 50 years? Zero. But they still do fire drills. Active shooter situations happen. Kids need to know what to do.
Lockdown are the old method of training. You really should be teaching the kids to get outside as the first option and only barricade themselves in as a last resort.
CrocMother
Banned
Get the kids outside and then do what?
Shamrock7r
Member
Lockdown drills are pretty common in schools, to my knowledge. In any case, a letter should have gone out explaining these drills would take place, or the drill protocol may/should be in the parent handbook. Don't hesitate to clarify with the principal OP but it really is nothing out of the ordinary, from the sound of it. An actor playing a shooter would be a little odd if that were true though.
CarpeDeezNutz
Member
Lock Down drill. pretty common these days.
way more
Member
Opt out of what? Reality? Fires rarely happen in schools, will you opt your child out of learning about them?
Getting them outside away from the shooter because the shooter is inside looking for victims.
Virginia Tech necessitated a re-evaluation on lockdown drills. Cho trained with the knowledge that people would huddle together and stay low. That's why his killed number was so high, people did exactly what he expected them to.
During the Columbine shooting over 800 students got out of the building to safety. 8 of those that got out came back inside and were killed. Getting outside increases you chances of survival exponentially. I teach active shooter training for a local college in my jurisdiction.
Most updated training like ALICE, or other similar models use the "outs" method. Run, hide, fight, etc. Hiding should be your second choice but only if it's not safe to get out of the building.
Psychoward
Banned
I don't see the issue here? Only thing is the actor but other than that eh
rbanke
Member
Those of you who have had lockdown drills, what exactly are they 'drilling'? aren't lockdowns for schools just the doors being locked and school is continued as normal?
Since I have no new info to go on until tomorrow I'd kind of like to talk about the idea that school shootings are so common we need children drilling for them. Some statistics:
Total schools in the 2009-2010 school year (link): 98,817
2010-2015 school shootings (wikipedia): 104
2007-2011 average yearly pre-school through grade 12 fires (link): 4090 (per year average)
this is why I don't believe its worth spreading fear to children about school shootings. They are one of the worst problems we have and need to be dealt with but not by instilling fear.
see above.
Since I have no new info to go on until tomorrow I'd kind of like to talk about the idea that school shootings are so common we need children drilling for them. Some statistics:
Total schools in the 2009-2010 school year (link): 98,817
2010-2015 school shootings (wikipedia): 104
2007-2011 average yearly pre-school through grade 12 fires (link): 4090 (per year average)
this is why I don't believe its worth spreading fear to children about school shootings. They are one of the worst problems we have and need to be dealt with but not by instilling fear.
see above.
CarpeDeezNutz
Member
Doors are locked with bolts, unless a shooter is going to waste their time trying to bust a heavy ass door down.
Edit: talking about elementary schools with police stations seconds away, not universities.
Battersea Power Station
Member
Is this a suburban thing? I've never heard of it in NYC.
lastplayed
Member
We used to hide under the desk for earthquake drills. That was kinda fun.
We're currently in the grip of the NRA and guns as a religion. Children take a back seat to this and the best we can do is have our teachers run through some largely ineffective drills.
CrocMother
Banned
Kind of sounds like the drills are counter-productive then. If there was actually a shooter and I was a teacher, it sounds like I should start pushing kids out the first floor window if I can and just telling them to run.
However, that strategy sounds like a logistical nightmare to practice as a drill when you are dealing with young children.
We had lockdown drills but it was the deans/resource officer who would go around and check that everyone did their jobs properly. The actor in camo is a weird detail but that might just be a child's embellishment you're hearing multiple steps removed.
Either way, being an active parent is never bad and if something concerns you it can't hurt to ask administration what exactly happened.
Either way, being an active parent is never bad and if something concerns you it can't hurt to ask administration what exactly happened.
It's not instilling fear; it's making sure that people have a plan in place in case an incident were to occur.
Same thing that happens with tornado drills or fire drills. Incidents happen. Better that people are aware of what to do in a given situation than not know anything at all.
Kindergarten does seem a bit odd to be performing drills like that but idk. Definitely something to talk about with the principal.
way more
Member
I think your outrage culture is making you blame this on fear culture.
