Posted on 03/27/2012 4:35:00 AM PDT by Whenifhow
All over the United States, school children are being taken out of their classrooms, put on buses and sent to "alternate locations" during terror drills. These exercises are often called "evacuation drills" or "relocation drills" and they are more than a little disturbing. Sometimes parents are notified in advance where the kids are being taken and sometimes they are only told that the children are being taken to an "undisclosed location". In the years since 9/11 and the Columbine school shootings, there has been a concerted effort to make school emergency drills much more "realistic" and much more intense. Unfortunately, the fact that many of these drills are deeply traumatizing many children does not seem to bother too many people. Do we really need to have "active shooter" drills where men point guns at our kids and fire blanks at them? Do we really need to have "relocation drills" where kids are rapidly herded on to buses and told that they must surrender their cell phones because they will not be allowed to call anyone? Our schools more closely resemble prison camps every single day, and it is our children that are suffering because of it.
It is also important to keep in mind that much of the time these drills are not the fault of local school administrators. Often, these drills are being mandated at the state level. Our politicians have become obsessed with "school safety" in recent years, and apparently their idea of "school safety" involves deeply traumatizing our kids.
Earlier today I was doing some research and I came across a forum where a parent was describing a relocation drill that would soon be happening at a school in Oklahoma. Well, I went to public schools all my life and nothing like this ever happened when I was growing up, so I wanted to do a little digging to see if this was actually happening around the country or if it was just an Internet rumor.
Unfortunately, what I found out was quite disturbing.
It turns out that "relocation drills" are being conducted at schools from coast to coast.
For example, the following is an excerpt from a letter to parents about a relocation drill that took place in Woodhaven, Michigan....
"Our school district continues to focus on the safety of staff, students, and our community. We have a detailed emergency plan so we can respond effectively to major catastrophes. We work closely with the fire and police departments from the City of Woodhaven and Brownstown Township to implement this plan. As part of these efforts, we are conducting a practice emergency drill on May 19th. It will begin at about 9:20 a.m. and conclude by 11:30 a.m. This practice drill will simulate a boiler explosion at Patrick Henry Middle School. We will evacuate all staff and students from PHMS, Erving Elementary School, and the Administration Building.
The Woodhaven and Brownstown Township Police and Fire Departments, DTE Energy, and staff from Wayne County RESA will help secure the buildings and monitor this practice drill. Erving Elementary staff and students will be evacuated by bus to Bates Elementary School, and PHMS students and staff will be evacuated by bus to Woodhaven High School."
But just putting kids on buses and taking them to other schools was not enough. During the drill, some students and school staff were instructed to pretend to be injured. In addition, parents were instructed not to call the school during the drill and children were instructed not to call their parents....
"As part of the drill, we will pretend that some students and staff are injured. Pretend victims will be assessed and transported to nearby triage centers. Please be aware that Hall Road and Van Horn Road may be closed to traffic for all or part of this drill. There will be a number of emergency vehicles at PHMS and Erving Elementary School during the drill. Your cooperation is necessary for this practice drill to be successful. During drills and emergencies like the one we are planning:
• Please do not telephone the school. Telephone lines are needed for drill emergency communications.
• Impress upon your children the need to follow directions and take drills seriously.
• During an evacuation drill or a real emergency, students will be kept at their school or will be evacuated to another site. They will be released only to adults listed on their emergency contact form. Any adult picking up a student (reunification) will be required to show picture identification.
• Students and parents should not communicate by cell phones during the drill or emergency situation. Students need to be attentive to the instructions from school and safety personnel."
But at least in that drill parents knew where their children would be taken.
That was not the case during a recent relocation drill in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho....
"Students at Lakeside School District walked out of their schools this morning to prepare for the worst case scenario. They were transferred by bus to an off-site location in less than a hour. But it was only a drill.
Their Bus Evacuation Drill started at 9 a.m. and students were transferred to their undisclosed emergency location and returned back to school.
“As you might expect, student safety is our first priority and security is tight even during a practice,” Karyn Stockdale, district clerk, said.
It was later revealed they were bussed to Benewah Wellness Center as their acting evacuation shelter."
It was "later revealed" where the "undisclosed emergency location" was?
I am sure a whole bunch of parents were thrilled when they heard about that.
