The school where Jeremy’s Daughter attends went under “Lockdown” last week. This week, dad is sounding the alarm about it. Here is why.
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There was a scary moment at Kayla’s school last week. One that left her shaken and her mother and I troubled.
Her school, like pretty much all of them now, is kept locked at all times. Nobody is allowed into the building once classes start without indentifying themselves over an intercom and being buzzed in. At least that is how it is supposed to work.
The details remain a little unclear, but apparently what happened is that a girl was observed opening the door from the inside for an unidentified older man. He appeared to have walked out of the woods and was seen peering in the windows of several classrooms. The concerned witness to the unauthorized entry notified administration.
This is where things begin to become unclear. School was close to being dismissed, so to facilitate the students being able to board their buses and go home, a fire alarm was set off instead of instituting a “lockdown”, which would have meant that nobody would be allowed in or out until the situation was resolved. Kayla was scheduled to stay after to do extra work, so she and others were sent back to their rooms.
After more time passed without a satisfactory answer as to who the perceived trespasser was, the “lockdown” was eventually put into effect. And things got scary.
A security guard rounded the kids up, told them to stay together, and had them run to the auditorium. From there another mad dash was made to a science lab. The door was barricaded. They were told to hide behind counters. Anxiety levels were high.
It was approximately an hour and a half after the identification of a potential problem when my wife was finally called and told that she could come and retrieve our daughter. No information was given to her about what was going on. Most of those at the school still had no idea what was going on. It was an emotional ride home.
It turned out that the “unidentified male” was a student sneaking a cigarette. The school she attends is part of a program at a local community college. Many of the students coming and going are much older than the teenagers at a typical high school and not everybody recognizes each other. It took some time to figure out who was seen.
Hopefully the school will evaluate their responses and realize that changes need to made to their protocols, particularly with how information is relayed to the teachers and parents. Initial indecision and confusion seem to have only exacerbated what almost deteriorated into outright panic. Its better to find out now what needs to be improved on than when it becomes actually necessary.
Is this really where we have arrived as a nation? Where mass shooting drills are more important than teaching our children what to do if there is a fire?
I place a lot of importance on schooling, not just as a place for education, but also to teach responsibility and respect. I send my daughters to school trusting that their educators will assist me in these lessons. Am I also now trusting them with my children’s lives?
WTF is going on here?
Originally seen on Thirsty Daddy.
I can understand and even appreciate a “better safe than sorry” approach to these situations, but if there is an emergency action plan that is activated, it needs to be better implemented. I find it a sorry reflection of where we are as a society that something so trivial can cause such a degree of panic and uncertainty.
Second, the yes this is what we’ve come to comment. Well this and Walmart starting Black Friday @ 6:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Both signal a type of moral breakdown in the fabric of our society. Training kids to barricade themselves in the building during a fire alarm is bad business. What if there was a real fire or an earthquake? Barricading yourself in the building is the last thing you would want to do for both emergencies. And creating an atmosphere where we are walking around hyper-vigilante is likely to cause its own set of issues, even mild trauma. Thanks… Read more »
Yes this is what we’ve come to. The real risk from a shooter in the schools is pretty low but the potential liability is what everyone is so scared of. Way out of proportion to the reality but try and argue that point. Tom I had to laugh at your comment. I distinctly remember a nuclear war drill in 1965 where we were herded out to the hallway and laid down with our heads against the wall. I had just read a book on the aftereffects of Hiroshima and the shadows of people etched against building walls so that was… Read more »
It is what we’ve come to. I was doing a speaking engagement at a local HS with some of my clients (students) and a lock down drill was sounded. I was amazed as to how proficient the teachers were. with gathering and directing the students in their designated areas.
There are also “soft” lockdowns which is nowhere near as tense.
But then again I went to the school in the 60’s where we had air raid drills … as though sitting under our desks would save us.