Calling Too Hotters With Youngsters

[gatorman_07732]

Couple of things on my mind:
Has anyone received calls from your children's schools that they are giving drills in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy? My 3 years old school called and said they started this morning. I find this sickening, not that they are doing it, but that they feel the need to do it.
Has anyone been asked by their child what happened if they saw you watching the news. If so, how did you handle it? My 6 year old is extremely sensitive to violence and guns. If she sees a movie and someone with a gun appears, she runs out of the room and will ask to turn if off before she comes back in the room. If her school goes through drill (which I suspect is a high probability), I'm a little concerned on how it will be received.

[AzCatFan]

My daughter is 7, and her school does a fire drill and lock down drill twice a year. Sad that they have to, but that's the world we live in.

We talked to her about Sandy Hook and watched the President speak last night. We told her a tragedy happened and teachers and children died, but we didn't go into specifics. She understands there is good and evil in this world, and sometimes bad things happen to good people. We told her she should feel safe at school, always listen to her teacher, and bad things like what happened in Connecticut is why they do the practice drills.

Never an easy thing when something like this happens, and yes, children can be effected in ways we aren't necessarily prepared for. But it's one of those life lessons you need to teach your children. Bad things happen, even to good people, and we just have to figure out ways to deal with it and go forward.

[wiene2003]

Couple of things on my mind:
Has anyone received calls from your children's schools that they are giving drills in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy? My 3 years old school called and said they started this morning. I find this sickening, not that they are doing it, but that they feel the need to do it.
Has anyone been asked by their child what happened if they saw you watching the news. If so, how did you handle it? My 6 year old is extremely sensitive to violence and guns. If she sees a movie and someone with a gun appears, she runs out of the room and will ask to turn if off before she comes back in the room. If her school goes through drill (which I suspect is a high probability), I'm a little concerned on how it will be received.

I didn't turn on the news that day. Mine are 7 and 4, and i just don't think they need to be exposed to that type of stuff. Not sure what I would have told my kids, but I think whatever I told them would have ended in a prayer for those victims and their families. I want them to always turn to prayer and God.

Oddly enough, my daughter said they had some drills on Friday, a "lockdown" type drill. I don't know if that was planned or what.

[G8trGr8t]

Mine are 14, 11, and 9. My youngest (son) was very disturbed by it on Friday and still is. He seems to feel things much deeper than most but he was the one reassuring me that he would be okay and that those kids and their families would be ok. He saw how much it upset me thinking about losing one of my kids like that and sad to say, he was the voice of reassurance. Kid is wise well beyond his years. My daughters seem to internalize it.

We talked extensively about what happened and how some people have no concern for others. We also talked about how this lack of consideration is expressed in less evil ways than shooting somebody and how they should strive to make sure that they do not ever succumb to peer pressure to go along with the bully or the popular kid that mocks the less popular kid.

Their school routinely does fire/emergency drills and there is nothing different scheduled that we know of.

[g8orbill]

We received a call last night that the administrators at my daughters high school had gotten wind of some threatened violence today between 2 groups. They informed us they were prepared and today the school was not only on lockdown but crawling with law enforcement personnel

[bludigal]

If you have kids would you be ok with teachers carrying/taking their guns to school?

[g8orbill]

yes blue-as long as they have the proper training and a concealed weapons permit

[gatorman_07732]

If you have kids would you be ok with teachers carrying/taking their guns to school?

It's not really the purpose of the thread. If you don't mind I'm interested in hearing from people and what they are dealing with in terms of their children. There are other threads I have been in that are discussing this scenario. Thanks

[G8trGr8t]

and have passed a battery of psych exams. I would be concerned about a crazy kid getting their hands on one though. I would prefer that they have tasers or a limited number of teachers with special training be trained and delegated the duty to respond in crisis situation .

[wiene2003]

If you have kids would you be ok with teachers carrying/taking their guns to school?

Yes, if as bill stated, they were properly trained, had the proper permits AND i would add, went through an additional approval process by the school board.

[The_Ultimate_Gator]

I have a young child and I hope that he is kept in the dark about this horrible incident. He doesn't need to know about it.

[fredsanford]

I think guarding the schools might be a proper role for military or national guard reservists.

