Help please! Terrorist drill @ holiday club!!

[Justtryingmybest123]

Hi everyone

Hope you're doing well and surviving the holidays!

I need some help please!!

I just completely flabbergasted!

My daughter attends a well known holiday club in the west midlands. Today she came home, extremely upset, distraught and distressed. She mentioned that they had a procedure called the 'lockdown'. She went onto say that basically if someone comes into the garden etc, they will announce it's a lockdown and you need to hide and ensure something is over your head so you can't be found. She is 5 years old and is part of the 5-7 group at the holiday club.

This evening she's been so upset and distraught about the whole thing, she didn't manage to cover her head, so was worried about that, asking what would happen in that situation, she's worried there will be a lockdown at home, the door shook because of the wind as the windows are open, she was scared because of that, and also would not go to sleep as she's scared something will happen.

Furthermore she absolutely loves this holiday club after trying a different one, and is extremely excited to go even when it's term time, now she's sooo worried and scared about going back as apparently there's going to be another lockdown.

I honestly don't know what to even say or think! My initial reaction is what the you know what! I didn't know anything about this, I wasn't informed, I didn't provide consent or anything! She's absolutely shook, scared and worried for her safety and that something may happen to her.

I know about the awful tragedy that did take place and sadly little girls lost their lives, without the details I guess this is as a prevention for something like that occuring, but having this sort of impact isn't the right answer, surely they need to let us know about this and get consent?

I've emailed, text and rang the club as I had to do something.

Any thoughts on the matter or advise would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Really? You did lockdown drills at school 40 years ago? I call bull on this.
I am late 40s and never did a lockdown drill. My adult kids in their twenties did not either. And my teens and tween still haven’t.

I can see the logic in having a code word drill that means kids know to flee or hide or whatever but the reality is that in these situations no one can truly prepare and it’s not on the victims to protect themselves, it’s on the society to stop producing evil scum that do such things.

All people saying their school definitely doesn't do it.

I didn't know my child's school did it till a few years in where my child happened to mention it. Then she did tell me she'd been doing it for a few years. So to her it was normal. Obviously they don't state the real specifics to them about why they could be doing it. But the school may well be doing it but you just don't know about it

Where are you from? I’m in my 40s and this never happened at my (Northern UK) schools! We did have to lock down once due to a shooting nearby but they just shepherded us into the hall, closed the curtains and put An American Tail on

I’ve not heard of it happening where we live now, 2 nieces in their late teens have never mentioned it, but I suppose it’s not impossible.

Please be assured it is normal practice and due to what happened last year unfortunately necessary even at holiday clubs. My dc’s school had to go into full lockdown due to a man with a gun reported on the loose and could have got into the school grounds, he was found next door to the school at the leisure centre hiding behind the bins but they couldn’t be released from school until after the firearms squad had first arrived (they are based 40 miles away and then persuaded him to give himself up. Even in these circumstances the staff made it fun and the school head cook who was still on site with the help of willing year 9’s raided the supplies and made 550 fresh cookies, a rather amazing feat!

This.
reassure her that’s she safe

@Smartiepants79
Lockdown drills are as normal as fire drills nowadays

I think I'm going to have to ask whether we think that's a terrible indictment of the state of the UK.

This should not be normal.
No wonder there's so much anxiety.

I’m really surprised to hear this sort of drill is so widespread in the UK. I’ve never heard of it happening here (Ireland) and am very glad. Given the rarity of events like Southport, it seems really excessive to be teaching 5yos in a holiday club what to do in the event of a terrorist attack - surely the risk of upsetting them far outweighs the benefit of being prepared for something that has a vanishingly small chance of ever occurring?

We did this at school in the late 80s/90s, but that is because we were close to Broadmoor, and lockdowns due to escapees actually happened a few times (the sirens were tested every Monday at 10am!)
I don’t remember it being called a lockdown drill though.

I didn’t know this was a more widespread thing until my 9yo DD came home one day and explained what they’d done - speaking to a teacher at their previous school, I found out this was now a standard thing.

