[blparent] School shooting drills?

Tue May 8 13:09:42 UTC 2012

        Yes, these drills are nothing new.  My mom has many of the same memories as Bob.

If you want to have a very eye-opening experience watch the movie Thirteen Days with someone who was a young teenager at the time it was going on. Bonus points if that person lived near the D.C. area.

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert Shelton
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 10:51 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
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."
_______________________________________________
blparent mailing list
blparent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
blparent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/madison_tewe%40spinn.n
et

_______________________________________________
blparent mailing list
blparent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blparent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/rebecca.pickrell%40tasc.com
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message and any attachments or files transmitted with it (collectively, the "Message") are intended only for the addressee and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary and/or prohibited from disclosure by law or contract. If you are not the intended recipient: (a) please do not read, copy or retransmit the Message; (b) permanently delete and/or destroy all electronic and hard copies of the Message; (c) notify us by return email; and (d) you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of the Message is strictly prohibited.