Elementary school intruder drill question/thoughts?

[AngB]

So this came up in a FB mom's group I am in that is mostly local and was wanting some thoughts from other areas.

Right now I'm pretty sure my kids' elementary school does an intruder drill but it's fairly toned down and unremarkable...my 2nd grade 7yo is still afraid of certain episodes of Boss Baby that our 3yo can watch so I know for sure he'd be mentioning it if there was a drill that made him scared to be at school now.

The mom in the fb group was posting that her 6yo was really anxious about going to school the next day because of the intruder drill they were supposed to have and that she thought she might cry during it. After some discussion, apparently a new thing (or something that I was unaware of).. is that the principals (in this particular district at least) go around banging on classroom doors during the drill and "trying to get in"...It's been 9-10 years since I have taught older kids but even when I was teaching high schoolers they didn't go that far for these drills at least at the districts I know.

Is this a thing now other places? (By this, meaning someone acting as an intruder during drills even in elementary schools with young kids for a drill) If not, would you be okay with it? And if they do this where you are, how do you have your kids not terrified to go to school? (Genuinely asking.)

[petesgirl]

As far as I know, our school hasn't/doesn't do anything like that. I'm pretty sure my 7 yr old would be scared also and I'd likely complain.

[doberbrat]

yes they do this and in some cases actually "breach" the classroom and teach the kids to throw things at the 'intruder'. The 'breach' exercises are mostly done in older classrooms but its taught to all kids.

The kids are fairly well prepped for it. The school adjustment counselor first presents scenarios like an animal or person who isnt supposed to be there. they talk about exiting the building vs staying put. lightly touch of the intruder in classroom procedures. Stress its just another form of practice like fire drills and bus evacuation drills. Stress that teachers will keep them safe and priority of following directions.

Then teachers do some more discussions.

1st drill is planned and people know in advance. 2nd drill is unannounced. After each drill there is a debrief.

dd2 is prone to anxiety about dying and has nightmares about them. The adjustment counselors and teachers are aware of this and check in with her. This year (3rd) she seems better about it.

Sadly, though, this is the world we live in. Our district does not have any sort of 'opt out' procedures where you could skip school the day of the drills.

If it makes you feel any better, teachers hate these drills as well and have anxiety about the various scenarios.

Last year it was announced our district is also going to start running drills in less "controlled' environments .... things like lunchtime, recess time and potentially even assemblies.

[georgiegirl]

Only DS2 (5) has had a lockdown drill. He’s at a private catholic school (pre-8). The principal came to each class and read them a picture book about it. I think the kids all had to hide in the attached bathroom/utility closet. When I asked DS about it, his only concern was what if they had a fire drill at the same time...what should they do?

My older two (12 and 9) go to the public schools. I think the middle schoolers saw a video about it but not the elementary kids. They sent us a link to the video and said we could view it and show it to our elementary kids if we wanted.

[KrisM]

Our drills are changing all around. I'm not sure if they try to get in like that, but it would not surprise me. I know in elementary school, the fire drills now have the principal holding signs saying he's the fire. He's in a different spot each time, so the kids/teachers have to figure out how to get out safely when their normal plan is not available because it's blocked by fire.

Our district just did the ALICE training and I know the kids are going through the drills for that now. It's quite a bit different than the lock-down drills they did in the past.

[craftysierra]

Our previous district did do drills where the school police and administration were involved and checked doors. I know our current district has 1 drill a month. The kid sees have come home with stories of all kinds of drills and my 7th grader was frustrated that they are all different and have various meeting places and procedures. Unfortunately this is our world now. I know from participating in a drill at the previous district they discuss after what worked and failed to try to improve the process on the chance they will have to use it. I know it is not fun to think about, but a plan needs to be in place and the kids need to practice. I remember in high school having an earthquake and after all of us grumbling through drills for years we all were under desks quickly.

Sierra

[mackmama]

Our school has lockdown drills and recently did one where the door handles were rattled and there was banging on the walls. DC scares easily anyway and was absolutely terrified. DC and I processed it at length. Parents were notified in advance that there would be a lockdown drill (which I had warned DC about) but we were not told about this new breach door rattling format. I was pretty upset about it and am still not sure if I should talk to the school about it. I understand this is the world we live in but feel parents should be notified in advance. DC (in 2nd grade) has horrible nightmares and used to think lockdowns were in case an animal got into the school but this time was asking very detailed questions about what to do if it’s real someday.

[PZMommy]

During our drills someone (usually an admin) goes around and checks all the doors. She doesn’t bang on them per se, but she does rattle the knob as she tries to open it. I tell my kids about this ahead of time. It’s sad we have to do this, but it’s the reality we live in right now.

