My kid's school was put on lock down today - Pls read & tell me if I should be upset.

Keep in mind that there was just a mass shooting yesterday. Emotions were already high so, perhaps I'm over reacting. I just don't know.

My son is in 8th grade and he texted me around lunch today to see if I knew what was going on at his school. He said they had been on lock down for over an hour and he could tell something was wrong and that is wasn't just a drill. He's already been through enough of the drills to know that if the teachers aren't scared, he shouldn't be either.

Today he noticed they were nervous and that worried him enough to text me.

The school doesn't allow cell phones in class. They are supposed to leave them in their lockers. My son never does....such the rebel but, not alone.

Naturally, other kids with phones texted their parents as well. Just trying to let them know what was going on.....very natural response in my opinion.

My son is use to getting his phone taken away by me at home so, he apparently hid his well enough to keep texting me but, others weren't so lucky.

He said that teachers were snatching up phones from anyone that was seen with one. (Reminds me of what happened in Oregon....creepy).

I called the school after my son texted and told me he was actually really scared. (huge deal for him to admit btw)

They confirmed they were on lock down, no one was hurt but, that is all they could say.

At this point, not ONE alert had been sent from the school. 1 1/2 hours had already passed and not ONE ALERT!

I already knew via my own child that there was something happening but, not 1 word from the school. No text, call or email.

He texted me again to say that a police officer announced that the school had a potential bomb threat and that they were being put on buses to evacuate the building.

That's GREAT! Get them out.....BUT, Still not one word from the school.

I'm getting this all from my scared kid. Nothing yet from the school after at least 2 hours.

Very quickly it sets in that I have no idea where they are taking my child so, I text and ask where he is going. He has no idea.

They haven't told them anything. Still, no word from the school!!!!!!

I finally get the alerts from the school that they are on lock down but, at this point, I already know he is on a bus to God only knows where.

About 2 1/2 hours later I find out that my son was taken to a close by university and that I can either let him wait and ride the bus or, come and pick him up.

Obviously I chose to pick him up and, well.....I won't even go in to that mess of a cluster duck. I was just glad my boy was safe.

That's truly I cared about anyway but, now I'm wondering...

Should I be upset at the way this was handled?

Honestly ?

When it comes to a parent, and their child's safety ?

Theres no such thing as over reaction.

A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

originally posted by: neo96
Honestly ?

When it comes to a parent, and their child's safety ?

Theres no such thing as over reaction.

A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

That's honestly all I cared about was his safety.

Hind sight has me questioning the actions of the school though.

Yeah if that happened to me, I would have lost my cool for sure with school administration. I would be organizing a conference with parents and staff right about now if I were you. The way things are these days, this is something you want to make sure your school is getting procedures right.

If they are removing them from the school then you should have been told. A parent has the right to know where their children are at all times.

I wonder how many other schools across the country did something similar?
This is a good way for them to convince kids there's a bogey man hiding around every corner.

X2

Because this phone hates me.

You shoul be angry.

Here's how I solved the phone problem for my kids... Remind the teachers that you as an adult bought that phone and do not give permission for anyone but your child to have it.. Next tell them taking the phone is stealing and you will be pressing charges..

Phones may not be allowed but your child will have a phone..

I would have the fear of God put into the school administration and school board. I would have my attorney remind them that moving my kid without my knowledge or permission is in fact kidnapping.

A few days ago an elementary school here had a bomb threat called in.
The school evacuated to a rather large church just a half a block away.
The BOE posted on social media AND the local radio stations that "there has been a bomb threat and THIS is the location of the children".
Parents were advised that they certainly could pick up their children but it wasn't necessary.

When it was all said and done, some parents were upset that the location of the students had been posted on social media and on the local radio stations.
Some parents were upset that they were evacuated.
I think when it comes to YOUR children, YOU make the call. No one else can tell you what's right for YOU.
Do what you feel you need to and live with the consequences!

Years ago, there was some awful weather that came through. There were tornado WARNINGS and the like. It happened to be about the time to go pick up the kids. We went to the school, not sure if we would be able to pick them up or not. We were ushered into the school to the hallway location of our kids and sat with them. The S.O. with the oldest one and me with the younger...different wings. We are in this together and if something was going to happen, I am just grateful that I was going to be there. I would be there to either hold their hand to the other side or we would walk out of the building together...

