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Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 1:49:18 PM
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doinkdom
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Article in USA Today
Seriously? This is what we do now?
What do you guys as parents think of this?
Do your local schools consider this to be a normal drill for kids nowadays?
Mods: I know this is a curent event in the newspaper, but it had to do with kids and parents...so not sure if I put this in the right thread.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:02:43 PM
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kohls356
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I would be furious if that happened to my child, well I am mad that it happened to any child.
That thought of those children, and if it could be mine, thinking that they could die and not see their families because of what those nit wits did is just beyond my ability to respond rationally right now.
When I worked at the bank they had a mock robbery. We knew it was a mock robbery but it was still very frightening and we were adults. I think this was a little more than poor judgement.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:08:55 PM
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Tinkerbell_
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Considering this happened merely a month after the Virginia Tech shootings I can see why people were upset. However, we do have tornado drills and fire drills...how is this any different? There is nothing scarier than living in north Texas and hearing tornado sirens going off...no matter if it's a drill or not.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:11:50 PM
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Zhi
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Meh, we had tornado drills, fire drills, and nuclear attack drills when I was in school, but we never thought we were in any actual danger.
I thought the POINT of a drill was to teach the kids what to do when something happened, during a calm situation where they could think about what they were doing and learn what they should do, so that when they WERE scared out of their minds they would hopefully react correctly on instinct having been trained for it.
Training for a gunman loose in school? Probably a good idea. Scaring kids into thinking it was real rather than properly instructing them for a real situation? Dumb idea.
What on earth were these teachers thinking?!
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:15:25 PM
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doinkdom
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I think the outrage is that the students were not told it was only a drill - they were truly fearful for their lives and the "what if's" are out of control.
Still...as kids, we always knew when a drill was a drill....even adults are told when a drill is a drill.
Why would this be any different?
I would also be concerned about the whole "boy who cried wolf" with some of these students not taking a real situation seriously.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:26:40 PM
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Mrs.X
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We had fire drills and earthquake drills when I was in school, but they were DRILLS. Every student knew they were just practice. If they wanted to practice for something like this, I would have no problem as long as the children know it's only practice and not real. I cannot imagine how those children felt. It went way too far. I'd be outraged too.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:36:41 PM
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karlie
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I'd like to know how high up they went to approve this and what genius thought it was okay. I can't imagine that not falling under emotional abuse in the court system. I am sure there will be legal ramifications before it's over.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:36:48 PM
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garsyt
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My 5th grader just returned this past week from the annual 5th grade camping trip. Had she returned and told me this sort of thing had happened I would have been beyond furious! Beyond furious!
These children are likely going to have trust issues with these teachers. I've been in the building at both the middle school and the local elementary when there has been a lockdown drill - and I've never heard teachers tell the students that a drill was anything but that, a drill. Just last spring the middle school my eldest attended, the nearby high school and two nearby elementary schools went on lockdown because of an incident involving a high schooler with a gun. I know children in each of those buildings and none of them were ever told anything but the truth based on the age of the kids. The little ones were told that there was a problem at the high school and for right now it was safest for them to stay in lockdown, away from the windows, and not be roaming the halls or out on the playground. The older children both in the elementary and the middle and high schools were told exactly what was happening. My eldest ds appreciated not being patronized and lied to. He felt safer KNOWING that this wasn't a drill. Kids don't like to be lied to especially by people who they've been taught to trust.
This was wrong.
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:37:31 PM
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doinkdom
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So far it just sounds like it's being dismissed as a poor judgement call.
ya think? 
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:41:03 PM
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karlie
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I personally have to question how fit those teachers are to even teach kids if they thought that was a good idea. Did all their basic knowledge of child psychology get forgotten about?? That's something they should not even have discussed! Wasn't one of them intelligent enough to say "Gee, this probably isn't the best idea for the kids' emotional well being"
As a parent, I'd have to wonder what other poor judgment calls are being made there.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:41:47 PM
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garsyt
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This school is going to have a lot of problems with these kids being able to trust adults that they should be able to.