I'm not sure schools should be giving children misleading advice about how to hide from angry dogs. (Children are statistically more likely to killed by dogs than terrorists, I think.)

Do not hide under a table, dogs are already close to the ground and anyway they can smell you. Better to get behind a door the dog can't open or climb somewhere high where it can't follow.

My sons school does lockdown drills, my son did his first one in reception and my daughter will do one probably around November/December time after starting reception. It’s unfortunately a normal part of childhood these days. I imagine you making a huge deal out of it is partially the cause of her reaction.

Try to calmly explain it to her in an age appropriate way.

It's normal, my reception age son told me how was the loudspeaker says Lockdown Lockdown and the teachers close all the blinds switch the lights off and lock the door, then the children have to be quiet.
It's as normal as a fire drill.
I get it though, some kids are sensitive or anxious about particular triggers, and it can be hard for them especially if they were already nervous about the holiday club.
My recommendation would be to talk to the holiday club, explain what your child has said and how they feel, listen to what they have to say, and move on. And if you don't like their response maybe that wasn't a good club for your child.

Dunblane 1996 - Scotland

I just asked my mum who is in her late 60s and she did these drills at school. So did both her older sisters. Seems like they're something that has been around since post WW2.

Rubbish. That’s just not true. Lockdown wasn’t even a phrase. Maybe they did air raid drills or something. But not for mass attacks.
All this nonsense about tigers and dogs is just as ridiculous. Honestly.

Personally, and this is controversial, I don’t think very young kids in any setting should be doing this. The chances of bad stuff happening are millions to one and the chance of scaring kids and making them feel threatened and unsafe is too high.

Im a kid of the 1980s nuclear bomb public information films and they served little to no purpose except to alarm us. Like we could have averted radiation sickness by hiding under a table. Madness.

I'm in my 40s @fourelementary and we started regular drills in 1996. As @OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon says Dunblane, 14th March 1996. Most of his victims were 5 years old.

@Justtryingmybest123 The best thing you can do is tell your child its a safety precaution, just like wearing a seat belt in the car or when you've told her what to do if she ever gets lost. It's not a scary thing it's part of learning what to do when unlikely things happen. You need to let her see it's normal and not over react yourself.

My kids range from 20 to almost 13 and have neevr ever done lock down drills at their primary/secondary school in Scotland. Never heard of that ever and shocked so many people are saying it's a thing. I was at primary school when Dunblane happened and live very close and it wasn't done with us either.

I don't think they should be doing it either, isn't there a risk of it normalising school shootings in developing minds (and has that perhaps been part of the problem in the US)?

You know that it has bugger all to do with dogs? Don’t you?
The dogs thing is just something we tell
the children so we don’t have to tell them we’re hiding from intruders with weapons.
Although the chances of this being something that ever has to be out into practice are very small especially in a primary school setting, it does happen.
A secondary school local to me had to implement full lockdown recently due to pupil circling the building with a knife.

I'm amazed this happens at schools, nurserys and clubs. But I do understand the rationale behind it.
What happened in Dunblane in 1996 is forever burned into my memory.
How awful that this is a 'new' normal.

It is in fact in line with DfE guidance (at least for schools - not sure about holiday clubs) but I’m still doubtful as to whether the risk of frightening children is outweighed by the risk of not teaching them to be quiet and still if an annihilator gets in.

Its just so vanishingly unlikely. Fires, chemical spills, other environmental hazards, probably statistically more likely. So OK to teach about those but lockdowns for predators? That’s the stuff of horror films which they aren’t allowed to watch until much older. I am absolutely not a pearl clutcher but I’m uncomfortable with this.

Did they actually refer to terrorists or are you escalating it.

As others have said lockdown drills aren't new. It makes sense for children to be aware but its usually explained as a dog or something

Explaining it using a fictitious vicious dog is mad. Dogs are everywhere. Way to stoke phobias in children. At least use a cover they won’t encounter daily, if you have to. Although I’m even unsure about that as you’re still perpetuating doom.

Another one of these threads! How many now 4 in 4 days!

No, the vast majority of primary schools do not to lockdown drills