[AngB]

Our school has lockdown drills and recently did one where the door handles were rattled and there was banging on the walls. DC scares easily anyway and was absolutely terrified. DC and I processed it at length. Parents were notified in advance that there would be a lockdown drill (which I had warned DC about) but we were not told about this new breach door rattling format. I was pretty upset about it and am still not sure if I should talk to the school about it. I understand this is the world we live in but feel parents should be notified in advance. DC (in 2nd grade) has horrible nightmares and used to think lockdowns were in case an animal got into the school but this time was asking very detailed questions about what to do if it’s real someday.

Yeah, my 2nd grader can't even ride the bus because of his anxiety (luckily he only has a few quirks like that and that's the biggest one- but it's to the point that he would rather miss a field trip then go because he would have to ride the bus...) so I'm fairly certain he would NOT do well with this. I am concerned because apparently so called experts are advocating for more/new/different drills like this but I have done some googling and it's somewhat controversial as there's no real evidence that it actually works/helps, and is it worth the price of possibly psychologically traumatizing a lot of kids? Even though it gets a lot of press, the chances of a school shooting are teeny tiny to begin with, and even less than that at an elementary school, and there have been huge security improvements at our schools since Sandy Hook. Plus, who knows if the drill is actually going to have any affect whatsoever if god forbid it did happen...

Ugh, this crap makes me want to homeschool and I know for sure that I do NOT actually want to homeschool. (Not so much the actual risk of a school shooting but IMO the over the top new "drills" in response to it, particularly at the elementary level. I am hoping since I haven't heard about it that either our school doesn't do a real intruder drill at all (which would be 100% fine with me- I don't really feel like they have much value anyway with other security measures in place) or that they keep it low key enough that kids aren't terrified by it.

[AngB]

During our drills someone (usually an admin) goes around and checks all the doors. She doesn’t bang on them per se, but she does rattle the knob as she tries to open it. I tell my kids about this ahead of time. It’s sad we have to do this, but it’s the reality we live in right now.

Our building is pretty much brand new (less than 2 years old) and I know for a fact that all of the doors automatically lock when they are closed, teachers don't even have to lock them. No one can get in from the front door without the secretary letting them in, and then there is another set of doors between the office and the rest of the school that have to be opened for someone to access the school. Plus there are cameras throughout the building. And an armed school resource officer from the local police department. I don't really see what value banging on the doors or trying to open the doors would add in this case (I can see checking them to make sure they are locked in the case that the teacher has to lock them) other than to scare the kids. To me it seems like the equivalent of filling the building up with smoke for a fire drill.

[JBaxter]

Ds4 elementary had one today. His teacher sent a picture of them all in the craft closet smiling on class dojo app. They talked about it and ran through it like a fire drill. The class room doors are all kept locked and closed during the day and then they are able to lock the craft room closet door also.

[vonfirmath]

So this came up in a FB mom's group I am in that is mostly local and was wanting some thoughts from other areas.

Right now I'm pretty sure my kids' elementary school does an intruder drill but it's fairly toned down and unremarkable...my 2nd grade 7yo is still afraid of certain episodes of Boss Baby that our 3yo can watch so I know for sure he'd be mentioning it if there was a drill that made him scared to be at school now.

The mom in the fb group was posting that her 6yo was really anxious about going to school the next day because of the intruder drill they were supposed to have and that she thought she might cry during it. After some discussion, apparently a new thing (or something that I was unaware of).. is that the principals (in this particular district at least) go around banging on classroom doors during the drill and "trying to get in"...It's been 9-10 years since I have taught older kids but even when I was teaching high schoolers they didn't go that far for these drills at least at the districts I know.

Is this a thing now other places? (By this, meaning someone acting as an intruder during drills even in elementary schools with young kids for a drill) If not, would you be okay with it? And if they do this where you are, how do you have your kids not terrified to go to school? (Genuinely asking.)

Ours played it off as "hide and seek" with the principal. My kid, who is terrified in tornado drills, loved playing the game and "Beating" the principal because their class was so quiet she thought they were not even there!

[123LuckyMom]

Not only is this a thing, but there are some schools where they enact fake shootings with an armed gunman firing blanks and actual police presence!!! There was a whole This American Life episode recently on these drills and how traumatizing they can be as well as being pretty useless in training for an actual shooting scenario. The episode is called “Before The Next One” #659, October 14, 2018. In our school they do lockdown drills but at no time is there any door rattling or any other kinds of enactment-type activity. The school has shelter-in-place moments fairly frequently. If an ambulance needs to come to the school, for example, the kids aren’t exposed to that. If I were you, I’d educate myself on what is happening and what the research shows are the pros and cons of the drills your school is using, and I’d start advocating for change. There’s enough real danger and potential trauma in the world. We don’t need to inflict it on kids in the name of safety and preparation, especially since it doesn’t work to make anybody safer or more prepared. There are ways to do these drills that are effective and not at all scary, and those are the methods your school should be using.