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 2:53:07 PM
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doinkdom
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Do you think preparing for this kind of emergency is a good thing with the proper notice and understanding of it just being a drill?
Do you think it might place undo stress on children under the age of 12? Or would it just become part of their normal routine?
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 3:23:50 PM
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garsyt
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quote:
ORIGINAL: doinkdom
Do you think preparing for this kind of emergency is a good thing with the proper notice and understanding of it just being a drill?
Do you think it might place undo stress on children under the age of 12? Or would it just become part of their normal routine?
I do think it's a good idea for kids to be prepared. Drills do this. Drills are not always announced ahead of time, and sometimes spur of the moment - but when announced that whatever sort of drill is happening the school staff AlWAYS says this is a drill.
I do think that kids need to be ready and prepared and the goal of drills and practice is that the kids will automatically do what is expected of them if and when the real thing happens
That's why I hold fire drills at my home in the middle of the night on occasion. I want my kids to automatically know and react immediately. But I also tell my kids that a drill is planned for sometime in the next couple of days.
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 3:28:18 PM
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zoebob
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I agree with everyone...they should have been told.
When I was in 6th grade we had a bomb scare. I am not sure if we were told what it was right away or not. We all had to go out of the building and wait outside for a while. This was K-6 building and I know we 6th graders knew it was a bomb threat. it ended up not being real but it was kind of scary.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 7:24:36 PM
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ladyingrace1979
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Can you say law suit. I'd be on the phone with a lawyer as soon as I heard. If the principal takes no action he is as guilty as the ones who did this. My children would be transferred out of that school and district and you would be seeing me in court.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 11:29:46 PM
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sunshine4God
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That is beyond cruel.If that had happened to me as a kid I would have had nightmares for weeks.Than again I am an emotional person and freak out about things easily.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/12/2008 11:46:58 PM
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garsyt
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quote:
ORIGINAL: sunshine4God
That is beyond cruel.If that had happened to me as a kid I would have had nightmares for weeks.Than again I am an emotional person and freak out about things easily.
Your not the only one! And I have a child that if they were EVER lied to or scared by a teacher or adult authority would lose all respect for that teacher or adult. And I wouldn't blame them. I also have another child that would not be able to sleep for weeks! I would have been traumatized for months likely, and my father would have let his presence and anger be known at the local school office!
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/13/2008 12:47:51 AM
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sen10tious
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Properly executed drills make kids feel safer. A correctly handled drill will include instructions that make kids feel less vulnerable.
This inflicted terror made children feel more vulnerable. If I were a judge hearing a case brought by parents, my final decision would be based on more facts than the article gives, but from what we do know, I'd probably order a psych exam for all those teachers and have it added to their professional records.
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RE: Teachers stage fake gun attack - 9/13/2008 10:30:46 AM
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daboysj
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I teach Kindergarten. We do have lockdown drills where the kids have to hide in the closets and bathrooms with the lights off, just in case. We make sure to tell the kids that it is just practice. There is nothing to be scared of. We make sure that the parents know when it is going to happen and encourage them to talk to their kids. It is part of the world we live in. Last year we had a first grader bring a knife to school and threaten a student with it.
A few years ago, one of the local middle schools brought in a drug sniffing dog. They did not tell the parents or the kids ahead of time. They had the teachers keep the students in the classrooms until the dogs were gone. Most of the 6th graders didn't even realize what was going on. Unfortunatly, they did find some drugs. Including one students with a back pack full.
The next year, a student brought a gun to school and fired it outside the school gym. Not at anyone, just showing off.
I forgot to add that what those teachers did was horrible. We always make sure that our students, no matter what their age, no that it is a drill. There is nothing to be scared off. As a teacher and as a parent, what they did makes me cry for those poor children. I hope they all got sued by the parents for mental abuse.
< Message edited by daboysj -- 9/13/2008 12:09:49 PM >
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You don't intentionally inflict that level of emotional trauma on kids for ANY reason! 
Seriously though, what if someone saw this going on, had a gun and decided they needed to protect those kids? It could have ended up as a huge nightmare.