[MastaG8r]

If her school goes through drill (which I suspect is a high probability), I'm a little concerned on how it will be received.I'm sure you are free to call the school and ask for details - and for that matter offer suggestions - about how the drill will be conducted and what the kids will be told. They can make up a story about the purpose of lockdown drills without mentioning guns or scary bad guys.

When I was a kid we would have "typhoon" emergency drills once or twice a year at my school. Little did we know that the drills were not really to prepare us for a typhoon but rather for a nuclear attack on the big naval base nearby.

[gatorpa]

I have a 9, 7 and 4 yrs old. For the most part they know nothing about this horrible incident, we plan on keeping it that way (as best we can). My 9 yr old heard a minor blurb on the radio friday, but no details. I'm sure that other children will discuss it and we will handle it at that time.

The superintendent had a robo call out this am disucussing a meeting that the school board had on Friday including increased LEO presence. It was not clear if this was temporary or not. I trust that there will be further changes regarding acess to the school.

[mocgator]

I have a 6 and 9 year old.. Their non-government school has a great security plan and communicates constantly with the parents.

[KelticGator]

I know my kids did tornado/emergency drills previously but don't remember any specific armed attack drills. Of course I believe my children's schools all have a police presence at their schools, what's called a "School Resource Officer" assigned to their schools (Elementary, Middle and High School).

The idea of having the military or national guard protect schools is not a good idea. The types of "security" operations we performed in the military does not translate well to protecting elementary schools. And National Guard troops are FAR to undertrained for a role like that (as well as having jobs and lives of their own to take care of for most of the year).

As for arming teachers . . . I'm not a big fan of that idea either. I've known and dated a number of teachers. Most are women and many do care a lot about the well being of their students. However none that I can recall came from a hunting or military training where I would feel they would be any better than adequate with a firearm even after extensive training. And if put in a high stress situation and having to pull the trigger for the first time on a real person . . . I don't know. The threat of the firearm would be there but the effectiveness on a cold blooded killer who wasn't afraid to die would probably be minimal.

Not to mention, from talking to teachers at higher levels (middle school and high school) there's a much greater chance of these weapons being taken from a teacher and used by a student. What chance does a 115 lb, middle age woman have against an aggressive, 140-200 lb teenage boy in a surprise physical assault? Thus these weapons would need to be stored securely to minimize theft and confiscation. But that also increases the amount of time needed to arm yourself (not to mention specific storage areas that you might be denied access to in an attack) to confront heavily armed intruders intent on slaughtering everyone they see.

I don't see any of those suggestions (ARNG, US Army/Marines, or armed teachers) as a realistic solution to this scenario.

[LittleBlueLW]

Sons are 14 and 9. We got an 'all call' from the Supt. Sunday night letting parents know there would be increased law enforcement presence in an attempt to reassure parents. The move by our charter school board is appreciated but unless sustained and possibly increased in scope, dont know that it will prevent these tragedies.

This has created the opportunity for us as a family to discuss some sensitive issues with our kids regarding video games (they play them), guns (we have them and they shoot them), kids who say or do things out of the ordinary, God, etc. It's been good dialogue thus far.

[AzCatFan]

I'm with Keltic against the idea of arming teachers. To keep the guns away from students, the arms in schools would be locked up and not easily accessible. If an armed gunman comes in with a semi-automatic assault rifle, the chances of a teacher getting to a gun before the major damage is done is minimal. As for other teachers getting to the weapons in time, their primary responsibility in times of crisis is to protect the children currently in their care. It's not like any teacher is going to leave the kids alone and rush to play hero, nor should they. Not to mention, Keltic is absolutely correct that in middle school and high school, there are boys that can be 6' or taller, and outweigh teachers by a significant amount. In all, it's just not a good idea to arm teachers.

Last but not least, the average tenure for a teacher is only about 5 years. Many burn out quickly and simply can't handle the stress. I have several teacher friends that beat the 5-year mark, but just as many that were lucky to last 2 or 3. And most had some sort of break-down, in class, or did their best to hold it together until the end of the day, only to leave and never come back again. Not sure if adding a gun to these situations will ever lead to anything positive.

