Umm...lockdown practice??

[Missy B]

I meant to post this last week, but I forgot...and I'm not even sure what made me think of it today except that I was driving into work, thinking about my kids.

My daughter is in first grade and came home one day last week and proudly announced to us, "We had a lockdown today!" H and I looked at eachother, remained calm, and both of us asked, "Lockdown?" Half-wondering if it's what I thought it was, and other half-wondering why she was so happy and proud about it. LOL

Turns out that it was a practice lockdown. The kids hide under desks and whatever else (she demonstrated for us under her Little Tikes table at home) and they have to be very quiet while the principal goes around and bangs on the classroom door, asking if anyone is in the classroom. If the kids are quiet, I guess they get some type of surprise. :shock:

Is it just me, or does that scare the heck out of you? I wasnt in school THAT long ago, but the biggest thing we practiced were fire drills and bus escape routes. I am glad they are preparing for it, but wow....what a sign of the times.

My complacency about my childhood fire drills and bus escape drills is now my daughter's complacency while practicing lockdown drills. :shock: <sigh>

[spotbeagle]

Life in the schools has certainly changed since I was there.

Back when I was in school we had the regular fire and earthquake drills, the annual bus escape, and I vaguely even remeber some sort of "bomb" drill (this was at the end of the Vietnam era). A lockdown was definitely not part of the routine. And we didn't do these drills very often.

My mom is a teacher. A few years ago she was working at an elementary school that had a high school just down the street in a not so nice part of town. Lockdowns became a regular part of the school day. From what she has told me it looked like most of the lockdowns were related to gang activity going on at or near the high school - fights, drive-by shootings, etc. Fortunately, for her safety, she no longer works at that particular school.

[Derick]

Lockdown refers to actually locking students and faculty within the school premises for the sole purpose of protecting them.

Reason I know this, last year, one of our police officers (at my univ) was killed in the line of duty, and the killer ran free for about 4 hours. In that process, my school, and every public elementary, junior, and high school within a 12 mile radius was put into lockdown until the suspect was caught (and killed).

It's not something for you to worry about, because it's designed to keep bad people OUT of the schools, and with practice, the quicker the school gets locked down, the better (and safer) for everyone involved.

[LoDownSinner]

That sounds kinda similar to the nuclear attack preparedness when I was in grade school. We used to have to hide under our desks. I've often wondered, if that works so well, why didn't they just issue everyone everyone in the military desks?

Atom bomb? They don't scare me! I've got a desk and I'm not afraid to use it!

[mudarra]

Life has changed for everyone since Columbine.

The principal makes an announcement over the PA system that contains a phrase that is only known to the teachers, and staff. That is their code to lock the school down. Basically they get students in a "safe" area (away from windows, or under desks etc,.) and lock all doors leading into the classroom. (they also use a different phrase for bomb threats, so teachers can evacuate the school without panic)
It's intended to keep bad people away from students. It also speeds up the time it takes swat teams to clear the school. When swat arrives at a teachers door, the teacher will give the swat team a code that lets the swat team know the room is locked down and safe.
The schools safety officer (in most cases a certified police officer who works for the school) acts as the liason between staff and police. They provide police with school information like floorplans, class schedules, where everyone should be, number of students, and areas that have potential weapons (auto-shop, etc). All this resulted from the enormous amount of time it took swat officers to clear Columbine (upwards of 4 hours if I remember correctly)

It sure makes the tornado drills we had look mundane.

[videofreak]

We haven't ever had such a thing in any Texas school I've been to (junior year in high school right now). We did have a fire drill today though, and let me tell you that was disappointing. I'm going to school in the oldest school in town besides the university. 1931 is when it was built, and most of the old bells have been replaced with new ones which work none of the time. The fire system is pathetic. We have "Ultra intensity" alarms which let out a siren sound from a speaker. Needless to say the majority of the class looked at each other oddly for about the first 10seconds of the alarm. Sounded like a cell phone! One kid actually jokingly went "ooooo" expecting a student to be yelled at for the phone, as we're not allowed to have them on in class. Anyway, I could barely hear the dang thing, tried standing beside it, it's background noise. I could have sat down and studied for a calculus test beneath that sucker!

I guess this is related in some manner. Just to let you all know that some times spending money on the new fangled safety stuff doesn't get you anywhere but back a step. If this makes you uncomfortable, ask questions at your kids school and get answers, not statements which avoid your concerns.

[Galaxieman]

WTF is wrong with schools these days? I actually can't see straight after reading this. Let's just all become victims and wait on the police to come and save us... I'm going to stop and hit post now before I lose my mind.

[mudarra]

WTF is wrong with schools these days? I actually can't see straight after reading this. Let's just all become victims and wait on the police to come and save us...


I hear ya man! I know what you are saying!

[Lezbert]

That sounds kinda similar to the nuclear attack preparedness when I was in grade school. We used to have to hide under our desks. I've often wondered, if that works so well, why didn't they just issue everyone everyone in the military desks?

Atom bomb? They don't scare me! I've got a desk and I'm not afraid to use it!

Heh...if you really want a laugh (or a scare), look for and rent "Atomic Cafe." It's a collection of newsreels and propaganda films about the nuclear bomb and its testing. It even includes the "Duck and Cover" song. I'm still trying to figure out whether the government was really that clueless, or if they counted on us to be.

And my next house will be constructed of military desks...and the stuff that airline black boxes are made of. ;-)

[videofreak]

Desk might protect you from a flash burn, but other than that you'll just die under a desk lol. Though I guess it couldn't hurt, and nobody wants to be that one idiot whos dead just because they didn't get under the desk due to wanting to look like a smart ***.

I'd like to clarify that I was just ranting about the crappy fire alarms, I'm anti passavist when it comes to big bad punks with guns.