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

Huh??

When I was in Year 8, (1981) the Teacher walked into class and handed out brown luggage labels that we were instructed to write our names and addresses on and attach to our blazers.

That done, we were walked outside and lined up. We were then told a train carrying nuclear waste had crashed nearby and we were being evacuated.

All hell broke loose until we were told it was a preamble to the upcoming study of WW2 and the evacuation of children.

1981 was a pretty hairy time, the Cold War still raged and there were many TV programmes about nuclear war. I had nightmares for weeks and total hysterics when a news item came on.

The current Emergency Planning is a DfE requirement. Schools need to plan for an intruder or a non-fire related evacuation. 2023 is a pretty hairy time for a nut bar intent on entering a school to cause harm.

The moral of the story is that, having experienced the impact of 1981, I'm well placed to ensure the procedures and effects of these drills are robust without causing distress.

I would be very surprised if a school enacted such a drill without explanation to staff/Parents/Carers so that in the aftermath they can support their children appropriately.

'Have essentially developed PTSD as a result?'

Please please don't say things like this! Its so insulting to parents whose children have actually been through a real life traumatic life changing experience which takes years of family therapy to recover from or just to survive. And Yes it happened while in a school setting.

However our school (TA) did do the run/hide/tell terrorist programme and the kids were ok with it first school so 4/9.

It's a parents job to support the school to educate children to the world they live in.

It's no different to stranger danger. You are lucky your kid will probably never face anything like this in RL (please God)

Because if they don't, on the one occasion it actually happens, they'll be the kids refusing to stay in the classroom, screaming, crying, phoning their parents to come and get them and generally acting exactly how you don't want children to behave in the event of somebody getting into the school premises with evil intent.

Of course they have to practice, just like a fire drill, these situations are rare but they happen and have to be prepared for

At risk of outing here my dd snd her friends were involved in a huge international event where a teacher died and numerous pupils and adults were critically injured. Some of the kids who escaped were phoning/texting the details but with no idea of the actual fatalities of those less fortunate and these texts and calls reached the parents of those missing/dead.

Hours before we knew if our dd had survived or died.

Guide lines for all teachers/parents in the uk changed following the enquiry into this.

Please just go with the info you are given and the sessions you/your kids have . It's for a very good reason. Schools are doing their best

I have never ever heard of shooter drills happening in the U.K.

When was the last time we had a school shooting, wasn’t it the 90s?

I think there’s a bit of creative fiction going on here by OP or the students…

DD came home yesterday saying that they had done a lockdown drill. (U.k., year 4).

We heard nothing from the school about it.

Some parents seemed to be very angry about it at drop off this morning, there was a lot of shouting at the teachers manning the doors about it (not uncommon sadly, there are always parents screaming at teachers in the playground here, it’s bit of a shit pit).

And since DD joined in year 2, the school has had to lockdown twice due to parents fighting with a knife in the playground and a parent threatening office staff with a weapon.

So it makes a lot of sense for them to do it.

Like a said, lovely area.

Well, the responses to this have been very interesting. Thanks all. I especially appreciate the compassionate responses: thank you

Although I did use the term "essentially developed PTSD" a bit flippantly in a way, I also used it advisedly, in that I'm talking about the specific criteria used to define it. My child's been experiencing the exact constellation of things associated with the label. And I've been in close contact with colleagues who know. To those dismissing the experiences: if you're going to read threads, I'm not sure why you wouldn't listen to the people directly involved (who know the details of the situation) over guesses made on the internet.

And to those commenting on the unusual nature of the response: yes, most kids don't experience trauma reactions to most drills. I agree. But to go to the more judgmental "that's not normal", etc., from there is also strange. Although we know some of the factors associated with sensitivity to these kinds of things, even the world's top scientists don't know with any certainty why some people develop trauma responses to some events and others don't. There are huge numbers of uncontrollable factors, as well as lots of variation we just have no idea about. If you know all the answers, please do go tell these experts, as they'd love to hear them.

I think it's interesting that we tend to say "it's fine, because that's the guidelines", or "it's fine, because it's been going on for years". We know that kids are experiencing pretty bad mental health overall, and that schools can contribute to the sense kids get that the world is a bad place. There's also some research suggesting that anxiety and depression rates increase after lockdown drills. And I'm not sure there's much (any?) data showing that they actually save any lives. So I'm not saying the drills are always bad, but surely we have to question these things sometimes? I think it's pretty safe to say that sometimes, kids will genuinely believe something bad is happening, and some of these kids will then have a trauma reaction. To dismiss it by saying "well, those kids must have had problems anyway" is a) unscientific, and b) inhumane. Just my thoughts.

All the best, and thanks again.

Well this happened at my old school recently. An actual lockdown situation, with police called. Rural middle class school.

It's 100% necessary to practice these drills.

You’re massively overthinking and overanalysing it OP, sounds like the anxiety is actually yours?

We don't call them "shooter drills" though the more dramatic kids might. They're called lockdown drills (in primary the children tend to be told it's in case a dog gets into the premises so as not to frighten them) and have been since well before the other kind of lockdown. Every time there's a thread like this with someone aghast that schools are doing something that, god forbid, might save their kid's life one day, it makes you wonder why we bother.

All schools are advised to have a protocol in place by Ofsted and to make sure everyone knows what's going on. We have a designated lead for such an eventuality, a designated phone line to be kept free etc.

@thebaneofmylifeisacat so sorry that you and yours had to go through that.

So basically it wasn’t a ‘shooter drill’ at all, just a safety drill and some kids have riled up OP’s kids now she’s accusing the school of damaging her kid’s mental health? Have I got this right? Such a strange thread

Basically yes.
As a parent, the only thing I'd be questioning is why, when Ofsted have been recommending these drills for years, is any school a) not doing them b) only just starting to do them now. That is a cause for concern.

@PigletForTwiglets In the kindest possible way, your own reaction to this is way over the top. I'm not doubting in any way that your daughter is traumatized but have you tried telling her it's no different to the fire drills that I sincerely hope she's been doing since she entered education? Does she react like this after fire drills?

https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/health-safety/school-lockdown-procedures.html

@PigletForTwiglets Your reaction and psychoanalysis of your child is strange. What was the point of starting this thread if you disagree with almost all the posters and are dismissing their advice based on the fact they don't know the situation as well as you? Of course we don't. We can only go by what you've posted.
To meet the diagnosis criteria of PTSD she'd need to have debilitating symptoms 1-3 months after the event. Most psychiatrists wouldn't diagnose a child with PTSD that quickly. It is a lifelong diagnosis you can't take off your medical record and effects your life insurance premiums amongst many other things.
How long has she been off school?

Although there have been no UK school shootings that I know of since Dunblane in 1996 (which led to changes in gun laws) there have been intruder triggered lockdowns. A recent one this month is still generating articles.

https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/news/education-chiefs-remain-tight-lipped-after-two-police-incidents-within-two-days-at-two-south-warwickshire-schools-44425/

Mine too! Same school? 🤔

Probably!

I think we can safely say that no teacher said there's an active shooter on the school grounds! A child may have. There is procedures in school to follow.