My daycare had an...

[degal99]

active shooter drill today. It makes me so sad that they have to worry about that.

[zarapipe]

How did they explain it to the kids?

[degal99]

Oct 28, 2014 19:35:50 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

How did they explain it to the kids?

I'm sure they made it into a game for the older kids. Luckily DD is still too young to understand.

[Deleted]

DS' preschool refuses to have this. Like refuses.
I almost pulled him out, a bunch if people complained so now they have a " skunk drill" where they pretend their is a skunk in the hall & all huddle in one side of the room & wait for the " skunk safety noise" to come out.

[cjeanette]

This is very commonplace in elementary school but daycare???

[biogirl21]

This is so sad. I hate that this is necessary.

[yellowbrkrd]

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. I had a FB friend post today that her husband went to pick up their child at daycare, only to find out it was on lockdown due to a threat at a nearby school.

[cjeanette]

Oct 28, 2014 20:09:45 GMT -5 swizz said:

Oct 28, 2014 20:03:40 GMT -5 cjeanette said:

This is very commonplace in elementary school but daycare???

At least elementary kids are somewhat capable of getting what's going on. I very adamantly believe they're unnecessary in that they can cause more harm than good. School should be considered a safe place and introducing the anxiety/danger/fear of a school shooter, which happens more often than it should, but not exactly commonplace, isn't helpful. 

This totally wasn't aimed at you. Personal soapbox. 

Oh I don't disagree.  I also hate the new security at our school that cost thousands.  If someone has a gun and wants in no amount of cameras and buzz in systems is stopping them.

FWIW my kids have never mentioned any of the drills and don't seem to be bothered by them.

[GotWine]

As a person who works with children I like the idea of being prepared should an incident arise. I'm just not sure this is the way to go about it. I also don't know what is the right way. It's just so sad that this is something that even needs to be on our radar!

[karinothing]

Our daycare does this too. I think they call it an intruder drill or something. Makes me sad but they share a building with the IRS, SSA, and the DOD, so i think maybe necessary.

[VillainV]

Oct 28, 2014 19:46:44 GMT -5 swizz said:

I can't WTF this enough.

Active shooter drills in a daycare?! Nope. Nope. Nope.

So if they had an active shooter, you'd rather they be unprepared? As long as the drill is done in a way so it doesn't frighten the kids, I think it's a good idea.

[karinothing]

DS is not scared by the drill. They do shelter in place drills and last week had a tornado warning so they are used to hiding in the bathroom. They just play games

[nonsenseabound]

I wish my kids' school would do this. I have specific conversations with my DD who is 5 about what she should do if a person comes into her school with a gun. She knows she should first try to go to her teacher but if that doesn't work she should run as fast as she can to the nearest safe zones. We've discussed the safe zones.

Sandy Hook has ruined my thoughts that I wouldn't have to worry until middle school.

Honestly, I don't view it as any different than the bomb drills that my parents did. And I also disagree about the shooter getting in at any cost regardless of safety precautions. I think if the school can lock the doors remotely and prevent people from entering easily, then there will be precious minutes given to allow for law enforcement to arrive and teachers to get kids in safe places.

[yellowbrkrd]

Oct 28, 2014 20:31:39 GMT -5 swizz said:

Oct 28, 2014 20:28:52 GMT -5 VillainV said:

So if they had an active shooter, you'd rather they be unprepared? As long as the drill is done in a way so it doesn't frighten the kids, I think it's a good idea.

Lots of schools are using blanks and "actors" so not sure how that ISN'T scary. I absolutely think teachers and adults should be prepared and know what to do. 

Being prepared doesn't need to involve scary fake events though, which is the basis for active shooter drills. 

Wait, what?! That's insane.


The drills I've participated in at my old job were called "code red" and most definitely did not involve "actors" or fake events. 

[cilantro]

Christ, these pregnancy hormones have made me crying after reading this. I can't handle the thought. And we've had a lock-down at my daycare from an active shooter in town.

