Lock Down

Drama out our school yesterday. The school was put into lock down due to a suspected gun toter in the area. I am impressed with the police/school response in that they took no risks with our kids. The perpetrator wasn't on school property but they took the necessary precautions just in case. I only found out about this because my kids weren't home on time and my neighbor called to tell me the kids were fine and would be home 30 minutes late. I at no point was scared. I do know that some parents were and they headed to the school to retrieve their kids...this is where my instinct to 'judge' might come in. I feel that the best place for a kid to be in an emergency situation is in the school locked in the classrooms (unless there is a risk WITHIN the school of course) so I think that parents coming in and 'bothering' the process by demanding/asking for their kids out is disruptive and possibly a risk to the school. Not to mention, the kids that don't have their parents coming can feel more in danger thinking that their mommy/daddy isn't coming for them. I don't know the ins and outs of the situation, but I am pleased that everything worked out fine AND that the police response was as it was. I wish that it didn't have to happen at all, and the fact that they didn't apprehend those involved just sucks in my opinion. But, back to business as usual.

My daughter's response in the classroom when they were in lock down was to think of a song to sing out loud...she proceeded to sing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands"...she clapped but know one else did (I guess no one was happy). At first I was worried that she would be disappointed about this response from her classmates, but she thought it was funny and she thought it was curious that that was her instinct. It makes me smile and beem with pride that she was trying in her own way to relieve the stress for her classroom...the delivery might need some work, but it was all for good. I am now wondering what that "instinct" will be in the future, what will she be drawn to do as a career or a citizen...very interesting, very curious, very awesome.