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Email from my son's (kindergarten) classmates father

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rbanke

rbanke

Member
I just received this email from an acquaintance who's daughter is in my sons Kindergarten class and if this is true, I just...what the fuck.

Hey Rich…hope you are doing well…

Did your son mention anything about doing a “drill” in school today where they had to hide under the teacher’s desk from a “bad guy”…an actor in camouflage roaming the halls?

<his daughter> told us about it but then asked us not to speak to Ms. <teacher> about it&#8230;a typical trait of a tall tale&#8230;but the details she shared could not have been simply made up&#8230;
Click to expand...

My son didn't say anything but he usually doesn't like me interviewing him everyday how school was so it's not completely out of the question that he didn't mention it but still a bit odd.

If this is true as his daughter explains it, I have some major issues with this. I already have a lot of issues with how we handle education in the US but this would be right along with some of these boneheaded suspensions and other zero tolerance BS.

Again, I really hope this turns out to be made up (seems very specific for a 5 year old to make up but who knows) and its nothing. I just needed to get this out somewhere and seems like some conversation could come of it. Disappointing that we live in a world where I can't actually tell if this happened because it sound plausible.

EDIT: I'll be asking him in the morning and update this with what I find out.


Update post 236
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
There are some rather darker things that could have been possible here than just ridiculous drills.

This definitely seems to warrant a visit with the principal.
 
shanafan

shanafan

Member
Well, elementary schools did drills during the 1960s in case of a nuclear bomb going off.

I would feel fine with this. Better to have an action in place than nothing at all. But, I can understand placing fear into children may make you feel so-so about it.
 
K

Karsticles

Member
All schools do these drills these days, yes? The actor is a bit much, but how would his kid have even seen the guy?
 
N

Nipo

Member
Active shooter drills are pretty common in schools today. Normally it is cops in the halls t make sure they can't see anyone in classes.
 
M

Mostmanlyman

Member
Nope it doesn't sound made up, those are usually called lock down drills. The person going through the halls in camouflage is weird, but past that it sounds the same. Usually if there is a dangerous situation near the school like an armed robbery, they might go into locked down mode.
 
L

Ledhead

Member
We did intruder drills in middle/high school, on top of the usual fire drill. Is this really not something done in the States?
 
H

Hylian7

Member
This sounds like a drill we had to do in middle school (called a "L.E.A.P." drill, I forget what it stands for), but basically we had to hide under a desk, or in a corner where windows couldn't see, turn the lights off, teacher locked the door, and stay quiet. They didn't do anything like a guy in camoflauge though, that's fucked up.

They did have this weird thing though where the drill would be where the principle would say "There is a red Ford Edzil (really shitty Ford car that flopped) in the parking lot, you need to move your car", and that would queue the drill.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Mostmanlyman said:
Nope it doesn't sound made up, those are usually called lock down drills. The person going through the halls in camouflage is weird, but past that it sounds the same. Usually if there is a dangerous situation near the school like an armed robbery, they might go into locked down mode.
Click to expand...


Hiding under the teacher's desk?

That part is what makes the story harder to believe and at the same time creepy if true.
 
O

Orbis Tabula

Member
Wait, according to this student, a teacher asked a girl to get under the teacher's desk and not tell anyone about what happened. I mean, if it's a secret drill, that's one level of weirdness. But my mind jumped to something a little more terrifying.
 
T

The Mule

Member
My wife is a teacher in prep and they have drills like this where they run through a pretend scenario of a "bad guy" in the school, and the class needs to hide in a pre-determined location. They've done it for a few years.

Seems like a logical thing to do.

The thing about not telling anyone though and just under a teacher's desk...? That seems odd.
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
I work in schools (K-12 and in the US) and our drills for active shooters or whatever don't involve people in camo wandering the halls. It's usually a uniformed police officer who checks the doors to make sure they're all locked and they can't see anyone through the glass.
 
rbanke

rbanke

Member
The daughter is who asked that he (her father) not say anything which is making us feel like she might be making it up. I don't know about the nuke drill comparison I don't really think that was good either, especially without notifying parents that this is a thing they might do.
 
L

Ledhead

Member
EskimoJoe said:
Wait, according to this student, a teacher asked a girl to get under the teacher's desk and not tell anyone about what happened. I mean, if it's a secret drill, that's one level of weirdness. But my mind jumped to something a little more terrifying.
Click to expand...

Yeah that does sound weird, if it was JUST the one girl. If the class was told to huddle, hide behind the desk, then whatever, but otherwise it takes on some disturbing/questionable implications
 
M

Mostmanlyman

Member
Yaboosh said:
Hiding under the teacher's desk?

That part is what makes the story harder to believe and at the same time creepy if true.
Click to expand...
Usually you would hide so they couldn't see you though the door, so maybe the teachers desk was in a position where you can't be seen from the door.
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
The dumb part is telling the kids not to tell the parents. Something you'd expect a child molester to say.

edit: misread
 
way more

way more

Member
We did this in middle and high school. The first time was after OK City bombing and the teachers just locked the doors after a code word was said. In High School it was done after the Columbine shooting. Then the teacher locked the door and explained that had it not been a drill they would have all of us sit against the wall.

I'm not sure what is so terrible about this drill? Fire and tornado drills are done so children are prepared. We live in a world where active shooter drills are needed. What will talking to the principal accomplish?
 
P

Pau

Member
Yeah, we would do this in my schools except we would hide behind our own desks if the teacher's wasn't big enough and no one dressed up. (A few teachers would go around and check to make sure that everyone had locked their doors but beyond that there was no weird "acting" out the role of an intruder.) They were called lock down drills.
 
V

Vincent Grayson

Member
Funny, my kids and I were talking about this at dinner tonight.