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

[JBaxter]

Not only is this a thing, but there are some schools where they enact fake shootings with an armed gunman firing blanks and actual police presence!!! There was a whole This American Life episode recently on these drills and how traumatizing they can be as well as being pretty useless in training for an actual shooting scenario. The episode is called “Before The Next One” #659, October 14, 2018. In our school they do lockdown drills but at no time is there any door rattling or any other kinds of enactment-type activity. The school has shelter-in-place moments fairly frequently. If an ambulance needs to come to the school, for example, the kids aren’t exposed to that. If I were you, I’d educate myself on what is happening and what the research shows are the pros and cons of the drills your school is using, and I’d start advocating for change. There’s enough real danger and potential trauma in the world. We don’t need to inflict it on kids in the name of safety and preparation, especially since it doesn’t work to make anybody safer or more prepared. There are ways to do these drills that are effective and not at all scary, and those are the methods your school should be using.


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

Our county hired armed security for all our schools (not sure if its state wide but it is in our county) 1- 3 depending on the size of the school. All are retired policemen or military. Every day the kids walk by a uniformed armed policeman.

[TwinFoxes]

During our drills someone (usually an admin) goes around and checks all the doors. She doesn’t bang on them per se, but she does rattle the knob as she tries to open it. I tell my kids about this ahead of time. It’s sad we have to do this, but it’s the reality we live in right now.

This is what happens at our school. We're never told about it ahead of time, so I can't prep my kids. They're pretty anxious kids, but this has been going on since kindergarten for them, so I think they're okay with it...exposure to something scary lessens your fear over time. To them it's just as normal as the earthquake duck and cover drills I had to do in elementary school. Which makes me very, very sad.

ETA: From what I understand from DDs is the trying of the knobs is more to make sure the door is locked. It's not a scary "I'm coming in" rattling.

[Snow mom]

Our schools still are doing shelter in place lock downs but there are at least some parents that are pushing for ALICE and I believe they recently had a teacher training about ALICE. My DD is anxious and I am not in favor of ALICE training. A friend posted that her K aged DS was asked to "play dead" on the circle time rug as part of a lockdown drill in a different district. I don't know how any parent can be okay with this. How long does it take a child to figure out why they would play dead during a lock down.

[willow33]

Our public district uses ALICE, but it is absolutely age appropriate for each school: K-2, 3-5, middle and then high school. My daughter is in 4th grade and has high anxiety and she was fine with the information presented/role playing scenarios. They most certainly did not ask a child to "play dead". Parents are also notified ahead of time and they can opt-out and not have their child participate if they choose.

[squimp]

I just find it really sad that schools are having to wade through all of this. I hate that our kids have to do these drills, but at the same time, I really hope it will prepare in case of emergency.

One of our local high schools had some kind of threat last week and the social media blowback was terrible. It's a lose-lose situation.

[bisous]

I want to listen to that TAL episode!

I haven’t considered everything about these drills but my gut feeling is that they cause more harm than they are worth. I think it is good that STAFF runs drills and is trained on how to handle these scenarios but I feel like any system that relies on compliance from kids during an emergency is doomed to failure. And in the meantime kids are anxious and scared about the whole thing.

[hbridge]

Yes, the schools around here all do lockdown/intruder training... I have been through it as a teacher and it's an interesting day. The kids come up with some really interesting ideas for doors and for ways to protect themselves and their peers. They also have some difficult questions and there are quite a few interesting conversations. My high anxiety DC is fine with them, but also VERY good in a crisis so I guess I am not surprised. They make me VERY uncomfortable, but the kids do fairly well. It's a part of their emergency training at school; the same as fire drills, earthquake drills, ect.

[PZMommy]

Our earthquake drills are far worse than our intruder drills. We have students (student council members) that are injured victims that have to be left behind as proticol is any kid that can’t walk out on their own must be left behind for search and rescue to come get. Plus one staff member is picked to be “dead”. Usually the teacher is from an older grade because the kids then have to be able to evacuate the room on their own and go to the main yard. We have to set up first aide and a morgue, and the teachers form search and rescue teams to go look for all of the victims and then carry them out on stretchers. Living in So Cali, it is a real risk. We have to be prepared to house our students for 72 hours. Those drills are far more intense than our intruder drills.

Kids really do need to know what to do during an emergency. It’s not about scaring them, but they need to be educated and prepared.