Now, placing an armed police officer or adequately trained, armed security officer (maybe retired police type), that's a different story. They'd be able to carry the sidearm with them and respond quickly to problems. There would also be little chance of a student over-powering them. Still, if a guy walks in armed to the teeth, doubtful anything could be done to stop something from happening.

[gatornana]

As for arming teachers . . . I'm not a big fan of that idea either. I've known and dated a number of teachers. Most are women and many do care a lot about the well being of their students. However none that I can recall came from a hunting or military training where I would feel they would be any better than adequate with a firearm even after extensive training. And if put in a high stress situation and having to pull the trigger for the first time on a real person . . . I don't know. The threat of the firearm would be there but the effectiveness on a cold blooded killer who wasn't afraid to die would probably be minimal.


It was unarmed women teachers who dealt with a high stress situation by confronting a gunman in the effort to stop him and protect their kids. I think that's braver than pointing a gun at a person and firing.

[LittleBlueLW]

Sorry gatorman, your thread is now officially highjacked.

[KelticGator]

It was unarmed women teachers who dealt with a high stress situation by confronting a gunman in the effort to stop him and protect their kids. I think that's braver than pointing a gun at a person and firing.

Your point being? That individual bravery is what stopped the attack on that school? Because I thought it was the arrival of law enforcement that caused the attacker to shoot himself.

A mother throwing herself between her child and a grizzly bear might be braver than a soldier tossing a grenade into an enemy bunker. However the likelihood that either of those acts could be executed successfully depends on the person doing it. A soldier could probably distract a grizzly bear better than a mother could arm and accurately lob a grenade to her target.

You don't have to be brave to kill someone. Some of the best killers in the worlds are cowards. You just have to be accurate. And a scared teacher running into the hallway forgetting to load a round in the chamber, take the weapon off safe or firing wildly in a general direction is at best a momentary distraction to a sociopathic killer and at worst another weapon to utilize in his attack.

[gatornana]

It's every parents desire to protect their child's childhood and their safety at school. But in a world where there's heavy resistance to change the gun laws and pay lower taxes that result in reduction of funds to effectively treat mental illness, then the expectations of parents to have safe schools for their child and preserve their child's childhood need to be more realistic. It's a trade off.....kids today are not going to enjoy a safe school environment or have the same sort of safe, carefree childhood of prior generations.

[gatorman_07732]

I know my kids did tornado/emergency drills previously but don't remember any specific armed attack drills. Of course I believe my children's schools all have a police presence at their schools, what's called a "School Resource Officer" assigned to their schools (Elementary, Middle and High School).

The idea of having the military or national guard protect schools is not a good idea. The types of "security" operations we performed in the military does not translate well to protecting elementary schools. And National Guard troops are FAR to undertrained for a role like that (as well as having jobs and lives of their own to take care of for most of the year).

As for arming teachers . . . I'm not a big fan of that idea either. I've known and dated a number of teachers. Most are women and many do care a lot about the well being of their students. However none that I can recall came from a hunting or military training where I would feel they would be any better than adequate with a firearm even after extensive training. And if put in a high stress situation and having to pull the trigger for the first time on a real person . . . I don't know. The threat of the firearm would be there but the effectiveness on a cold blooded killer who wasn't afraid to die would probably be minimal.

Not to mention, from talking to teachers at higher levels (middle school and high school) there's a much greater chance of these weapons being taken from a teacher and used by a student. What chance does a 115 lb, middle age woman have against an aggressive, 140-200 lb teenage boy in a surprise physical assault? Thus these weapons would need to be stored securely to minimize theft and confiscation. But that also increases the amount of time needed to arm yourself (not to mention specific storage areas that you might be denied access to in an attack) to confront heavily armed intruders intent on slaughtering everyone they see.

I don't see any of those suggestions (ARNG, US Army/Marines, or armed teachers) as a realistic solution to this scenario.

Pretty well thought out Keltic and can't disagree. I believe the best way to go is either a police officer or well trained person that is a retired police officer from the community.

