This isn't normal

[Warrigal]

As a former school teacher myself I feel very sad that this is what some teachers' preparation for a new school term must now include.

At the end of a recent meeting, middle school teacher Cassie Lopez and her colleagues were handed a large bucket, kitty litter and a pop-up shower curtain. They were told that the items could be used as a makeshift bathroom in the event their school was placed on an extended lockdown.

"This isn't normal," Lopez said in a video shared on social media. But she wasn't criticizing her Colorado school district. She was commenting on the state of things in America's classrooms.

Prepping for back to school used to mean new backpacks for the students and new lesson plans for teachers. But today, as the nation wrestles with the pervasive issue of mass shootings, going back to school means something completely different. As schools around the country reopen, many students will go through active shooter drills and practice school lockdowns. The necessity of such preparation is even more pronounced this school year after a deadly summer of mass shootings occurred in Gilroy, California; El Paso, Texas; and Dayton, Ohio.

"School shootings are becoming normalized. It's becoming a reality," said Lopez, a Spanish teacher for Jeffco Public Schools, home to Columbine High School, where 12 students and a teacher were killed in a school shooting 20 years ago.

As the US school year begins, teachers like Lopez will be tasked with explaining the purpose of active shooter drills to students as young as preschool age. And parents -- who want nothing more than for their children to come home safe -- will be having tough conversations about what to do if a shooter comes to school.

More here: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/24/us/school-shooting-parents-teachers-students/index.html

This article brings home to me the heavy responsibility teachers have for a class of children holed up in the classroom because somewhere outside there is someone intent on killing multiple victims for the sake of notoriety or for some perverse ideology. Not only must the teacher keep them quiet, he/she must also consider that frightened children will need toilet facilities. Never mind that the teacher would also be in fear of their life too.

 

[jujube]

There were only two things we had to worry about in the 1950's at my Midwestern elementary school: the "tornado alert" siren going off and, of course, the chance-of-being-attacked-by-Commie-planes-dropping-nuclear-bombs-directly-on-our-classroom (OH, THOSE DIRTY COMMIES!).

In the first case, we huddled in inside halls until the all-clear siren and in the second case, we put our heads down on our desks and covered them with our hands. While hiding away from windows might be helpful during a tornado, I never figured out how covering my head with my hands and putting my head down on a wooden desk would be efficient against radiation. Was it just something to do to make us feel better? It so, it didn't work.

Poor kids today. They have a much better chance of being shot at school now than we did of being nuked or blown away to OZ.

 

[Sassycakes]

There were only two things we had to worry about in the 1950's at my Midwestern elementary school: the "tornado alert" siren going off and, of course, the chance-of-being-attacked-by-Commie-planes-dropping-nuclear-bombs-directly-on-our-classroom (OH, THOSE DIRTY COMMIES!).

In the first case, we huddled in inside halls until the all-clear siren and in the second case, we put our heads down on our desks and covered them with our hands. While hiding away from windows might be helpful during a tornado, I never figured out how covering my head with my hands and putting my head down on a wooden desk would be efficient against radiation. Was it just something to do to make us feel better? It so, it didn't work.

Poor kids today. They have a much better chance of being shot at school now than we did of being nuked or blown away to OZ.

Wasn't it funny that they thought we would be safe under a wooden desk would keep us safe from a bomb dropping. I wish the kids of today had it as worry free as we did. Now you worry about wherever they go. To school,the movies,the mall etc.

 

[DaveA]

I don't even recall the "under the desk" routines back in the late thirties and through the 40's. Fire drills where everyone trooped outside were the only survival drills that we had.

 

[Ronni]

I went to a private catholic school in Australia. No drills of any kind

My daughter has chosen to home school her kids, the oldest now in 2nd grade. She is immeasurably grateful they’re in a position financially to make that choice, which was fueled in large part by school having become a potentially deadly place to be.

 

[PopsnTuff]

I don't even recall the "under the desk" routines back in the late thirties and through the 40's. Fire drills where everyone trooped outside were the only survival drills that we had.

Same here Dave...was in the 60's for me....wintertime was the worst standing outside shivering from the cold with no coat on, brrrr....

 

[Butterfly]

There were only two things we had to worry about in the 1950's at my Midwestern elementary school: the "tornado alert" siren going off and, of course, the chance-of-being-attacked-by-Commie-planes-dropping-nuclear-bombs-directly-on-our-classroom (OH, THOSE DIRTY COMMIES!).

In the first case, we huddled in inside halls until the all-clear siren and in the second case, we put our heads down on our desks and covered them with our hands. While hiding away from windows might be helpful during a tornado, I never figured out how covering my head with my hands and putting my head down on a wooden desk would be efficient against radiation. Was it just something to do to make us feel better? It so, it didn't work.

Poor kids today. They have a much better chance of being shot at school now than we did of being nuked or blown away to OZ.

We had those, too, but we didn't put our heads on our desks, we crouched under the desk and covered our head/neck with our hands and arms.

 

[StarSong]

Unless and until American adults prioritize our children's right to feeling safe over their own right to own automatic weapons, this will be the sad reality in our country.

 

[RadishRose]

They also have to worry about their water and the very air they breathe.

 

[Ruthanne]

Warri...it's stark reality here now and people are just trying to prepare as best they can. Being prepared for emergencies of all kinds is something we do now a days. It's the smart thing to do.