What purpose is served by herding kids on to a bus and taking them to an undisclosed location?
School officials just seem to take these little "exercises" way too seriously.
For example, check out the tone in the following excerpt from a school newsletter from one school in Pennsylvania....
"As mentioned in a separate letter in our CB Electronic Envelope last Wednesday, our school will be involved in an Off-Site Relocation Drill. This practice opportunity will sharpen our skills and provide us with the chance to review important safety procedures in the event of an emergency. This Relocation Drill is scheduled for Friday, December 16, 2011. Here are some very important reminders for all parents and families:
SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY!!!!!!
In every classroom, teachers will prepare students for this activity. To ensure that every child and adult arrives safely to the relocation site, no child will be released for any reason during this practice activity or real emergency. All parents are asked to review the detailed letter explaining the official steps for such drills and practice activities."
No child will be released for any reason?
What if there is a family emergency?
What if a child becomes very ill?
Our schools are becoming way too militarized. It really is quite frightening to see what is happening to us.
It takes a lot of effort to pack up all of the students and all of the staff at a school and ship them off to an alternate location.
The following is another example from one school in Iowa....
"The second drill is planned for Thursday at 9:15 a.m. During the second drill officials will simulate a relocation of the entire EE-12 student body and staff by school buses."
For some schools, this kind of a drill has now become a regularly scheduled yearly activity.
The following is from a school handbook in Vermont....
"Lockdown drills are practiced several times a year. In a Lockdown students remain quiet and undetectable behind a locked door. Students prepare for these drills and are supported by their teachers. Saint Albans City School practices, at least once a year, an emergency evacuation/relocation drill where we leave the school building and go to alternate sites."
Keep in mind that it says "at least once a year". That means that it could happen even more frequently if they want it to.
Some schools even have plans for students to be "housed temporarily" at alternative locations. The following is from a school website in California....
"Evacuation Plan: Requires that all building occupants leave and go to an alternate location. Evacuation may mean only going outside and away from the building until an all-clear signal is given. In some circumstances, students and staff may need to be transported and housed temporarily in another location until the Go-Home Plan can be put into operation."
In some instances, parents are encouraged not to pick their children up at all in the event of a major emergency. The following is from an article in the Washington Post....
"School administrators in the Washington area yesterday stepped up preparations for possible terrorism, and most school districts told parents that they would be prevented, or strongly discouraged, from picking up their children in the event of a biological or chemical attack."
So what measures would be taken to keep parents from getting to their children?
That is a frightening thing to think about.
But these "relocation drills" are not the only kind of drills that parents need to be aware of.
In many areas of the country, schools are holding "active shooter" drills where men in full military gear are pointing guns at children and firing blank rounds.
The following is one recent example that happened in Brecksville, Ohio....
"The emergency drill at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High involved hundreds of students, including members of the Drama Club who portrayed wounded and panicked students.
Junior Ashley Elek said Chardon High School was on their minds as they went through the very realistic looking drill, in which many students were "killed" and "wounded.""
In many areas of the country, there is not always advance notice of these "active shooter" drills. Sometimes students are told that there will be an "active shooter" drill and sometimes they are not.
Sometimes teachers do not even know that an "active shooter" drill is coming. When that happens, the results can be incredibly traumatic.
Just check out the following example from New Jersey....
"About 50 teachers at a New Jersey school experienced a terrifying moment when a shooting rampage turned out to be a drill, but the teachers didn’t know it.
It happened Aug. 28 at the Phillipsburg New Jersey Early Learning Center.
A man burst into the library and started shooting. But the gun didn’t have any bullets, just blanks.
Teachers took cover under child-sized tables, crying and trembling.
“People are crying. The girl next to me is trembling and shaking. You heard people crying. You heard other people praying. It was pretty dramatic,” one teacher said."
Can you imagine?
Why would we ever want to put our children through that?
I think that some of these twisted sickos actually enjoy the thought of making little kids pee their pants.
In some cases, children are told during these "exercises" that a particular group of Americans is attacking the school.
For example, during a terror drill at a public school in Muskegon County, Michigan, students and teachers were told that "homeschoolers" were the ones attacking them....
"The exercise will simulate an attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled. Under the scenario, a bomb is placed on the bus and is detonated while the bus is traveling on Durham, causing the bus to land on its side and fill with smoke."
