I wanted to post a quick note about something that I've been thinking a lot about lately and that I've come to feel very strongly about. I've only worked at my current job for a little over two months, and I've already seen, in my school and others, what kind of unthinkable situations can arise in a school environment.
Yesterday at my high school we had a lockdown drill. Even though I knew the drill was coming, it was a little scary to think about and carry out, but I'm SO GLAD we did it. Throughout the rest of the day, teachers, staff, and students all had important, meaningful, mature conversations about the topic of safety at school, and we learned a lot about how to improve.
I was saddened, however, by a mother who was at my desk just before we started the drill. She found out we were about to go on lockdown (which would have necessitated her staying in the school until the drill was over), and acted as if it were a huge inconvenience. I understood that something like this could throw off her plans for the day, but I wished that she (and some others I have talked to) could understand the importance of preparing and empowering the school's staff and students in case of a tragedy.
I bring this up because during the lockdown, the discussions we had throughout the day, and our staff debriefing, I was struck with the thought that I hope everyone I know who is involved with a school (teachers, parents, students, etc.) was getting as much preparation as I was.
So this post is to encourage you to please be involved with this issue. Find out what your children's districts are doing to prepare for violent situations that, unfortunately, are more and more common in public places. It's easy to say that these things have never happened in our area, in our district, in our school; they're just things that happen in other places. Unfortunately, living in America these days means living with the possibility of violence, no matter where we are. School districts that have never had a fire still require schools to do fire drills. We should be preparing teachers, staff, and kids for other potential emergencies as well. No one ever expects anything like so many of the recent tragedies to happen to them. But the reality is that they do happen, and it's better to prepare for them, rather than wait for them to compel you to be prepared. The main reason that there weren't more victims of the recent Arapahoe shooting is that the kids at that school had been doing lockdown drills from the time they were in elementary or middle school. They, and the teachers and staff, knew how to react to keep themselves and each other safe.
This is a difficult issue. No one likes to think about extreme violence happening in a school. But again, I encourage you to find out what your kids' schools are doing to prepare them and ask how you can help prepare your kids as well. Or advocate for improvement if necessary.
I apologize if this post sounds preachy or paranoid. In today's world, I feel so burdened by so many of the goings-on, and I generally try to maintain a positive, hopeful attitude. But I believe that the society we live in is only going to get scarier and more dangerous, and I want the people I care about to be safe.
Not a day goes by that I don't worry about Emiline's safety in her school. When the one year anniversary of Sandy Hook came around, it was all I could think about. I pray every single day that Emiline will be safe at her school. Luckily her school has really tight security: No windows and metal doors. It looks like a prison. In fact, my high school was designed after a prison. I am so glad you brought this subject up. It is so important for everyone to be aware. I wish it were not the case, but unfortunately it is. -Hayley
ReplyDeleteThe school my kids attend have lock down drills every couple of months. It is not known by staff or kids when it is to occur and It scares the kids to death to hear the lock down signal over the bell intercom. Then principal then tells them over the intercom that it's a drill. They shut the locked classroom door, turn off the lights and all hudle against the wall not seen by the door window and keep quiet. The school is in "locked down" mode all day, meaning the only door open is the one by the office. Every teacher is required to keep thier classroom door locked and barley cracked at all times to ensure a quick lock down. Every person passing through the office door has to check in and out via computer and wear a badge. I still don't feels safe however. Remember, the lastest mass shooting was by a teachers son. Someone everyone knew and could feel safe letting by. Anyone could check in at the office with a gun in thier bag. They need a metal detector and an officer at the door.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there should be a metal detector at the front door of every school. If they can't afford a police officer full-time, than a metal detector would be able to deter many shooters, I think. Or at least give everybody an advantage in alerting the school to danger. -Hayley
ReplyDeleteI agree that things should be safer but what do you do when they're not. Most schools have all of the doors locked except the one to the office so the only way to get to the main part of the school is through that one door. Not in my kid's school though. A shooter could walk straight in, shoot the office staff and then head to the classrooms before anyone could yell lock down. They just barely put in doors to the classroom last year and even then there is still a foot or two of open space above the door. I know they do drills but really, if the front door is wide open nothing's going to stop it. I really don't know if there's anything I can do about it though.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you guys all have lockdown drills. To address the concern Alisha expressed about the doors not being locked. There is a button on one of our secretary's desks that automatically locks the doors and triggers lockdown, and calls the school district and the local sheriff's office automatically. Once that button is pushed, a shooter won't get very far, because the classrooms will all be locked immediately (at least they should be - that's what practice is for). I would imagine that your school has one of those buttons too.
ReplyDeleteI would also probably agree with the metal detector thing, though there aren't a lot of districts in this country that have the funds for that. We also scan for criminal records when we check people in - this is why we require them to present valid IDs - our system will scan their ID and bring up a warning if the person has a criminal record. Which isn't foolproof, of course, because just because someone doesn't have a past doesn't mean they won't try something. But it does help. We also have four security guards and two deputies assigned to our school, and they all do a great job.
I appreciate hearing everyone's feedback and ideas, and I'm glad that our schools are all taking steps to prepare people.