I know that there things in this world we cannot protect our kids from. I also know we should give our kids tools and the knowledge to go into the world ready for the inevitable trials they will face.
I am having a little trouble however, with something that happened at my daughter's elementary school. Forgive me if I sound overprotective. Maybe I am just not ready for her to have to deal with this sort of thing yet.
Yesterday, they had a drill. Not a fire or tornado drill. I am not sure the exact name they gave it. But my daughter said they went to the cafeteria, hunched down in a row and turned off the lights. This was practice in case someone came into the school with a weapon. I just looked at her. She asked her music teacher why they were doing this, her reply? "In case someone comes in with a gun or knife and tries to hurt us." Yeah...that's what you need to tell a 7 year old. Idiot.
On the flip side, (according to the principal), the world has come to the point where we have to prepare for these cases. They want to have something in place, on the off chance a kid gets a gun and brings it to school.
Thoughts? comments?
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8 comments:
Our school does this. In fact, the very first day of school there was an incident of a child being approached and comments made she was uncomfortable with. They had to go into lockdown mode. I have a 6th grader and kindergartener there. It is hard to talk to them about this, but we have to.
When 9/11 happened I was not planning on telling my then 1st grader and was upset that the school did. In the end, I guess it's good she was told by an adult instead of classmates, but I would have liked to have made that choice, not the school.
Finally, my 5 year old came home with the stranger danger book and we went through it. It was hard telling her some people want to hurt you, but we have to do it. I know exactly where you are coming from. I do agree some adults are kind of stupid in how they do this, but I do believe these drills, unfortunately, are necessary.
I am sorry to hear that your girl went through this 'ordeal', I would be disgusted too coz I think the teacher come across as too blunt ;(
I haven't heard of such a thing! Like when I told my daughter the about the girl that was kidnapped (the one we knew), sometimes you have to tell them things to keep their guard up...even things that don't seem right for a 7-year old to hear. I wish it wasn't so, but I can see the importance of it in this day and age.
One more thing, I have found as long as you handle it well and try not to scare them but keep to the facts, little kids deal with this information pretty well. It always amazes me how matter of fact they can be about it.
Oh, and I hope you'll drop by. I have something for you.
Yikes... Is that likely is a primary school? I guess it would be better to be prepared than not, but what a frightening exercise... I have very mixed feeling about it. They've never done it at my son's school (at least not his old school, he's only been in the new one for 3 days). I think he's be trouble by it, to tell the truth.
OMG! I hope we never have to do this in my school. It is a terrible world we live in and we do have to prepare our children, but sensitively.
The police here in the UK recommend you tell your children that it is OK to scream, kick and bite any stranger that tries to hurt them. They need to know this as children are always told this behaviour is wrong. I would never have thought of it, but my four year old now knows it. How sad is that?
Reading people's comments I can see the good reasons behind this. But I'd expect the school to tell me beforehand.
Kids have imaginations. Teachers and parents should be working together to make kids feel safe as well as actually be safe.
Very interesting. A new drill. I read an article about preparation for emergencies. And it said that people who had been in these stressful situations before know how to deal more quickly than others. Perhaps a strong feeling will help the reaction better. Perhaps not, but I hope it is never needed. How does your daughter feel now? My son would find such adventure in it, but I know my daughter would come home very stressed. So far I have not heard of them doing it here.
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