Yesterday, at my son's middle school, the administration ran, for the first time, an "active shooter" drill. They didn't warn the children, didn't train them in what to do, and what to expect. And, naturally, many of the kids were traumatized. Not sure why my son was not, but he wasn't.
This is really criminally stupid. ANY training begins with a walk-through, where you KNOW it's not real, where you simply learn the steps, frequently more than once. How many fire drills did we all have that we KNEW were drills, so that when a real fire (or bomb scare) happened, nobody panicked and everyone exited the school properly? The old civil defense drills were the same way, though, luckily those were never needed.
Yes, at SOME point the drill should be without warning and no knowledge if real or a test, but only a fucking moron (!) would have the FIRST active shooter drill be unannounced without teaching the children what to expect and what steps to take. Naturally, Principal "Nit-Wit" was inundated by calls and emails from outraged parents whose children were terrified that this was, or might be real.
We have one of the best school systems in the state of New Jersey, but this middle school could well be called a "Muddle School" because they can't seem to find a way to manage anything there sensibly. The elementary schools and the HS are ALL better run than this "Muddle School" regardless of who the principal is.
Idiot School Management of Emergency Prep.
1"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."