It's your RIGHT and your DECISION go with your gut!

originally posted by: Iamthatbish
You shoul be angry.

Here's how I solved the phone problem for my kids... Remind the teachers that you as an adult bought that phone and do not give permission for anyone but your child to have it.. Next tell them taking the phone is stealing and you will be pressing charges..

Phones may not be allowed but your child will have a phone..

I'd agree with everything you said but it states in the school code your child cannot have any electronic device. Maybe the reason to not call the parents was from the tension that just happened. So they didn't want the parents to panic and if they did. You know they'd blow up if there was a bomb or any harm.

Not sure where you're at but the schools where i'm at were on lock down today also. A high school, community college (next door to each other), also the central office. No credible threat was found. I'm in TX

originally posted by: VoidHawk
If they are removing them from the school then you should have been told. A parent has the right to know where their children are at all times.

That is exactly the point where I lost my patience.

That does not set well with me at All. Especially now that that I'm thinking more clearly.

If your district has robo dialers, then those probably should have been used, but if you were expecting a live person to contact you in the midst of a crisis, then that's pretty absurd. When something serious enough to cause an evacuation is going down, I don't think anyone is going to sit down and start dialing parents. In fact if someone did that, I would see that as negligent because it doesn't follow the common sense emergency procedure:

1. Assess the threat
2. Alert the authorities (without creating panic)
3. Get everyone to safety (again, without creating panic)
4. Call parents (who are certainly going to panic)

From what you described, it seems like that's what they did.

originally posted by: wagnificent
If your district has robo dialers, then those probably should have been used, but if you were expecting a live person to contact you in the midst of a crisis, then that's pretty absurd. When something serious enough to cause an evacuation is going down, I don't think anyone is going to sit down and start dialing parents. In fact if someone did that, I would see that as negligent because it doesn't follow the common sense emergency procedure:

1. Assess the threat
2. Alert the authorities (without creating panic)
3. Get everyone to safety (again, without creating panic)
4. Call parents (who are certainly going to panic)

From what you described, it seems like that's what they did.

Of course I didn't expect a school employee to call me and every other parent individually. That is just completely unrealistic and absurd.

I think the school could have handled the whole situation better. Maybe I'm wrong...maybe not.

And they took them to a UNIVERSITY? Yes. I would be pissed. I would have wanted to be notified so I could have intercepted him myself, particularly since he was already frightened.

Call the Principal first chance you get. If other parents are upset, be sure and go to the next PTA meeting and jointly voice your concerns.

~~~~ holy cow I just rolled over to 7,000 posts. I didn't realize I'm such a chatterbox.

I'll tell you why they work that way, not agreeing with it (god forbid, momma bear syndrome and all), just the logic. If they tell you theres trouble at the school the first reaction of parents will be to drop what there are doing and show up, clogging fire lanes and exits with their cars, wandering around, demanding to know whats going on and totally disrupting the schools efforts to get the children safely out of there, if theres a problem.

They don't have time to talk to you, you're cars are blocking access by emergency responders and egress by school buses. They don't have time to rescue the parents, either.

Thats also why they don't allow phones in class because the kids call their parents and might start a panic. Let them do their job, your kids will be moved to safety quicker if you just stay out of their way.

a reply to: Cootie

Not the same school or state.

It's sad that we have such a thing in common.

a reply to: luciferslight
The rules and regulations specifically state that they apply the everyone. I do not have a child named everyone. Therefore those rules are replaced by my child's IEP..

On a side note something similar happened to my nephews that attend boarding school.. Instead of calling the school my sister went and picked them up as if she had no idea there was an issue.

What she found was kids outside in their underwear in the middle of winter... But her children had their phones! So she was able to easily find them and get them warm in the car..

She said she was more upset her car couldn't keep more kids warm then she was about driving 30 mins away in the middle of the night. So then the other students were using her phone and my two nephews phone to call their parents. Mind you in their bedtime attire in the middle of winter..