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Schools have fire drills, why not gunman drills?; Is this okay to prepare for this?
Topic Started: May 13 2007, 09:35 PM (314 Views)
kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
Staff members convinced 69 students there was a gunman on the loose
Students cried and hid under tables during the fake attack
Parents of the sixth graders were outraged
Principal Catherine Stephens said the situation "involved poor judgment"

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (AP) -- Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged.

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Some parents said they were upset by the staff's poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

During the last night of the trip, staff members convinced the 69 students that there was a gunman on the loose. They were told to lie on the floor or hide underneath tables and stay quiet. A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, even pulled on a locked door.

After the lights went out, about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said.

"I was like, 'Oh My God,' " she said. "At first I thought I was going to die. We flipped out."

Principal Catherine Stephens declined to say whether the staff members involved would face disciplinary action, but said the situation "involved poor judgment.


http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/05/13/fa...k.ap/index.html
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
They should be horsewhipped -- then fired.

I cannot think that teaching kids to lie quietly on the floor waiting to have their brains blown out one by one is the best course of action in such an event.
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Daniel\
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Fulla-Carp
Fire them. Is this for real.

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ny1911
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Senior Carp
This is insane. I agree, is this a hoax?
So live your life and live it well.
There's not much left of me to tell.
I just got back up each time I fell.
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dolmansaxlil
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HOLY CARP!!!
We had this discussion in the fall. Our board has gone to a standard "alert" system for a school lockdown, so we all got training in what to do for a "code red" (an armed intruder in the school). The drill is: lock the classroom door, pull curtains closed, gather kids on floor in the corner of the room against the hallway wall farthest from the classroom door. If anyone comes to the door (including a student) don't open it. We talked to our kids about it (the grade 7/8s only - not the younger kids). We discussed having a drill, but decided that even if we told them it was a drill, it would be too frightening for the younger kids, and the older kids likely wouldn't take it seriously. It's up to the staff to keep them safe if it actually happened, so we need to know what to do, but that's as far as we took it.
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ny1911
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Senior Carp
My kids' school has "lockdown drills", but it doesn't involve scaring the hell out if them. Some kind or plan is necessary, for sure.
So live your life and live it well.
There's not much left of me to tell.
I just got back up each time I fell.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
We are pretty much unanimous so far - dong this as if it were real might well be the stupidest, cruelest thing I have ever heard of from a school.

Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
ny1911
May 14 2007, 02:35 AM
My kids' school has "lockdown drills", but it doesn't involve scaring the hell out if them. Some kind or plan is necessary, for sure.

That's what we used to have. The doors would be locked quickly, and the kids would have to line up on the side of the wall that the doors were on. The idea being the shooters wouldn't have a target. Don't see anything wrong with this idea in particular.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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BeeLady
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Middle Aged Carp
Sounds like child abuse really. But then again this is a state where paddling is still legal (and used!).
"My wheel shall sing responsive to my tread,
And I will spin so fine, so strong a thread
Fate shall not cut it, nor Time's forces break"
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pianojerome
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HOLY CARP!!!
We had gunman drills for a couple weeks in 7th grade. Word got out that a group of kids were going to kill all the Jews on Hitler's birthday (1st day of Passover), so the teachers thought we should be prepared.

"Neil Armstrong, please come to the office to pick up your red folder. Neil Armstrong..." was the announcement on the PA for our gunman drills.
Sam
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
WTF were they thinking? Jeez... Maybe the intention was good. The execution, however, left quite a lot to be desired. Cripes.... :no: I don't know that they should be fired, but they definitely should face some kind of disciplinary action.
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
There is only one thing that can keep a gun-wielding madman from killing children in a school.

That one thing is another gun-wielding person.

Now, one can make his case for whether that person should be a police officer stationed in the school, campus security, the principal, or certain, selected teachers.

But the bottom line is that the only way to stop a madman, is to kill him.
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
unbelievably stupid. Scaring the crap out of your students is not part of your job as a teacher.
Sure, have 'gunman drills', it's a good idea, but not this. Idiots.
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Riley
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HOLY CARP!!!
Fire drills are useless. When there is a real fire, nobody will take it seriously.

When they realize it is a real fire, all protocol will be instantly forgotten.
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rontuner
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Junior Carp
Practice doesn't make perfect...
PERFECT practice makes perfect.

We have "code red" practices -
We have fire drills - almost 3000 people out the doors / wheelchair kids on evac chairs down the stairs - we've got to make 3 minutes to pass.
It's probably time for a tornado drill...

Haven't you ever played a piece and your hands just know where to go? Practice in action...
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Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
What Jolly said.

Until the people of the world wake up to this fact we will have more innocent blood shed than necessary in our public institutions when future events like VT and Columbine take place.

That's not to say that some innocent blood will not be shed but just far less. Plus if the killers know that there are armed guards or teachers who are packing, maybe, just maybe it will deter some of them from targeting our schools.
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ny1911
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Aqua Letifer
May 14 2007, 03:28 AM
ny1911
May 14 2007, 02:35 AM
My kids' school has "lockdown drills", but it doesn't involve scaring the hell out if them. Some kind or plan is necessary, for sure.

That's what we used to have. The doors would be locked quickly, and the kids would have to line up on the side of the wall that the doors were on. The idea being the shooters wouldn't have a target. Don't see anything wrong with this idea in particular.

Actually - I recall doing exactly this, but they never told us why. I had forgotten about it until you reminded me.
So live your life and live it well.
There's not much left of me to tell.
I just got back up each time I fell.
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