@@ TW guns in schools

[formerlyak]

The past two days have been really stressful. Two days in a row, two different students at my son’s high school brought loaded guns and ammo to school. Two days in a row classmates reported that they heard or in some cases saw the guns. Our admin acted quickly. School was locked down. Police response time was less than three minutes. Teachers were amazing and my son said it was calm and they did what they were taught in drills. The guns were recovered and the kids who brought them to school were arrested.

Kids were allowed to leave after the lockdown if they wanted to, but many (mine included) wanted to stay and make sure they were there to support their friends.

School is closed today to do another safety sweep and allow everyone some downtime. Our local health agency has drop in hours all day for kids who need support. There is a community meeting this morning to let us all know what additional measures are being taken and for the PD to update on what they can.

I am incredibly grateful for all the teachers for helping the kids feel calm. And to the students who followed the “see something, say something”. Because of them, every student got to go home to their family last night. We never ever want to have to use what we learn in these drills, but yesterday the knowledge kids had from the drills saved lives.

[chickadee77]

I didn't want to read and not respond. I can't imagine going through this at that age, or as a parent, and hope I never have to.

Teachers do not get paid enough to deal with this, but I'm so glad that there are so many out there doing such an amazing job.

I'm glad it sounds like no one was physically hurt and that everything worked as intended, with the students in question being apprehended.

[shauni27]

holy shit. That is so scary and I am sorry that you and your son have to deal with this. I hate it.

[scm1011]

That is terrifying, I'm so sorry. I'm glad the students spoke up and that a tragedy was averted.

[meanie]

I am so sorry that you, your kids, and your school community have gone through not one but two lockdowns in a week. Also very happy that the procedures in place were followed and worked! Everyone must be very on edge.

How are your kid(s) doing today?

[formerlyak]

My DS was fine when I saw him last night. His biggest complaint was that I hugged him too hard and I said too bad. He was at his dad’s last night but was in good spirits when I talked with him. He will be home in about an hour because he wants to use the day to study and get ahead on homework. He seems business as usual. He and his friends seem to have the feeling that they have done trainings for this since kindergarten, unfortunately they had to use the training, but it worked so the training was worth it. Honestly, as shitty as this is, I’m glad that’s his take.

[minzy]

I’m sorry. That is a lot even if nothing has happened. I hope the kids are OK.

[gardengal]

While I agree I’m so glad trainings have worked, I’m just so sad kids have to deal w this like it’s normal. My son recently had a similar incident at school & was similarly “fine.” Good I guess but also such a sad state of the US.

And teachers absolutely should not have to deal w this.

[formerlyak]

gardengal, I am sorry you had to deal with something similar. It sucks all around.

I also feel bad for the district admin who are now getting demands about what parents thing they should be doing. Things like releasing the names of the kids who brought the guns so they can talk with the parents. And quickly building bigger walls and installing metal detectors and only allowing kids to enter through one entrance (we have over 3000 students). This isn't what teachers and admin thought they would be doing when they went to school to work in education.

[estrellita]

That is absolutely terrifying, I'm sorry! Glad it wasn't a bigger incident and that everyone seems ok. I hate that this feels like no big deal to so many kids 😢

[penguingrrl]

OMG, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.

[erbear]

That's really awful. I can't believe this is the reality of kids now. My nephews lost a soccer teammate in a shooting last year, and had another incident where someone shot a security guard at their school, and it's just...par for the course for them. I'm a teacher and this will never feel routine to me.

[picksthemusic]

I echo PPs about the horror of it all and the fact that our kids are just treating it like it's normal. I'm so sorry this happened.

[taratru]

I'm sorry they had to deal with that and equally sorry they have become so adept at reporting and responding. We've decided to head back to the US next year, and I'm just dreading all of this as part of every day worries.

[mrsukyankee]

How horrifying. Hugs to all of you.

[redheadk]

I'm so sorry your kids are dealing with this. Your campus admin and district sound well prepared and responsive. And kudos to the kids who reported and to the others for supporting one another through this.

[macmars45]

Dec 6, 2023 10:49:33 GMT -5 erbear said:

That's really awful. I can't believe this is the reality of kids now. My nephews lost a soccer teammate in a shooting last year, and had another incident where someone shot a security guard at their school, and it's just...par for the course for them. I'm a teacher and this will never feel routine to me.

That's because we didn't grow up in a hellscape where this is necessary.

I'm a para at the elementary school my DS(7.5) attends. We have a security officer on our payroll. He plays with the kids at recess and patrols the building and grounds. It's totally normal. /s

[rachers]

I am so so sorry this happened.

This is sort of a soapbox issue for me so I hope I don’t come over charged. But it’s heavy on my mind with Las Vegas, and a recent event at the hospital my SM is a nurse at in TX.

I really encourage anyone to reach out to a Moms Demand Action / Everytown / Be Smart program in your community. I can even help get you pointed in the right direction.

Our local group has a lawyer who attends every meeting and is great about staying on top of local legislature so when it’s voting time we know exactly what to vote for. And I’m for a state that I think is the second lowest state ranking for gun laws. It’s horrifying.

Anyone please PM me if you’d like more information. I’m very involved and part of my leadership role is connecting people.

[bugandbibs]

I'm sorry. It's scary and it just feels like everyone is trying to pretend it is okay.

We had a student fire a gun in the parking lot at people a couple of months ago. The district did a poor job of relaying information and students at the schools effected (the parking lot was between a high school and a middle school) were held in a lockdown for hours. Parents didn't know what was happening and the district came up with some BS about it not being "in the school", but "near the school" as their defense for not communicating. Parents were finding out from other parents that they needed to go pick up their kids because they were held until after hours and no busses.

[formerlyak]

bugandbibs,that sounds awful. And to push it off because of a technicality of it being in the parking lot is odd. I would be frustrated as well.

Our district let us know that we could pick up our kids if we wanted to or they could stay (since no gun was fired). They outlined the process for picking up your child in the email.

[cap]

That's truly awful. I'm glad your son is OK, but it's also horrible that he is. My kids' district was the target of a swatting incident last year. It was not at either one of their schools, but the entire district went into lockdown and the kids knew that it was not a drill. Both were relatively unfazed by all of it.