School shooter drills

[PigletForTwiglets]

I have a young teenager who has been properly traumatised by one of these "prepare for a school shooter" drills. They were not warned/told it was a drill (and nor were the parents). They genuinely thought they were going to die, and have essentially developed PTSD as a result. They have had to stop going to school (temporarily, I hope). Has anyone else had this happen? It seems to me to be somewhere between ridiculous and actively abusive. Have other kids found these things traumatic, too?
TIA

it may be helpful to be announced as in 'in the next couple of weeks we'll be doing this'.

@TeenDivided they delibrately have never done this in any school, college or workplace I've ever been in because they want people to act appropriately.

For example I was on a site where luckily someone noticed our meeting place was next to a shed where they were storing chemicals. We all moved.

Oh come on. It’s safeguarding.

When l was teaching we had lockdown drills and fire drills. Some everyone knew about, some the staff knew about and some no one knew about.

Imagine if they didn’t do drills and something really horrible kicked off. That could cause PTSD. But not sitting under a table for 5 minutes.

Sorry but have you actually checked with the school? Or is this all speculation?

In the kindest way possible, it really feels like you may be adding to this. It's not normal to jump to PTSD, I suspect as PP mentioned, tour experience in this field may not be helping in this situation.

Drills are done for a real reason, and are a requirement, you cannot expect the school not to do them just because your child MAY have a negative reaction to them. You cannot do drills with a warning, that defeats the purpose, especially at secondary school level. In primary school it's done very gently to introduce kids to the idea but a teen should have the capacity to handle this.

Besides, it really sounds like your child has some other serious issues that need addressing. It is not normal for an otherwise healthy child with no significant trauma around lockdowns etc to experience this level of distress over a drill.

Even if my DD did come home stressed from a drill and scared to go back, PTSD wouldn't be the first thing I'd think of, that's a very strange thing OP. Anxiety is not the same thing as PTSD and anxiety can get really really bad.

They can't do that, defeats the purpose and you actually don't know if the school said anything about a gunman. The OP hasn't clarified if they've even spoken to the school. I've never ever heard of a school calling it a shooter drill. It's always a lockdown drill and after it happens they tend to explain to kids why.

Thank you so much. This is an extremely helpful post.

Why exactly is it stressful? Most lock windows and doors

as to it being a secret, is your child advised when there are fire drills? Highly unlikely

this may sound harsh but your child sound like they have other issues than worries about drills

"pretty sure" doesn't mean yoes confirmed by school they announced the drill as such.

Are you going to ask the school about how this was presented to the pupils op?

Lock down drill are a requirement as schools must have a policy and practice in pka e for fire evacuations and lockdown scenarios. As such, they have to be practiced unannounced to see where flaws are etc.

It would be extremely unusual to have announced thus as a school shooter

In our school the lockdown process if 4 rings of the school tanniy / buzzer - those 4 buzzes mean follow the lockdown process so no need to give any further information.

Is there chance the pupils have while undertaking g the drill been getting exciting and guessing what is happening g, as this is very likely to take place.

The only ones that mean anything are the warns with no warning. If the kids know about them, they just act silly and don’t take it seriously. It’s just a laugh to them otherwise.

@LadyHag
Is there chance the pupils have while undertaking g the drill been getting exciting and guessing what is happening g, as this is very likely to take place.

This is exactly what I imagine happening. Bunch of teenagers all laughing saying ooh ooh shooter shooter, we're going to die like those kids in America or some other very unfunny nonsense, and OPs DD getting petrified because of that.

I'd speak to the school about how they did this - so strange and unneccessary to tell children there was a shooter at school and not inform them that it was a drill??

My children have had lockdown drills since nursery and were just told it was the opposite of a fire drill - eg in a fire the building isn't safe so you go out. In a lockdown the outside isn't safe so they go in and find their safe place.

To be fair I never took fire drills, bomb drills or anything seriously until I was working on a site where there was a drill and I could see a fire. It was actually a small fire but there were chemicals onsite.

I think most people, regardless of age, are the same.

Yeah, but you don’t have to go round yelling at them to stand in line and stop fighting or messing around. And you don’t have to bully them to stand in alphabetical order whilst half of them are talking to their best mate 3 lines down. Or kicking each other. Or pulling each others hair. Or adjusting their false eyelashes.

Op I would ask the school if they uses terms like school shooter/school shooter drill. If the other kids scared your dd by using the term then that's a very different problem.

We had this, this week! Not very happy about the lack of warning and discussion.

Being the UK, I do think that it's more for nuclear or something rather than a shooter but who knows. I hope both are extremely unlikely.

Do you expect discussion and warning for a fire drill? This is bizarre to expect.

To be honest I’m really surprised this is the first time OP’s Dd has come across this as most schools have been doing lockdown drills for years.

It’ll be a lockdown drill. My son’s school had to go into lockdown due to a suicide in woods next to school that could be seen from some windows

When was this OP?

Have you raised it with the school and clarified if there was any comms you/DD missed beforehand?

Have you checked what phraseology was used, was 'shooter drill' really a term that was used?
Do the school know of the reason for your DD's absence?

@Dodgeitornot we get letters any time they discuss anything sex education or slightly at risk of offending so yes, I expected a letter saying they were doing this and the reasons for it. Therefore, we can discuss it at home if required and add to what the teachers have said rather than send conflicting messages.

There is a deeper message behind this action that needs to be discussed with kids.

And if anything is going to scare kids, it's hiding in a cupboard to save your life. Not girls get periods or you'll grow hair in places.

I think you're mad to expect to receive a letter for a lockdown drill. They've been happening for years and it's a requirement for all schools in the UK. It's not the same as sex ed?? What a weird comparison.

No different to a fire drill

Thanks for your thoughts @Dodgeitornot. I'll definitely reflect and change my view point now.

I think it's mad we get letters for sex ed. I don't think it's a weird comparison. But I'm not going to denigrate you for your thoughts. Reflect on that.

The school are following government guidelines. Moan at them instead.

Tgey can’t not do them because your child didn’t cope with it. Better they do them and are prepared.

So that they don’t panic in the event of an actual event! That’s why we do fire drills too.
All schools I’ve worked in have done these drills - they’re called invacuations. We debrief afterwards to ensure children know it’s a practice. However, we did have a genuine invacuation last year when a man was seen near the school carrying a gun. It was at home time but luckily the children hadn’t been dismissed.
‘We put the parents on the playground into the school hall, all the children stayed in the classrooms watching a film - they all got a snack and thought it was ace!
Id suggest that if the drill impacted your DD so much that you speak to the SENCo about getting some help for her. Her reaction is very unusual.