They're 9 and 11, both in elementary school, and they do in fact do lockdown drills, specifically in case of an active shooter. They have a spot to go to inside the classroom where they're supposed to just sort of quietly hide I guess.

Neither of them mentioned anyone pretending to be a gunman though.
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Yaboosh said:
Hiding under the teacher's desk?

That part is what makes the story harder to believe and at the same time creepy if true.
Click to expand...

In these drills you either hide in the least visible corner or behind something. They might not have had a corner that was "safe" so the desk is the next option.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Ledhead said:
Yeah that does sound weird, if it was JUST the one girl. If the class was told to huddle, hide behind the desk, then whatever, but otherwise it takes on some disturbing/questionable implications
Click to expand...


There are a few little details that should be considered completely unreliable coming from a 5yo, like the person being dressed in camouflage, and the exact location they were hiding.

But I still think it warrants some investigation into what they were doing.


Watevaman said:
In these drills you either hide in the least visible corner or behind something. They might not have had a corner that was "safe" so the desk is the next option.
Click to expand...


Right, but how many children can even fit under a desk? That was my main point.
 
O

Orbis Tabula

Member
Ledhead said:
Yeah that does sound weird, if it was JUST the one girl. If the class was told to huddle, hide behind the desk, then whatever, but otherwise it takes on some disturbing/questionable implications
Click to expand...

Yeah, I mean, it was probably the far less disturbing gunman drill scenario, just for a second there, this story was hitting all those alarm bells. Either way, it's worth asking the school about.
 
N

Nipo

Member
Yaboosh said:
Hiding under the teacher's desk?

That part is what makes the story harder to believe and at the same time creepy if true.
Click to expand...

It could be the only spot out of the doors line of sigh for some students. Doesn't seem that weird.
 
ramuh

ramuh

Member
I'm ok with this. As long as it's just a way to herd the children where they need to go and not needlessly scare the crap out of them.

Not kindergarten but my wife entered Columbine 9th grade a year after the shooting and they did drills and stuff.
 
I

Iksenpets

Banned
Sakura said:
I'm not sure I understand the big deal.
How different is it from a fire drill or something?
Click to expand...

The actor playing the shooter is a bit much. It's not lot someone runs around waving a torch in kids' faces during a fire drill. I've got no problem with kids being told there's an emergency drill and they need to get under their desks, and this is what we do if the teacher ever says there's an emergency, but I don't think the kids even really need to know that the "emergency" is a gunman.
 
C

CrocMother

Banned
That is a very common drill done in just about every school in the US (I'm assuming).

My mom is an elementary school teacher and she told me this year they changed the drill a bit. Now, the teachers need to stand by the door with some heavy object to actually attack someone if they manage to get in through the locked door.

Just locking the door and hiding isn't enough, they are now saying you need to be ready to actually fight back.

It's scary stuff but it's the world we live in now.
 
bengraven

bengraven

Member
I was 19 when Columbine happened, so I wasn't in school, so has this become popular since then? Because some of you are acting like it's normal, but we had tornado and fire drills, that's it.

This is actually really creepy to me and I wonder if my son's done it but never said anything.
 
P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
I honestly thought this was about the little girl being sexually harassed after reading the OP.

But yeah we did those intruder drills. Lining up the desks around the perimeter and hiding behind them. Aka easy pickings.

Elementary school and highschool. In Canada.
 
B

bakerbakes

Member
Man, I'm not even that old but it feels like a went to elementary school in a totally different world (28). Active shooter drills ...makes sense but sounds like madness.

Then again I read this as child molester too ...so at least the world has done a decent job pulling off the rose colored glasses.
 
rbanke

rbanke

Member
I'm 38 and the only drills we did in school were fire drills. I had no idea lockdown drills were even a thing. I have a big problem with (for lack of a better work) 'culture of fear'. If the school wants to put the classroom in a hiding spot while a 'bad guy' walks the halls looking for them then I want to know and opt out.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Yeah our school does lockdown drills to practice procedures as well. Classroom doors are locked, windows covered, students go on the floor behind desks. It's shitty we have to do it, but the sad reality is they need to be ready in case something does happen. And by the way we aren't in the USA so this isn't an America only thing.
The hiring an actor thing though is a bit much.
 
Hexa

Hexa

Member
Happened in my elementary and middle school as well. Not in high school though for some reason. Had security go through the hallways to check on people. They weren't wearing camo though.
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
rbanke said:
I'm 38 and the only drills we did in school were fire drills. I had no idea lockdown drills were even a thing. I have a big problem with (for lack of a better work) 'culture of fear'. If the school wants to put the classroom in a hiding spot while a 'bad guy' walks the halls looking for them then I want to know and opt out.
Click to expand...

It's sort of required by the government, at least here. We have to have X amount of drills every year, and they have to be a certain amount of fire, tornado, and active shooter/lockdown.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Why not... contact the teacher? Don't mention the girl, but say you heard from another parent that they apparently did a drill and did that happen?
 
Sakura

Sakura

Member
Iksenpets said:
The actor playing the shooter is a bit much. It's not lot someone runs around waving a torch in kids' faces during a fire drill. I've got no problem with kids being told there's an emergency drill and they need to get under their desks, and this is what we do if the teacher ever says there's an emergency, but I don't think the kids even really need to know that the "emergency" is a gunman.
Click to expand...
I figured it was just someone going around making sure they were not visible via the windows. I'm not really sure how much he was actually 'playing' the shooter.
 
C

cpp_is_king

Member
shira said:
I'd be curious to know what ethnicity this "actor" was.
Click to expand...

geez what is this world coming to, lol. Gonna have to get a transgender whose father was mixed hispanic/white and whose mother was mixed black/asian just to make sure nobody gets offended.
 
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