Mackenzie Sheldon | Opinion editor
“Lockdown drills” is the calmer term schools use to go through school shooter protocol. Growing up in Connecticut, I’ve had to experience multiple drills that involved hiding in the corner of the room, putting all the shades down, and being silent for 30 or more minutes. Being just 8 years old when the Sandy Hook tragedy happened, the realization that someone with a gun could come into my school at any moment was traumatizing enough. Having that thought in the back of my mind was enough to keep me aware of the issue, but to still enjoy my time in school, to still be a kid. However, throughout my elementary school, middle school, and high school years, I’ve grown desensitized to it as Lockdown drills became mandatory. Stopping a class twice a year to tell young kids or teenagers to hide, sit away from the door, and remain silent to avoid being heard by the principal (who goes around to each door and jiggles the handle) is jarring.
My elementary school had level 1 and level 2 lockdowns. A level 1 lockdown meant it was nothing serious, just a drill, just practice. We’d hide under our desks until the principal went over the intercom to say the drill was officially over. The word officially is very important. If she announced the lockdown was over without saying officially over, it meant we still needed to stay under our desks. I’m assuming this was a way to get the students to actively listen, and to know when there was still possible danger without letting the threat know. A level 2 lockdown meant there was a threat in or outside of the building. I remember being under the desk watching my teacher, who had just finished teaching us how to divide fractions, tape a piece of paper to the window that said “18” printed in bold numbers. She would pull all the shades down and hide behind her desk as well. 18 was the number of students in her class.
In middle school and high school, we would have lockdown drills that required full silence. Some teachers would whisper to us, asking what we’d do if there was a real shooter. I remember having a discussion in the corner of my health class about how all the boys would hit the shooter with chairs and the teacher would take the gun away. High school was when I specifically remember the sound of the door handle. All teachers had to lock their classroom doors. This was the most traumatizing part. Imagine being in the corner of a room with all your classmates and teacher, and someone grabs the door handle from the outside trying to get in. During fire drills, there's no one going around lighting things on fire while we're all placed in a single file line, calmly exiting the “burning building”. During an active shooter drill, why would someone need to go around trying to get into each room? It's an unnecessary add-on to an already scary situation.
I interviewed three students who all went to different elementary schools. Reis M. and Taina B. grew up going to Waterbury, Connecticut schools. Both had expressed that lockdown drills had different codes stated over the intercom. These codes were messages to the students and teachers on the severity of the threat, just like how my school had levels. Julia T. grew up in Massachusetts school systems before attending a Connecticut university. I was surprised to see the difference in lockdown protocol between two states that are next to each other. Julia explained to me that there was only a lockdown once a year, though the two other students from Connecticut stated they had lockdown drills every month.
Warren Osterndorf is a professor at Eastern Connecticut State University who discussed the issue of lockdown drills and propaganda.
|“At that point, who are you keeping safe?”
By having active shooter drills, are we keeping the students safe or the gunman safe? Osterndorf links this with the 1950s propaganda film, Duck and Cover, about a turtle named Bert who teaches kids how to survive a nuclear attack. This film was loved by parents as it kept their children's minds at ease about the Cold War and the possibility of a nuclear war. The idea was that if you held your head and ducked, you would survive a nuclear attack…? Duck and Cover was adopted into American school systems as well, teaching children to hide under their desks. Does this sound familiar?
Not only do lockdowns cause stress for students, but it teaches the shooter the protocol. Many of the shooters have been alumni or students attending the school they targeted. Doing these lockdown drills teaches the threat where the students will hide. Practicing lockdowns does not guarantee safety for students if there were to be an active shooter, it only establishes peace of mind on where to hide.
Instead of doing lockdown drills, schools should create a presentation on school safety and what to do in emergencies. This presentation should be mandatory for all students at the beginning of the year. It should cover how to look for signs of a possible threat, where to hide, and what to do during the threat. Knowing the signs of an attacker is just as important as knowing where to hide.
| "In 4 out of 5 school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attacker’s plan but failed to report it." (Sandy Hook Promise)
Having the staff teach safety rather than constantly putting their students in a scary situation can be beneficial for everyone in the school. School is meant for learning, and it is understandable that with a new threat like school shootings, it can be difficult to navigate what the best safety protocol is. It is a trial and error, and this error has been going on for too long. Each state should analyze its current protocol and update it to promote a more efficient way of educating students. Learning what to do and practicing once each school year rather than hiding silently in the corner with your classmates for 30 minutes every few months sounds like a better option overall.
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