Yeah, we've had at least one lockdown drill a year when I was still there (graduated 2 years ago).
Fun fact was my high school usually went into lockdown more often than the drill happening.
I don't really see much of a problem with it, we do earthquake drills every year too and those are even more unlikely.
Fun fact was my high school usually went into lockdown more often than the drill happening.
I don't really see much of a problem with it, we do earthquake drills every year too and those are even more unlikely.
Parent - Where the hell is my 8 year old son?!
School - we have no idea, we told the kids to run as fast and as far as they could.
Brilliant.
Some doors but not all, and not all schools have those capabilities. Even rooms that do, you're taking a big risk of locking the shooter in the room with you by doing lockdowns. I'm not saying they can't work by any means, but in stressful situations people will fall back to what they've been taught. Active shooter situations don't only occur in schools. Malls, movie theaters, churches, banks, etc. These are places that hiding may not be an option, so that's why getting out to safety is stressed as the first option.
The school I work at does lock down drills with someone roaming around campus, usually a PE teacher, but the students in class continue normally, they just can't leave. It's a bit scarier at the pool, where I am, since the kids all have to get herded into the locker rooms but we never do anything like having them hid under desks or make them clearly see or hear the updates on the roamer's location.
Shamrock7r
Member
The lockdowns are not just based around school shootings. For example, you have a lot of kids who have special parental visitation privelages that have to be enforced, like a father not being allowed on campus. Any weird situations where there might be an adult roaming the school that shouldn't, or a student fight with weapons, might be considered a situation to warrant a lockdown. Fires are also rare, and so are tornado/bad weather, but there are drills for both in virtually all districts. It's not a culture of fear. It's being prepared.
psynergylover
Member
sadly this might become the norm, though I do remember in my middle school days; roughly 10 years ago we did a lockdown drill about once every year
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
We have Earthquake drills in California.
Fire drills too.
I wouldn't be surprised by a lockdown drill at a school. Seems like something that's should be more common.
Fire drills too.
I wouldn't be surprised by a lockdown drill at a school. Seems like something that's should be more common.
I went to a grade school that was near a bank that got robbed quite a bit, with one of the times involving a bomb threat on our school to distract police. For an armed invader, we never hid under the desks, especially the teacher's desk, but we all lined up against the wall that the door was on so we were out of sight. For the bomb threat, we evacuated the school obviously and stayed in the gym until they could get us out of there. Lockdown drills aren't uncommon in areas where they're needed though, and my school was a nice school that just happened to be close to high crime area.
I have a hard time believing that any drill involved doing what she said unless there's like 4 people in the classroom that can all fit under the desk but I guess it is kindergarten...
At least our shit was a result of an actual concern, but this sounds weird. Either way, I feel like our schools have gotten a lot more nonsensical in the past decade. Hell, after hearing what my cousin in high school says despite being a straight A student, I'm wondering what the hell the point of the education system is anymore. I could write a list that would make people lost faith in our future...lol
I have a hard time believing that any drill involved doing what she said unless there's like 4 people in the classroom that can all fit under the desk but I guess it is kindergarten...
At least our shit was a result of an actual concern, but this sounds weird. Either way, I feel like our schools have gotten a lot more nonsensical in the past decade. Hell, after hearing what my cousin in high school says despite being a straight A student, I'm wondering what the hell the point of the education system is anymore. I could write a list that would make people lost faith in our future...lol
Parent- Why is my son dead? Why did you teach him to hide and make himself a sitting target?
School- ....
rbanke
Member
I genuinely LOL'ed. Yes I'm really trying to not be that guy.
I would like to say I have no inherent problem with a lockdown drill, I have a problem with a shooter in the school drill. if they need to do a drill to make sure doors get locked because a robbery suspect is nearby or whatever I dont think thats crazy. If they are making children hide under desks while a mock gunman roams the halls, that's fucking insane.
CarpeDeezNutz
Member
You make a good point but lockdown alerts happen if someone is going nuts like a mile away for a school district. I remember one where a guy shot his dad and all the rooms were told to shut down and stay that way until all was clear.
Right, I remember these at my HS. Had to turn off the lights in the class and stay away from windows and doors. Didn't seem too weird at the time I guess. I graduated about 7 years back.
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