I participated in a lock down drill today

[rhiannon55]

I volunteer in my granddaughter's first grade class on Tuesday mornings, and at 8:25 a.m., the principal announced the drill over the intercom. The teacher locked the door and turned off the light as the children climbed into their coat cubbies and covered themselves with their coats. For about 10 minutes I stood in the darkened room with the teacher while 18 or 20 kids tried their best to be quiet in their little hiding places. They were amazingly quiet for first graders; the teacher had already prepared them for this moment. When it ended, the teacher praised them for being so cooperative and quiet, and then they went back to their school work.

What a crazy time we live in, when little children have to practice what to do if a gun-toting madman enters their school. It reminded me of the duck and cover drills when I was a child, during another crazy time. I hope and pray that these lock down drills eventually become a thing of the past, like the duck and cover drills did.

[NYC_SKP]

1. We used to have nuclear attack drills in school. Hopefully, this gun violence era will also pass.

I do think we'll get to a better place before long.

Students and staff ought not to live in fear.

[Mojorabbit]

8. I remember those!

When I was working as a nurse we had bomb threat drills also. Amazing when I think of it now. I was young and took it all in stride.

[NYC_SKP]

9. Something else we don't see all over the place: Fallout Shelter signs.

At schools, downtowns, pretty much everywhere:

[woodsprite]

2. I remember the 'duck & cover' drills. My daughter's school added a drill after Columbine

It was for a threat in the building. Classes were to shelter in their rooms if possible, lights out, shades drawn, huddled as close to the concrete block wall (hallway side) as they could get so they couldn't be seen from the window in the classroom door. Classes that were on the playground, in the cafeteria, gym or auditorium were to go as quietly as they could out the closest back door of the school and over into an industrial parks parking lot (about a 20 ft run from the closest corner of the school), and huddle behind a fence covered with ivy until the 'all clear' was given.

Those drills really scared our daughter.

In my daughter's school, each classroom had one way in/one way out. In my son's elementary school each classroom had 3 ways out. Of course, that's just more ways for someone to get in also.

[loli phabay]

3. its good to see they did it right and are practicing the drill. shame they have to do it

But its better that the schools take the risk seriously and have adopted the plans that law enforcement have come up with.

[Downwinder]

4. We used to go to the basement and sit along the walls

for nuclear bomb drills.

Edited to add:

That was for Russian bombs. For American bombs we went out and watched.

[loli phabay]

5. with active shooters the drill is the teacher locks the doors and turns out the lights

And then the kids hide in the furthest corner from the door. Leo's are now trained to bypass any locked dark classrooms unless there is an active reason to clear the room. Its all about dynamic entry and closing to contact as quickly as possible as most shootings are over within ten minutes or less.

[TeamPooka]

6. The difference between cold war duck & cover and this drill:

no one ever actually dropped a nuke on us.

This time we know in can happen and what will happen in very real stark terms.

[DollarBillHines]

7. The enemy used to be the Russians - now it's us.

We have devolved.