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My 6-year-old son had an active shooter drill at school today

ElectricBlanketFire

ElectricBlanketFire

What year is this?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,857
I'm sure this is commonplace now, but I had to get this off my chest.

When I asked him how school was today and he described the drill, I honestly had to turn away and go in another room so he wouldn't see that I was getting emotional.

They call it a "Sheep, Shepherd, Wolf" drill. Kids are the sheep, teacher is the shepherd and "someone who's not supposed to be there" is the wolf.

Just awful.
 

Deleted member 23850

Oct 28, 2017
8,689
God damn man, that's awful to hear.

It really is awful that future generations are dealing with shit we've never had to deal with. I thought life was supposed to be better for the next generation.
 
Pretendo Switch

Pretendo Switch

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
957
I know it sucks to think about. I have a 5 year old, a 2 year old and a baby girl coming next month. But honestly, I would rather my children be prepared for such an event than shield them from the harsh reality we live in.
 

Deleted member 28461

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 31, 2017
4,830
Sorry your kid has to go through that, man. I only had to do a single one as a kid, when I was a sophomore in high school. It was surreal, but nothing close to what it must feel like today.

I'm not a parent so I don't know how you deal with something like that. Just hug your kids.
 
lurksalot

lurksalot

Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
180
Yep, my fourth grader is well familiar with these. No other country in the world has to put their kids through this bullshit. Thank the NRA stooge GOP and their ignorant supporters that think Republicans care about them in anyway other than a means to an end to help line their corrupt pockets.
 

Shoeless

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,000
I honestly don't understand how 2nd Amendment supporters think this is okay. Even if you love guns, how is forcing American children to do these kinds of drills the sort of thing that puts a smile on your face, and makes you pat your gun with a warm reassurance and a whisper of "This is how America SHOULD be, baby..."
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,849
I had active shooter drills when I was in elementary school and I'm in my mid-20's now
 
Poltergust

Poltergust

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,832
Orlando, FL
We did this at work last month (well, not a drill, more like awareness training). We were shown footage from the concert grounds during the Las Vegas shooting. Nothing graphic, but you can clearly hear the gunshots and people panicking.

It... really disturbed me. I'm only 27 and I never had to go through something like that when I was growing up.

I hate this timeline.
 
seat

seat

Banned
Mar 14, 2018
756
Edit: sorry, wrong thread.

Also, pretty horrible that these are the times we live in.
 
diakyu

diakyu

Member
Dec 15, 2018
17,540
Somehow I missed these drills despite going through grade school at a time where I could have. Have to do them for work though.
 
Slime

Slime

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,971
This shit is so depressing.

The most I ever had to deal with were fire drills.
 

Deleted member 45211

User requested account closure
Banned
Jun 19, 2018
492
I think they're mandated by many cities/states so schools don't have a choice -- even independent schools.

But if schools are required to have these drills, playing make-believe games is the better alternative for 4-6 year olds. They don't need to be stressed and bombarded with our adult world. I'd argue they don't even need the wolf part. In our school, the teacher tells a story, something like a fairy gathering up all her mushrooms, and hiding them quietly in a basket or something.

Yeah, in our adult context it can be depressing and dystopian, but the kids are all fascinated by her lovely voice and story.

EDIT: what our school does is called a "lockdown drill," which is probably just another name for the same thing
 
Hexa

Hexa

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,738
When I was in high school we didn't have active shooter drills, but we did have what were called lockout drills where we were supposed to lock the doors, stay away from windows and hide basically. What happens during a school active shooter drill?
 
Schw7abe

Schw7abe

Member
Oct 28, 2017
28
Did these back in high school and middle School. Code red drills is what they called them for us.

They actually we're effective and saved lives when we had a shooter come into our high school.
 
EloKa

EloKa

GSP
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,906
Red a while ago that they are building a new school somewhere in the USA with design influences of potential mass-shootings like no long hallways, all hallways must be bend to prevent any straight lines of view and have many potential covers. Aren't there also some kind of bulletproof backpacks? Awful.

It's crazy that the US prefers to adopt to their mass shootings instead of trying to prevent them.

I think in germany we only have fire drills once a year and this already feels like a pretty unrealistic event.
 
Rune Walsh

Rune Walsh

Too many boners
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,032
Working in an elementary school, I always hoped I didn't have a younger grade with me when we did those drills. I would say it was keeping us safe from people that aren't supposed to be in the building. I told them we just had to go to a quiet place so the adults could talk it out uninterrupted. What a shitshow this country has become that I have to lie to children and that these atrocities happen in schools.
 
Wood Man

Wood Man

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,449
Unfortunately yes, this is a common thing now. Our school calls them "Code Red" drills.They go hand in hand with fire drills now.
Our daughter had her first code red drill of the school year on just the second day of school. It's really unsettling.
 
GrimJawz

GrimJawz

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
612
Canada
We also had these at my school in Canada, they started phasing them in with fire drills around 2009, but they were less about specifically a shooter and more just a harmful intruder in general, I believe they were called code red drills.
 
Gunny T Highway

Gunny T Highway

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,027
Canada
We have them here in Canada. They usually practice what is called a "Lockdown Drill", twice a year.
 
SolicitorPirate

SolicitorPirate

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
2,223
Question from an Australian: are the children aware of the purpose of these drills? At what age do children generally learn that school shootings are a thing?
 
1000% H

1000% H

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,639
They're not called lockdown drills anymore because you don't "lock down" anymore like in the 90s/2000s since we now know doing so only makes it easier for someone to injure/kill more people.
 
Robochimp

Robochimp

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,677
My kids inadvertently had one this week, a bank down the street was robbed and the suspect fled on foot. It sounds like they goofed and should have just followed a lockout procedure, where no one leaves or is allowed in. They did the whole lights out kids get down on the floor thing.

My kids weren't too phased by it since I had just told them about a time where the exact thing happened at the hospital I work at. Bank robber hid under a car in the parking lot.
 

Deleted member 8257

Oct 26, 2017
24,586
I just realized my son going to school will be like I'm sending him to routine place of mass murder in america. Just boils my blood to no end.
 
Wood Man

Wood Man

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,449
SolicitorPirate said:
Question from an Australian: are the children aware of the purpose of these drills? At what age do children generally learn that school shootings are a thing?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I really really didn't want to but our daughter was 8 when we explained to her what happened at Stoneman Douglas high school last year. It was almost unavoidable since her school is also in Broward county so everyone was talking about it. And better we explain it rather than hearing it from someone else.

Ahhhh, the loss of innocence.
 
Meows

Meows

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,399
That particular example sounds awful. We had those when I was six but it wasn't a game like that, we just hid in the back of the gym. I hate that this is our reality.
 
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