do you know what it is like as a parent, to pull up to the school to pick up a child

[seabeyond]

and see around ten cop cars with flashing lights blocking streets and entry into school? the vehicles of the other parents lining sides of the streets. totally clueless what is going on.

today, picking up my son from middle school, i drive into the scene and chills go down my spine.

i stop by the police standing out in the street and ask them,..... i have a child in the school. is any of the kids hurt.

no

a suitcase was left alone and the school was shut down for the bomb squad to deal with it.

some man working on equipment left his "case", whatever that was.

sigh

different world the kids live in today.

[Kerrytravelers]

1. I've taught in schools and have experienced lock-downs.

You're always glad when it's over and it turns out to be nothing, and glad that the school had a decent plan on how to handle such a situation.

I was in elementary school in the 1980s. I don't recall this happening. Perhaps I was just lucky.

[seabeyond]

4. my son and i were talking about that. he was suggesting they were too worried

and though i tend toward that attitude, i think they did what they needed to do. i cant see that they could have handled it any other way. it is a different place today than 1980, that is for sure.

[NYC_SKP]

2. These days an unattended suitcase is a bomb until they determine otherwise.

This was happening on local news yesterday, in or near Sacramento.

Bomb squad, robots, etc., were called out.

Turned out to be a suitcase.

With stuff in it, CDs and modems and electronics.

The terrorists won.

Bomb Squad Detonates Suspicious West Sac Suitcase

WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―

For the second time in months, the bomb squad has been called out and detonated a suspicious package near a West Sacramento elementary school.

This morning, a janitor found an abandoned suitcase near Elkhorn Village Elementary School at Cummins Way at Hardy Drive.

Bomb technicians used a remote water cannon to blow the suitcase just after 8:00 this morning just as school got started. All the kids were moved to a safe part of teh building before technicians detonated the suitcase.

Some nearby homes were also evacuated. Waynetta Dalby's backyard borders the area where the suitcase was found. She didn't see the explosion, but she heard it.

http://cbs13.com/local/elkhorn.village.lockdown.2.1702973.html

:patriot:

[AngryAmish]

3. By any reasonable standard vast majority of kids live in a safer world

Compare crime stats from 1972 to today.

That said, that must have been quite a shock!

[seabeyond]

5. maybe, maybe not.... i did some research on the compiling of crime then and now. and the different

ways of labeling info and gathering, ect....

so i dont know that one is true, though it may well be.

but

you are right in the gest of it. i really dont concern myself with the safety, because i do feel they are safe.

but ya... that is it, the surprise of the experience.

[AngryAmish]

7. Every public school around here have cops there every day

Especially at dismissal. But the public schools around here are exceedingly dangerous.

on edit: high schools, not grade schools.

[seabeyond]

10. sons high school does have a couple cops. i got to chat with one at registration

at fall. he was pretty ok. (son is freshman). he tells me he is a good guy. they stop the fights fast. monitors/cameras and they are on the fights. there teachers are there to break it up.

this is a really poor, middle class, few rich high school. and big.

but i dont feel it is dangerous. the most diverse in town.

the kids middle school so tightly controlled no one gets away with anything.

on edit: you are chicago. BIG difference from amarillo texas, lol

[JuniperLea]

6. I feel for you!

I was 7 months pregnant with my oldest son when I saw the first pictures of the Jonestown massacre... what kind of a world was I bringing my child into?!? I remember holding him in my arms, he was less than a year old, when I heard that Lennon had been shot. How could this happen? What was I doing to another human being by subjecting him to this world?

Somehow, we survived... he's 31 now and has two younger siblings. We managed to get through their school years without the scene you describe here... I would have come unglued, I'm quite sure.

I'm not sure how parents can prepare children these days. Don't talk to, take candy from, or help strangers find lost puppies, check. Walk in groups... keep your shoes tied... bring a jacket... ugh... seems so inadequate.

I was taught to duck and cover. Hmm...

I'm glad my kids are adults now... my best to you and yours... wishing all children safety and the love of a good parent.

[seabeyond]

8. lol lol

I'm not sure how parents can prepare children these days. Don't talk to, take candy from, or help strangers find lost puppies, check. Walk in groups... keep your shoes tied... bring a jacket... ugh... seems so inadequate.


that is funny. really.... i am not concerned. they did fine with how they handled. wasnt a big deal. just coming up on it was a hm.... lol. but you know what i do, that i think is one of the best things i do? i think back to my time and what my parents did with me, and their attitude and perspective and keep it about the same. i dont see the boogey man everywhere and not going ot teach my kids there is one.

i had my oldest a week after okla city bombing three hours away.

i hear ya

[elleng]

9. the kids and the parents!

:grouphug:

[seabeyond]

11. true that. nt

[ShortnFiery]

12. Something tells me that there could have been a better way to handle this situation?

First of all, the Middle School Office would have a listing of all equipment contractors:

Did the Office Staff make an effort to contact their main office of this equipment operator?

Yes, it's best to be safe if there's absolutely no way to verify whose article it is within a few minutes, but well ...


Too much FEAR.

[seabeyond]

13. i play along with your thinking shortnfiery. but i dont know the whole story.

it wont be but a day or two before we all know. it isnt that big of a school.

[ShortnFiery]

15. Awe, then when you find out the full situation, please fill us in?

:hi:

[seabeyond]

18. i will. i know everyone in the adm, and most teachers. nt

[Duer 157099]

14. Yes! I do know what that is like!

I've experienced it. I did not like how the school handled it and was FURIOUS at the time.

[seabeyond]

17. really? at first i am trying to figure out why things are different from every other day

why i see some cop cars. why i am seeing so many cars lined up along a street never used. was a real wtf. then seeing more cop cars.... first thing that flashes is a columbine.

odd...

[slackmaster]

16. Yes, as a matter of fact I've had pretty much the same experience

An even better one was when the daycare called to say my stepson was missing, that he'd wandered off with a group of young kids after their transport had failed to show up.

I'm glad your son is OK. :-)

[seabeyond]

19. gasp.... wow. oh man. wtf? nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. If I was your son's teacher I would have let him use my cell phone to call you

even though we aren't supposed to do that.

Lockdowns suck.

[seabeyond]

21. see, my kid is about the only without a cell, lol

maybe that is why i was the one to ask the police and everyone else seem to be compliant, lol that got a call from their kid.

oh, that is funny. hadn't thought of that. lol

[Tsiyu]

22. Sounds like you and your kid stayed calm

I probably would have had a heart attack before I even got out of the car.

But it does make you wonder: how DO you prepare your kids for something really catastrophc like a bomb at school or a Columbine without freaking them out?

And is the response overkill or prudence on the part of cops and school?

I only have one left in public school, and he has loaned me THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE by Max Brooks which actually has some great tips in it for all sorts of emergencies.


I think every kid should have a copy. ;) Just sayin'

Sorry about your scare but glad it was nothing in the end.

[seabeyond]

23. THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE by Max Brooks

my kids are big readers. i wonder if they have read that. i haevnt heard about it. generally they tell me the WHOLE story in their books until i say enough, lol.

i will have to get it for them. sounds fun? lol

[Tsiyu]

24. It's kind of Gruesome

but my boys all loved gruesome.

And our family loves Zombie movies.

For more light reading, Zombie Haiku is absolutely hilarious...if you're into zombies, that is.

And I know what you mean about kids telling you every detail. Mine will sometimes try to explain a whole damn movie i haven't seen. it drives me crazy. my dad, coincidentally, does the same thing :)

[seabeyond]

25. explain a whole damn movie .... funny. nt