Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I don't know, we used to have earthquake drills when I was young where you get under a flimsy desk. My mom used to have nuclear war drills which meant you got under a flimsy desk. Lockdowns are you getting under a flimsy desk.

Me too! I'm British, these things don't exist here O.o Totally terrifying!

As if we need Americans to be viewed as more violent. I had 2 bomb threats that resulted in lockdown in HS and 1 in 6th grade right after the Colombine shooting. I think it's mostly kids trying to get out of school. If you call in a bomb threat, they'll either cancel school or move us out to the football fields. I also think a couple times we went into lock down for drugs and/or weapons being stashed in lockers. Had a large High School (like 1.5k students) so conflicts were pretty frequent.

They do but they're rare.

The only lockdown I've heard of in recent history was at Sellafield in 2010 when Derrick Bird shot 23 people. Everyone was told to stay indoors as he was shooting people at random that he saw in the street. I don't live in the area any more but it was frightening as he was heading towards the town where my family live. On Saturday I travelled the route he drove for the first time since it happened, it was really saddening and disturbing to think of people being killed in such a familiar place.

I think maybe lockdowns are sounding scarier than they are?

I think we once had an alligator related lockdown.

it definitely feels like it's a more modern thing.

i graduated high school in 97, and school was in a really bad neighborhood (central high in olney in philly) my grandmother had already moved out of the neighborhood after having someone break into her house not a mile from where the school was situated. and i don't remember ever having any lock downs. the only thing i ever remember was the annual fire drill, and that's it. (oh, and because i preferred to park on the street instead of wasting my sanity in the school's parking lot, i had my tires' chrome valve stem caps stolen, but that was it.) i felt entirely safe inside the school. when i was under 16, the only thing that kept me from staying after school for clubs was the fact that i wouldn't be walking the block to the subway in a big giant group of kids.

I graduated in 97 as well. In middle school, early 90s the last year I remember we had bi-weekly bomb threats...It was a rough school, kids were getting arrested for drive-bys, a lot of gang violence. I was not afraid of getting shot at school in a random killing but afraid of getting beat up by a bully and their friends...

Yeah, I never thought they were that scary, even right after Columbine when they were first instituted at my school. Whether we live in a country that has so many mass shootings or not, I think it's still smart to have a safety procedure in place whether it be for inclement weather, or violent situations. Just because it's not common where you live doesn't mean it can't happen.

Our lockdown procedure consisted of someone coming over the intercom and saying the code, then the door was locked, lights turned off, and everyone went into the corner away from the window. We had one or two drills a year, and I think only one actual lockdown incident (I believe a girl was seriously harming herself in the bathroom). Really, I just don't see any harm in having a simple emergency plan like that in place.

What do you mean?

I have to vent here because I just can't even process this crepe and it's make me boil over with rage. I need to stop reading the teaching forum, but s train wreck at this point. I've been reading there for years though, and it's full of good teaching advice.

But, now guns are being compared to cars in that cars kill more people so we should just ban guns.

And then there is the whole "hobby" thing. We can't limit any of this stuff because it's FUN. If anyone suggests putting fun over lives is perhaps really forking selfish, the pro gun people flip their shiitake.

Now, I know these views are around, but I guess I was naive enough to think they were extreme.

Serious? They're like conjoined twins, no? I mean, in government, in schools, in society in general?

I think that for the most part we do, fairly successfully. The problem is that many individual people don't respect that and are constantly pushing. I do feel we are at a vulnerable point though. My district would laugh on its asparagus if anyone tried to interfere with sex Ed or proper science instruction, but the one I teach GeD in walks a fine line.

But this is a whole new debate.

My middle school had lots of bomb threats too, and I graduated a year before you. I don't think we did lockdowns, I think we just evacuated the building. I know my mom had lock downs at her school, which was in a more dangerous area. They would page "Mr. Lock" to the principal's office.

i should have pointed out i went to school in the burbs no where remotely near a dangerous area.
probably a town very similar to Newtown. the school system was also very small. i had the same kids in my classes from kindergarten through graduation for the most part. there were 96 people in my graduating class (96 in the class of 96)

so while there certainly were fights in school as best as i can remember it was always fists. whether or not anyone ever had a knife i just dont remember or i never knew.
definitely no guns or bomb threats.

you never saw police in my school. ever.


im not *against* the idea of lockowns. obviously there needs to be some sort of procedure for this sort of situation. im just saying the idea that they are NECESSARY is just crazy and a really awful/sad commentary on the world we live in.

it also may be scarier sounding to me than it is since i never experienced it. i just feel like if i went through a real lockdown (not a drill) i would shiitake my pants and cry. seriously.

We've had guns and knives confiscated at my school. It's instant expulsion though (unless you are rich and white from one of the smaller schools, in which case you get different rules because your parents hire lawyers), so it doesn't happen often. Usually kids who want to get expelled just don't come.

To be clear, it is not just the Westboro-types who say this happened because we threw god out of the schoolhouse.

For instance, Bryan Fischer says it's because we threw god out and he's too much of a gentleman to go where he's not wanted. (I guess he'd rather "allow" 20 kids and a handful of adults to be shot than be "rude.")

Ohhhh so God's a gentleman now. That explains a lot.

I don't get this weird crepe about no God in schools. Religious observance follows the person, right?

So, when we have our minute of silence in the morning to facilitate personal,reflection or prayer, it's the person who chooses no god, not the school. I enforce a respectful moment of silence; it's one thing I'm super strict about. Some kids want it; most take a catnap.

Do these morons even know how religion works in schools? We have student led religious clubs like the fellowship of Christian athletes. Only thing is student led, not staff. Students may also have prayer meetings aeound the flagpole, again, student led. They can pray at lunch if they want. They only thing is they can't tell everyone else what to do, and I, as a teacher, can force the Christians to read from the Quran every morning. They can read their Bible during downtime if they want.

All I know is, the God these people worship is not one I want anything to do with.

abortion and gay marriage springs to mind. religion is the only reason to not allow them.

This exactly.

:>

We did more of a fire drill thing and had to hang out for hours on the field...We had to stay in line and not wander off...

Yeah- The lockdowns at Toby's school were because of a crime/gun violence within so many miles of the school. Hell, they had one once right before pick-up time and about 100 parents were locked outside of the gates.

I've never heard from a parent that their children were scared and Toby never mentioned being scared. The hardest thing here is you are supposed to be away from windows and these schools seem to be made of almost all glass. This is how I ended up in the school nurse's office/clinic for 20 minutes.

Oh, hugs, Sweetpea.

Also, we do have a national day of prayer that is hosted at the White House. There is also an official House of Representatives chaplain and Senate chaplain and I'll be damned if they haven't all been Christian. I think they have almost all been Protestant as well. The Congress opens with a prayer.

Our politicians always reference faith, God, succor from their religion at times like this. I can only image what it sounds like from abroad.