In another case in New Jersey, students were told that the gunmen were from a group of "fundamentalist Christians" called "The New Crusaders"....
"Investigators described them as members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the 'New Crusaders' who don't believe in separation of church and state. The mock gunmen went to the school seeking justice because the daughter of one had been expelled for praying before class."
What possible purpose do drills like those have?
Sadly, those running things keep wanting to make these kinds of drills as frequent as possible.
In New Jersey, new guidelines require that a "security drill" be held at public schools at least once a month.
As you can see from this document, an "evacuation to relocation site" drill is one of the kinds of drills that can be chosen to satisfy this requirement in New Jersey....
"The following are examples of other security drills that schools can hold:
• Shelter-in-place; Reverse evacuation; Evacuation to relocation site; Testing of school’s notification system and procedures; Testing of school’s communication system and procedures; Tabletop exercise; and Full scale exercise."
When I was growing up, there was just one kind of emergency exercise. When the fire alarm sounded, we all trudged out to the football field. We stood around and talked for a few minutes and then we went back inside.
But the environment in U.S. public schools today is totally different. Our children are being forced to endure endless "relocation drills", "lockdown drills" and "active shooter drills".
These drills are just another reason why many parents have decided that it is time to pull their kids out of the government schools entirely.
Our public schools more closely resemble prison camps than they do institutions of learning. Millions of our kids are leaving high school dumb as a rock, but they do know what to do when the alarm goes off.
So what do you think about these drills? Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion below....
My recollection is that when waiting outside for the fire trucks to leave, none of us were particularly upset or excited. Our parents never found out about these things unless we told them.
And I guess you missed my remark about the bus drivers. Are they really on call all day now?
ML/NJ
Frankly leaving the parents out of these drills is IMHO, a weak link that the terrorists could ultimately exploit.
You're not a kook. If you are, I stand on the same side of the line in the sand with you and the other “kooks”. :-)
I can’t address the bus driver question.
Having been around that age kid I think your recollection is either flawed or unusual. They are generally pretty excited by almost anything out of the ordinary. But you may have been very sanguine children.
I do think the parents should be involved and ours were. Back at the time I was teaching high school (I left in 2004) the kids were still not allowed to have cell phones in school, so that was not an issue. I can see both sides of the kids having them in a big messy emergency, good and bad. KIds calling their parents to come get them and having hundreds of parents showing up insisting they be allowed into a locked down school could be a huge mess and create real danger. But a kid with a cell phone could also save lives. It’s so hard to know.
I can tell you, the drills weren’t fun. Being on lockdown and quite with a group of kids is...well... it’s not entertaining, altho my students did a good job.]
The worst “drill” was when someone called in a bomb threat the week after Colombine. We were doing cat dissections in Biology 2. Anyway, we had to all leave the building and the bomb squad had to come through and clear the building to make sure it was not a real bomb. I’m not sure WHAT they or their bomb dog thought of all of those dead cats in the lab. I had forgotten about that.
I don’t have children.
THANKS TONS for your kind affirmation.
But don’t blow my cover too much.
Besides . . . the idea that I might not be a kook is not too popular with some of the elite of the social stars around here.
The entire government system of socialist-entitlement schooling is the enemy.
Why?
All government owned and run schools are godless in their worldview. Simply to cooperate in the classroom the child must think and reason godlessly. How could it be otherwise? And...There is no solution to the problem since it is impossible to have a religiously neutral education. If a God-centered worldview were the norm, then whose brand of religious worldview?
All government owned and run schools in this nation are single-payer socialist-entitlements. Simply by attending children risk learning that the voting mob has great power to give them tuition-free socialist entitlement schooling. Well?...Gee! Why not use the voting mob to get **lots** of single-payer and socialist-entitlement goodies?
Modern single-payer socialist-entitlement government schools resemble prisons, and much of the social pathology ( bullying for instance and alpha-girl meaness) is really prison gang pathology. And...children who attend this schools risk becoming comfortable with being good little prisoners of the state.
Personally,....I think government schooling is such a freedom of conscience and First Amendment abomination, so evil in its consequences for the child, and such a threat to our continuing freedom, that I have made a decision. I will no longer have a government teacher for a friend. I won't have an abortion worker for a friend either.
