Do "Lockdowns" Make Sense? - vanity question

Again we have another shooting where the "authorities" locked down the campus. This makes absolutely NO sense to me. It seems that a group of unarmed students sitting inside a classroom makes a wonderful target for any nutcase.

“Lockdown” is a prison term and action. When there was an altercation, other inmates were locked into their cells until order was restored or as punishment for misbehaviors.

Now, it is being used to lock people into an building... but the people are not secured in the same way. I would find a way out instead of the possibility of being locked in with some monster.

Want to know what “punked” REALLY means?! laughing...

Just this week I heard the administrator responsible for security in our school explain how the lockdown concept is changing. He told us that next year the instructions will be to lockdown and shelter in place only in the affected part of the building. The rest are to evacuate. Announcements will be explicit - no coded messages. There will be additional updates to our building security equipment in the summer. I’ll be interested to hear more come September.

Your assumption is the police will enter the building in a timely manner. At Columbine that for sure didn’t happen. At that time I complained of this wait and secure the building tactic and was told by several LEO’s well we don’t want the police going in blazing like John Wayne with an active shooter-—WTF? Did I say John Wayne and guns blazing—no. But you do go in and attempt to engage the shooter or shooters or otherwise your job is just to remove the bodies and fill out reports.

I have told mine you fight back with whatever you have and do whatever you have to do to the shooter to stop him and if you know the shooter is for sure inside and have an easy escape route outside take it and put distance between you and the shooter I don’t care what the teacher says. If they want to be a sitting duck they are welcome to do so but not with my children.

As posted the police want to not let the shooter escape in a stampede but at what cost? Are three or four more shot and wounded or killed people worth it?

I taught Criminal Justice at the Community College level in HS. I gave the standard answer used to explain a ‘lock down’ to someone wanting to know.

Your opinion of the definition does not apply here, because I wasn’t giving an opinion but a definition. So even though you don’t conform or want your children to obey...it is usual policy.

I understand on the ground things may be handled differently in various jurisdictions by the police. Now, however most schools have a policy coordinated with local police, and that policy is not to be deviated from... mainly so chaos does not get innocent people killed during the incident. Simple as that.

A general rule is not to have people running around without a goal or destination when armed police are trying to apprehend a suspect. That applies in most situations.

Common sense says Teachers should be blocking their doors with their desks and other hard to move items...if they have time. And most classroom doors are solid depending on the school design. So unless the shooter is looking in windows from the outside they cannot see if there are students in that room. Of course many shooters are students so they would know the routine and class schedules.

Columbine was a shock to everyone and it influenced the lock down procedure and much of what law enforcement has implemented in school districts since 1999. However as much as I may agree with you in some circumstances.... each situation is different. Schools must have a plan in place that all students know, and they don’t usually change it at the time of attack or at the spur of the moment.

Just remember Murphy’s law, and although you tell your children not to be a ‘sitting duck’, how would you feel if they ran from the room and were ‘shot and killed’ because you told them to? The safety plan is a general plan due to the fact that school shooters do not post their attack plan and what is in place covers the largest number of scenarios.

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