You know it's a nice day in February when you come home from work and fix a tall glass of iced tea. And that's what I did today. It was 76 degrees outside when I got home. I got those windows open and enjoyed some refreshing air along with my tea.
I thought a lot about safety yesterday when I got home and read about another school shooting. This one in Florida. I didn't realize it at the time, but a co-worker had been to that school when she attended a neighboring district and she knew someone that currently attends the school. Something that struck me was that all these school shooters provided some kind of warning signs. And we noticed them after the tragedy had struck. And that's the worst time to acknowledge warning signs.
So I'm going to suggest we talk to our students, our children and let them know when people do, say and post things that make them uncomfortable or creeped out they should tell someone. It's not an easy conversation to have with a child you want to protect. But that's exactly how you can empower them to protect themselves and others. They need to find someone they trust to believe them and get the information to someone with authority to monitor the situation and take action if needed.
Our students/children need to know they don't have to open a door for anyone at home or school. Schools have a proper door for visitors and they can ring to get in. Those authorized to use different doors should have their own keys. I know it's considered polite to open a door for someone, but I'd rather have a kid turn me down at the door than let in a lunatic bent on creating chaos.
We as school personnel need to wake up to the fact that it could happen to us. We need to think about the implications of that kind of situation. It could be us! And then we need to prepare. I know teachers just want to teach. That's why we come to school everyday. But we also need to be practical.
Hopefully the teachers at your child's school have been through an active shooter training. I know we have. So in the interest of providing a public service, I'd like to share some tips I've learned through this training. (A big thanks goes out to my friend, Cindi who took the time to put many of these tips down yesterday. I was too wrapped up in myself to do that.)
1. Keep your doors locked. This goes for outside doors and classroom doors. An unlocked door is an invitation to come right in.
2. When you hear something that may be gunfire if at all possible, get out of the building and RUN. And don't just stand around outside the building. Run away and have a meeting place for the students. The more they scatter, the less chance of being a victim.
If running isn't feasible, hide away from doors and windows. Take the time to teach kids that running from this kind of danger is self preservation. If someone set off a firecracker in the building and my class ran out, I wouldn't mind explaining to my principal why we left. Now when I say hide, I don't mean cower in a corner. I mean blockade the doors with desks or whatever heavy items you can, grab something hard and be prepared to throw it if the intruder tries to access your room. Don't go quiet into that good night. Fight like heck! I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of 30 flying objects from a bunch kids.
3. If you are hiding, silence is golden. How many times have you had someone give themselves away in Hide and Seek because they couldn't be quiet? This is the same situation only we are playing for keeps. Turn off lights and make no noise. The intruder may just walk on by without noticing you. And if you are hiding, stay put until the police show up. I'm sure it's tempting to peek out the door or window, but you may alert someone to your presence.
4. And for everyone's safety do what the police/SWAT team tell you to do. If they ask you to lie on the floor, do it.
Prevention is the key point here. If someone notices something odd going on or a person has a hit list going, please tell your principal, counselor, teacher or parent. Don't let it get to the point where someone does something stupid and people get hurt. Then make sure you know to run or hide; in that order. We may not be able to prevent all these attacks, but if we can save more lives I feel like it's a win for the good guys. Safety to all!
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