[blparent] School shooting drills?

Tue May 8 10:32:17 UTC 2012

An example is monsters under the bed. Of course adults know there aren't any 
monsters under the bed, but kids up to a certain age don't. One way I 
remember reading about that may help some children is to "deputize" a 
favourite teddy or stuffed animal. Have the child ask their teddy to help 
keep the monsters away, and either you can, or the child can imagine the 
critter saying "yes". YOu can also, if there are no contraindications, put a 
tiny drop of lavender or similar oil on the bear's ribbon, or tie one on and 
stitch it down, then ad the oil.
I actually as an adult have used this technique on a couple of young kids I 
watched. My aunt Judy did that with angels. She told children that slept in 
her guest room (chock full of angels, statues, the quilt, wall hangings, you 
get the drift) that the angels would protect them, and they slept very wel 
in that room.
Now, with the shooting drills, it's a little different. You can't use quite 
the same technique, and you'll have to find one that works with your 
children. My grandmother explained it to me as sort of like practising for 
going to the doctor. When the real thing does happen, it's not going to be 
as scary, and the whole process will go smoother with fewer questions, 
because you know what to expect ahead of time.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Shelton" <rshelton1 at gmail.com>
To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 8:51 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] School shooting drills?


>I grew up in the 1950's, and the drills I remember were for a nuclear
> attack.  I still remember being lectured on how to give yourself and 
> family
> the best chance to survive a nuclear war.  Now the threats are different,
> but still the sad realities of our time, as it was in the past.  Be honest
> with your kids.  Reassure them that it's not likely, but good to know what
> to do.  It's a fine line to explain probabilities to young children, and
> kids vary greatly in their tendency to fixate on disasters.  You kind of
> have to listen to get a sense of how they respond to exposure to 
> unpleasant
> -- make that terrifying possibilities.  Very hard to know whether they can
> understand the difference between prudence and paranoia.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Veronica Smith [mailto:madison_tewe at spinn.net]
> Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 5:05 PM
> To: 'Jo Elizabeth Pinto'; 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blparent] School shooting drills?
>
> So when Gab started school 5 years ago, she was terrified that there would
> be a fire at school and at home.  Reality, there might be and how does one
> assure a 5/6 year old that it is safe to go to school or better yet sleep 
> in
> your own bed.  Whether a fire drill or a shooting drill, the fear is
> instilled into our children.
> I would like to believe that none of the above would ever come to my 
> child's
> school, but the reality is we just don't know.  the only drills that I 
> have
> ever been apart of was a fire drill, but what would I do if a gunman came
> in, I've never been taught, I've  never been drilled.  Gab says they have
> fire drills now and then and lock down drills.  The first time I heard 
> that,
> a lock down drill, I was terrified and thought to myself, I take my child
> there, do we live in a bad neighborhood, WTH But it happens everywhere, in
> good neighborhoods and in bad.  If a bad peep wants to come into my
> neighborhood, all they have to do is jump in their car and go.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
> Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2012 6:15 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: [blparent] School shooting drills?
>
> Students Participating in Fake 'School Shootings' May End Up More Anxious
> Than Prepared
>
> Posted by Jeanne Sager on May 2, 2012
> How's this for unsettling? I hit the website of my local paper to see
> pictures of a school up the road from me filled with cops brandishing big
> guns. The good news? It was all a drill. The bad news? High school 
> shootings
> have now become so commonplace that teachers and students are now 
> practicing
> for them!
>
> The photos from the local school are an example of a national trend. Mock
> shooting drills are now lined up on the school calendar right along with 
> the
> fire drills of our youth. This is our reality.
>
> Schools here in New York. Schools in Florida. Schools in Michigan. They've
> all let men with guns into the building so teachers, and in some schools,
> the teenagers too can practice -- in a safe manner -- what to do if a 
> child
> turns into a killer. They're hoping to save lives by being proactive.
>
> I trust the members of law enforcement who led the shooting scenario in my
> area. I understand their reasoning for trying it out. I want my kid to be
> properly prepped for an emergency. I went through fire drills and mock DWI
> accident drills and God knows what else drills back in my day, and I admit
> they helped. When I hear a fire alarm, I know what to do.
>
> But that doesn't mean I like it.
>
> Yes; a shooting may happen. But actually, thankfully, the statistics say 
> it
> probably won't. Just this February, in the wake of the horrific shooting 
> in
> Chardon, Ohio, Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics released 
> a
> study showing school-related violent deaths are at an all-time low since 
> it
> began tracking such deaths in 1992. And these are the statistics we need 
> to
> focus on.
>
> We send our kids off to school each day thinking that they are going to a
> safe place. We aren't naive. We're aware there are shootings. But we have 
> to
> focus on the positive in order to get through the day, in order to entrust
> teachers with our most precious "belongings" so to speak. The reasoning is
> two-pronged. It's to make us feel better, but it's also to comfort our 
> kids.
> This is a place where they spend much of their lives; they need to feel 
> safe
> there.
>
> A school shooting drill takes the careful fantasy we have built and rips 
> it
> in two. And for what? For the possibility that there may be a shooting at
> our kids' school?
>
> I understand why law enforcement is suggesting these drills. But if they 
> are
> the new normal, I'm afraid of what we're accepting as "normal."
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