[AustinGator1]

Couple of things on my mind:
Has anyone received calls from your children's schools that they are giving drills in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy? My 3 years old school called and said they started this morning. I find this sickening, not that they are doing it, but that they feel the need to do it.
Has anyone been asked by their child what happened if they saw you watching the news. If so, how did you handle it? My 6 year old is extremely sensitive to violence and guns. If she sees a movie and someone with a gun appears, she runs out of the room and will ask to turn if off before she comes back in the room. If her school goes through drill (which I suspect is a high probability), I'm a little concerned on how it will be received.


Gatorman. I picked my 7 and 9 year old up from school on the afternoon of the shootings. When I got them home we all sat down together and I told them about the horrible events of the day. I would much rather they hear about this from myself and/or my wife as opposed to a teacher or more likely fellow students. We discussed what they should do if such a thing happened at their school and they were both well versed on the 'lock down' procedures their school has in place. They even told me about how they had practiced a lock down a few weeks ago.

Very happy with our school and their procedures. I pray the procedures are never needed but it is comforting to know they have a plan in place that they have practiced.

[gatorman_07732]

Gatorman. I picked my 7 and 9 year old up from school on the afternoon of the shootings. When I got them home we all sat down together and I told them about the horrible events of the day. I would much rather they hear about this from myself and/or my wife as opposed to a teacher or more likely fellow students. We discussed what they should do if such a thing happened at their school and they were both well versed on the 'lock down' procedures their school has in place. They even told me about how they had practiced a lock down a few weeks ago.

Very happy with our school and their procedures. I pray the procedures are never needed but it is comforting to know they have a plan in place that they have practiced.

My oldest is 6 and in kindergarten and my gut told me to not explain this to her. I just based this on who she is and how I thought she would absorb and react to it. To think they are going through drills at my 3 year olds preschool is numbing

[AustinGator1]

My oldest is 6 and in kindergarten and my gut told me to not explain this to her. I just based this on who she is and how I thought she would absorb and react to it. To think they are going through drills at my 3 year olds preschool is numbing



I promise you the kids have or will talk about it in class. She can hear it from you or from them.

[gatornana]

^^^Good advice. In today's world kids have to be spoken to and prepared on the things to do in the event of a mass shooting....unless we make some changes, this is their world.

[gatorman_07732]

I promise you the kids have or will talk about it in class. She can hear it from you or from them.

My decision was based on quite a few variables and since I know the kids in her class and their parents I felt it was the best thing to do. She is very sensitive to anything surrounding guns and violence.

[gatornana]

My decision was based on quite a few variables and since I know the kids in her class and their parents I felt it was the best thing to do. She is very sensitive to anything surrounding guns and violence.

Protect her as long as you can....but eventually she'll need to know from you what lockdown drills are all about and how to protect herself. My youngest is 15 in a "good" school where there are many fights and disrepect for authority. I've had to talk to him about running the other way when he sees a fight or any other sort of altercation in the event one of those kids has a gun. Had to explain that being in the any where near something like that he could be hit in the crossfire.

Today when I dropped him off at school, there were numerous sheriff dept. vehicles surrounding the school with deputies walking the grounds, some standing guard. They weren't there yesterday so there must have been some sort of threat made toward the school. I almost didn't drop him off. Now I have a huge headache....this is the world for the modern day parent.

[gatorpa]

Protect her as long as you can....but eventually she'll need to know from you what lockdown drills are all about and how to protect herself. My youngest is 15 in a "good" school where there are many fights and disrepect for authority. I've had to talk to him about running the other way when he sees a fight or any other sort of altercation in the event one of those kids has a gun. Had to explain that being in the any where near something like that he could be hit in the crossfire.

Today when I dropped him off at school, there were numerous sheriff dept. vehicles surrounding the school with deputies walking the grounds, some standing guard. They weren't there yesterday so there must have been some sort of threat made toward the school. I almost didn't drop him off. Now I have a huge headache....this is the world for the modern day parent.

Stupid, jackass people thinking they are funny calling schools with these threats. I say catch them and put them in a public stockade!

[gatorman_07732]

Protect her as long as you can....but eventually she'll need to know from you what lockdown drills are all about and how to protect herself. My youngest is 15 in a "good" school where there are many fights and disrepect for authority. I've had to talk to him about running the other way when he sees a fight or any other sort of altercation in the event one of those kids has a gun. Had to explain that being in the any where near something like that he could be hit in the crossfire.