[jackie011]

We've had several meetings about this at work. Our building is very open and we have no doors (other than fire doors that do not lock off the main lobby) to close off portions of our building. There is no place to hide, let alone hide 18 preschoolers. I work for an organization that had an active shooter situation at a different location, in a nearby city, so it's very much a real concern for our department managers and exec. director. I truly hope it's never a reality, but you have to be prepared in this crazy world.

[vmars]

Oct 28, 2014 20:44:31 GMT -5 yellowbrkrd said:

Oct 28, 2014 20:31:39 GMT -5 swizz said:

Lots of schools are using blanks and "actors" so not sure how that ISN'T scary. I absolutely think teachers and adults should be prepared and know what to do. 

Being prepared doesn't need to involve scary fake events though, which is the basis for active shooter drills. 

Wait, what?! That's insane.


The drills I've participated in at my old job were called "code red" and most definitely did not involve "actors" or fake events. 

They are doing this at my husbands job but he works in a courthouse. You are supposed to actually call 911 etc. 911 is aware this is occurring.

[Deleted]

It's an awful thing to need to do, but it is a reality.

I actually wish DD's daycare had active shooter drills. The building has like 6 entry doors, including one into each classroom. It's also starred by youngerish women, and I can't help but sometimes wonder if any of them are in a dangerous relationship that could lead to something like this.

Next year DD will go to preschool on a college campus. I'll be a ball of worry then!

[jeaniebueller]

My DS has had "lockdown drills" since he was in preschool. I don't think he really knows what they are for, but knows they are serious business.

[Odonata]

Oct 28, 2014 20:31:39 GMT -5 swizz said:

Oct 28, 2014 20:28:52 GMT -5 VillainV said:

So if they had an active shooter, you'd rather they be unprepared? As long as the drill is done in a way so it doesn't frighten the kids, I think it's a good idea.

Lots of schools are using blanks and "actors" so not sure how that ISN'T scary. I absolutely think teachers and adults should be prepared and know what to do. 

Being prepared doesn't need to involve scary fake events though, which is the basis for active shooter drills. 

We do active shooter drills all the time at my school and it never involved an actor or blanks.  I have never heard of a school doing this.  Mostly just involves kids and teachers going through the motions of locking down and hiding.  At the most an administrator will walk the halls and check that the doors are locked.  Where do they do drills that involve these things?  

ETA:  I didn't read through the whole post first and saw you answered a similar question.  I'm shocked they did this as a drill.  I have a hard time believing it is common, though.  It is not helpful at all.

[MDmomof2]

My kids' daycare does a "shelter in place" drill that they have several versions of. We recently had a tornado warning and they had to shelter in place. An active shooter would be a different kind of shelter in place, and they would never call it an active shooter drill. They also do fire drills (and actually had a fire once!). I'm fine with kids doing drills, they need to be prepared, but calling in a shelter in place drill or a fire drill (which seems so common as not to be scary anymore) is the way to go.

[Deleted]

Our daycare does "intruder" drills, but really it's just for the teachers so they can make sure they know what they are doing when trying to round up groups of little ones. It's not really mentioned to the kids what is going on, other than, "little Johnny, come stand with the class over here for a couple of minutes we're on a bear hunt and have to be quiet!" kind of thing. No mention of shooters, threats, etc.

[whattheheck]

My elementary school does lock-down drills (which is what would happen for an active shooter); lock-out drills, high winds drills, and fire drills. In addition, AFTER STUDENTS HAVE BEEN DISMISSED, our police department does actives shooter drills and out fire department does elevator rescue drills at the school. I am glad that the police and fire department drill frequently at our school. I would hate for a threat to be identified in the gym/band room/2nd grade wing/etc. and have the responders not know where that is in the building.

[grosnl19]

This is one of my concerns on moving back to the States...

[leonard131]

Our old nanny was Kindergarden teacher and she said one of the reasons she decided to take a break from teaching was these types of drills. It just broke her heart having to try and explain to the kids what it was and just the shear fact that our society had come this and having to have these precautions in place. Of course there were other reasons she left teaching and she did understand the importance of the drills.