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Teachers Fake Gunman Attack

Posted by samzenpus on from the stop-crying-teacher-would-never-really-kill-you dept.

Anti_Climax writes "Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables. It'll be interesting to see what happens to these teachers after the charges brought against students in recent months."

8 of 863 comments (clear)

  1. Under the PATRIOT Act... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...this is undeniably domestic terrorism.

    1. Re:Under the PATRIOT Act... by kannibal_klown · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well not that I agree with what happened, but to play Devil's advocate...

      Some sort of "drill" for these things might not be a bad idea. Panic and poor preparation are 2 major killers in all life-and-death situations, so preparing students for this kind of thing can save lives. Make it dynamic, throwing a few curveballs into the mix (chained doors and such) to help them think on their feet. I mean, fire drills are pretty common and I'd imagine "bomb drills" are done, and let's not forget the "H Bomb Drills" of old (duck and cover!).

      Then again, they approached this thing poorly. They didn't treat it as a drill and instead scared the living goose feathers out of the kids. That's just messed up, particularly since the kids were so young and it was so soon after the VT shootings when people are nervous about such things. That would be like your boss screaming "There's a plane heading for our skyscraper! RUN!" on like 10/12/2001.

    2. Re:Under the PATRIOT Act... by wizzahd · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Some sort of "drill" for these things might not be a bad idea. Panic and poor preparation are 2 major killers in all life-and-death situations, so preparing students for this kind of thing can save lives. Make it dynamic, throwing a few curveballs into the mix (chained doors and such) to help them think on their feet. I mean, fire drills are pretty common and I'd imagine "bomb drills" are done, and let's not forget the "H Bomb Drills" of old (duck and cover!).


      As an owner of a paintball field I'm around guns a hell of a lot. When everything happened at VT and I heard the guy simply walked in and shot people one by one, I was incredibly confused. I could not for the life of me think of a reason why you would watch a man with a gun walk in and start shooting your friends and NOT DO ANYTHING TO DEFEND YOURSELF. Obviously I wasn't there, and obviously there were probably some other circumstances. But out of thirty, what was it thirty two, people not one picked up a desk or a book and chucked it at this guy's head.

      We (in general) have lost our survival instinct. We've lost that 'fight or flight' and we've become sheep-like. "Oh, it's not me. Maybe he'll leave aft- ... OK, maybe after this one." It just blows my mind. Clearly you are going to be freaking out, but when your life is on the line you cannot freak out in a manner that has you sitting in your chair twiddling your fucking thumbs!!

      So yes. Maybe drills are the way to go. Paintball has helped me find my instincts (nothing to get your ass moving like a guy shooting 15 balls a second at you), but I realise that's not for everyone. People just need to be aware that, and this is key, shit happens! You can not plan for everything, but you have to be able to REACT.

      To stray back to the topic at hand, this is really fucked up and these teachers should be fired and given some kind of counseling. Something has to be loose in your head to think this is OK to do.
  2. At least a Disturbing the Peace Charge by Mephistophocles · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Assume everyone is aware of this unfortunate story from a couple weeks ago. My suggestion is that these teachers and the principle do a little time of their own. In fact their sentence should probably be much harsher than the one given to the Chicago teenager. I think most parents would agree that we do halfway expect the teachers and administrators of that school to act more or less like responsible adults.

    --
    Deja Moo: The distinct feeling that you've heard this bull before.
  3. The new "Stop, drop and roll" for the '00's? by screeble · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While I read this article and think "Well, that was fucking stupid." I have to wonder if there needs to be a school-sanctioned version of this concept in place.

    I grew up in US/USSR Cold War times and spent a few schoolday hours a year huddled in the fallout shelter basement during drills. We also had tornado, flood and fire drills. What fun.

    Seems to me that as shootings get more prevalent it might be a good idea to have drills to limit deaths from mass panic.

  4. Poor Judgment by devnullkac · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When an adult does it, it's "poor judgment;" when a student does it, it's "a potential threat that must be dealt with seriously."

    --
    What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!
  5. It would have been quite dangerous for teachers... by Bananatree3 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Had the students been taught to fight back. Since they were not told it was a drill, it could have been quite a sight with 60 little ninjas armed with pens, rulers and flying calculators. Not a pretty sight to say the least...

  6. Procedures by ultraexactzz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My (catholic) high school had a set of procedures for this sort of thing. A former principal of the school was a priest named Father Schmidt, who had passed away about a decade prior. So, when they paged "Father Schmidt" to the office, it was a signal that there were hostages being taken somewhere in the building. We were to close and lock doors, kill lights, open windows, and huddle against an internal wall - presumably, so that we could be seen and counted from outside the building.

    I remember one year, where they announced on Monday Morning that they would run the drill at some point on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. They paged, we hid, then police officers cleared each room and told us what a wonderful job we had done. That was that.

    A planned drill is fine, these procedures should be rehearsed. But, what if one of these kids tried to be a hero? Someone really could have gotten hurt. These teachers need to be sacked, at the very lease.

    --
    Never underestimate the potential of Human stupidity. -Heinlein