Today when I dropped him off at school, there were numerous sheriff dept. vehicles surrounding the school with deputies walking the grounds, some standing guard. They weren't there yesterday so there must have been some sort of threat made toward the school. I almost didn't drop him off. Now I have a huge headache....this is the world for the modern day parent.

Of course but I had to deal with a "now and here" situation based on a given set of circumstances. If she was two years older or maybe even a year older I may have decided differently. This children are all different as I'm sure you know.

[gatornana]

Of course but I had to deal with a "now and here" situation based on a given set of circumstances. If she was two years older or maybe even a year older I may have decided differently. This children are all different as I'm sure you know.

Little 3 or 6 year olds don't need to now about any of this yet. Fwiw, you're doing the right thing.

[gatorpa]

Little 3 or 6 year olds don't need to now about any of this yet. Fwiw, you're doing the right thing.

Agree

[g8orbill]

It was unarmed women teachers who dealt with a high stress situation by confronting a gunman in the effort to stop him and protect their kids. I think that's braver than pointing a gun at a person and firing.

an armed teacher could have done both and while what you say is indeed bravery-they are still dead-maybe an armed teacher could have taken this scumbag out before he killed so many innocents

[92gator]

Couple of things on my mind:
Has anyone received calls from your children's schools that they are giving drills in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy? My 3 years old school called and said they started this morning. I find this sickening, not that they are doing it, but that they feel the need to do it.
Has anyone been asked by their child what happened if they saw you watching the news. If so, how did you handle it? My 6 year old is extremely sensitive to violence and guns. If she sees a movie and someone with a gun appears, she runs out of the room and will ask to turn if off before she comes back in the room. If her school goes through drill (which I suspect is a high probability), I'm a little concerned on how it will be received.

FWIW: My kids are 5-7 y/o also. The news didn't really seem to impact them that much. We just prayed for the victims and their families every night. Still do. I was concerned that they would have been impacted much more severely--sadly, this being the 4th one in the past few years, apparently the shock value as worn off. Desenitized, as such a tender age. I suppose that's how it would go, if your kids grew up in a war zone, like beiruit in the 80's or such.

Their school hasn't done any drills, but they did start locking the front door during school hours.

[92gator]

It was unarmed women teachers who dealt with a high stress situation by confronting a gunman in the effort to stop him and protect their kids. I think that's braver than pointing a gun at a person and firing.

Here's my problem with arming teachers--most are wonderful; there are however, a handful of 'flakes' among them. And with the disrespect kids show teachers these days, and the administrations not having their backs...

...I just don't think it's a good idea to have teachers armed under those circumstances.


...and there's a little matter of kids, being sneaky and all, being able to get hold of the teacher's guns, and wreaking havoc that way.

Definitely not a good idea. IMHO.

[92gator]

Here's my take, and proposed solution.

So many politicians and celebriteis seems to be talking about, and championing gun control. But guns aren't the problem.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE.

We should get rid of the public shool system altogheter. It has proven disastrous. Teachers complain that they don't get paid enough; parents complain tht teachers don't do enough; students complain...about everything...

...and worst of all, are teh results yielded by this disastrous failure of an institution.

Kids have no morals, because public schools aren't allowed to teach morals. Not that they should have to anyway--that's something that should be learned at home.

...but parents have abbrogated their duty here, because they apparently figured public schools would do it for them.

Bottom line--it's high time we did away with public schools. Just tear 'em all down. Send kids back home. Pump 'education'--that is, the academic informatino they are respnsible for--in through the cable box/TV's. Kids are watching that stupidity anyway--at least this way, they'll be learning stuff--without being 'indocrinated' with big/nanny govm't extra-curricular crap. We test 'em regularly; if they fail to perform on their tests...the family cable boxes are disabled from anything BUT the education materials, until the kids pass their tests. Bam.

A nation full of idiots, converted to a nation of uber-students, almost overnight.

Of course it will never happen--not because its' a bad idea--but because politicians need to keep people nice and stupid...and therfore, governable.

[PSGator66]

My kids have begun such drills since that shooting.