> I don’t have children.
Whaddya waiting for????
:)
We need to outbreed the commies!
I haven’t the person or the resources to raise a child. Whenever I do want them though, I plan on doing it right. No accidents on my part.
Thanks for Ping! Just Amazing!
I know kids who have told me at their schools they have to hide behind walls while the SWAT teams come in to practice. I said, “How about this for practice, the teacher tells you all to get down while he uses his own gun to shoot whoever is rampaging through the school?” I’m pretty sure that the possibility of getting shot by any teacher an armed invader meets would be a pretty significant deterrent from that kind of behavior. How many people go in to shoot up a police station?
ABSOLUTELY INDEED . . .
And . . . WHEN AND HOW
to
1. Comply, submit, be extra submissive, passive etc.
2. Risk all to . . . Rebel, fight, obstruct, cause confusion and chaos.
3. Escape, hide, risk all to do so . . .
May God have mercy on all of good heart toward Him.
May all hopelessly rebellious without hope of repentance and Salvation fall in the pit they have dug for the rest of us . . . and that speedily.
Doesn't surprise me in the least. And doesn't bother me in the least, as a former teacher, either. Any good points you make are downed out by silliness like this.
One guy I went to high school with got a teaching job a few years back. He shot his bosses {the principal and the assistant} because he was being terminated at the end of the year. There was earlier signs that he could be violent. His background check was not thorough in the least. We have teachers in school sleeping with kids as well.
The second thing are the insane lock downs where no one comes in or goes out because a robbery or some other event took place two miles away etc.
I'll not go into the other threats too life in school such as freaks allowed to visit recruit and talk about their sexual preferences nor any adult without your permission or knowledge taking your daughter for an abortion.
This is all about teaching them to conform to Masters Voice & what happens when someone doesn't.
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” ( Ghandi)
Silliness? Hm? I see this now (according to Ghandi’s standard) at the ridicule stage. I am confident I am making progress.
Government schools are godless! Simply to cooperate in the classroom he must think and reason godless.y. It is evil for any teacher to cooperate with forcing a child to think and reason godlessly. Since it is impossible for education to be religiously neutral it would be equally evil to force another’s God-centered religion on a child as well. Who in their right mind would be friends with a person who would do that to a child and support the government forcing taxpayers to pay for it??? Huh?
Government schooling is a socialist( single-payer) entitlement. Simply by attending children risk learning that the voting mob can give them tuition-free socialist schooling. Well?....Gee! Why not use the voting mob to get lots of “free” stuff from their fellow citizens? This is **evil** and personally I don't want anyone for a friend that would support or risk teaching children to be comfortable with socialism.
Government schooling crushes every First Amendment Right of the child, and forces the taxpayer to pay for it. In many way, the government teaches the child to be good little prisoners of the state. Even their buses look like prisoner transport and the buildings like prisons. It is **evil** to train children to be compliant prisoners of the state.
Your feelings are irrelevant. My personal decision is that I will not have anyone who **willingly** seeks a job and paycheck from such and evil system for a friend. ( I wouldn't have an abortion clinic worker for a friend either.)
From:
For example, during a terror drill at a public school in Muskegon County, Michigan, students and teachers were told that “homeschoolers” were the ones attacking them….
In another case in New Jersey, students were told that the gunmen were from a group of “fundamentalist Christians” called “The New Crusaders”….
What possible purpose do drills like those have?
.
AWAKE YET, FREEPERS? Is there an preliminary alarm big enough for some folks?
Sigh.
There is nothing in any way “benign” about government schools.
.
We are highly unlikely to have any grandchildren; son isn’t married in his mid-forties. Husband’s two siblings are SO proud of their many grandchildren, to the point of seeming somewhat smug about it. I don’t begrudge what they have, but my patience with watching endless videos of their grandchildren playing in the floor while watching them in person playing in the floor at the same time is growing increasingly threadbare. - The raucous rudeness of part of the crowd’s kids is just plain nervewracking.
Frankly, with the shape this world is hurtling into; I’m just as thankful our situation is blessed with what it is blessed with although lacking grandchildren. - My reproductive health was poor, and I’m just grateful for the son I was blessed with. - The giant egos I can do without, though, and will spend as little time as possible around them for my part of it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.