I was subbing yesterday (4/21) in a high school class when 'Code Black' came over the intercom. Thankfully, I'd written myself notecards on what to do for lockdown and already had the doors locked. Closed the blinds, covered the windows to the hall, turned off the lights and had the kids sit on the floor.
I took the opportunity to talk a little about why we have Code Black.. many had never heard of Colombine (freshmen), but one girl had and when she started telling her classmates the stats from that day and she got their attention. I had several that fall into the the "my poo don't stink, do you know who my daddy is" group so I informed them about the bullying aspect of what brought about that day.
I admit, I was a bit freaked, yet calm. The drill was during first block and I had a knot in my stomach the rest of the day! Yet I knew then that should something horrible happen, these kids were my responsibilty and I'd do whatever it takes to see to it they return home safely.
My daughter’s middle school had one of those complete lockdowns a couple of weeks ago.
It was not a drill.
A student had a seizure in the hallway during classes, so the school locked itself down so the student would have privacy, and called an ambulance.
Of course they didn’t tell anyone what was going on. It lasted an hour. My daughter wasn’t scared during the hour she stood with her classmates away from the windows and door.
Why not? She knew it was fake, that nothing bad had happened, because the school’s front doors are locked and nothing bad ever happens in our town.
She found out what happened when she got home because the school used their message system to call all the parents so they would know what was going on if their children were scared.
I would have been all over this with the government workers at the school, but we are leaving this state within the next 2 months, and it is just not worth it to me.
Does anyone else see anything wrong with a lockdown to protect a student’s privacy, especially when all the other students are in their classrooms?
>Yet I knew then that should something horrible happen, these kids were my responsibilty and I’d do whatever it takes to see to it they return home safely.
Except, you know, have a gun and drop whoever was threatening you and your students. {That’s not allowed!}