Murfreesboro, TN – It was intended as a learning experience. But a mock attack on a group of sixth-grade students has sparked parental outrage.
Staff members of an elementary school in Tennessee staged the fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill.
Many of the children cried and hid under tables.
The assistant principal of Scales Elementary School says the incident lasted five minutes during a weeklong trip to a state park. He says students and staff got together and discussed what they would have done in a real situation.
But some parents say they’re upset with the exercise in light of the April 16th shootings at Virginia Tech. The school’s principal won’t say whether the staff will face disciplinary action, but she says the situation “involved poor judgment.”
I don’t blame the parents for being upset. That’s a pretty severe
way to teach young children.
Based on the incident description the organizers should be prosecuted as terrorists, disciplinary action is just not enough for such heinous behavior.
Christ, FIRE these assholes NOW!!!!!!!!
This seems to me, to be a legimate way to teach. Did anyone actually read it? It says
” Students and staff got together and discussed what they would have done in a real situation.”
Meaning that there was discourse made after the fact to reenforce the education value of what took place.
Should the school have notified the parents prior? Probably. Does that mean that people should be “fired” or called “terrorists”? Absolutey not.
#1, #2, my sentiments exactly. When I blogged about this I was so livid. I can understand ‘drills’ but pretending a situation is real and providing all the real stress of the real situation, prank or not is inexcusable. If anyone did this to my kid I would never stop doing my best to get them fired and away from kids forever, sadistic bastards.
3. What is wrong with you? If you dont see the danger in what they did, what IF an armed bystander saw this happening, you would have a real tragedy. This is totally out of line, and most likely illegal.
#3 you give that explanation to the 6th grader who is now humiliated because they started crying or screaming or even peed their pants. You explain to them why they are shunned for the rest of their school days. Then later in life because they atrophied socially and start eating people like Dahlmer you can explain to us all why it was ok because some of the kids may have learned something.
Better yet send your kids over, there is 30 acres of woods near my place we can play Friday the 13th part 75. Then you can tell me its all ok because afterwards i will teach them how to weave a basket.
The kids were at camp, not a self defense school.
Reminds me of the time this guy broke into my house. When I caught him red-handed he told the police he was just testing the security features of my house. I’ve never forgiven my brother for that. Scared the crap outta me!
First of all the title is totally misleading. Read the article. It said they told the kids that a gunmen was on the loose. They didn’t charge in the room waving a gun around. They didn’t act like they were gunmen and threaten the kids.
So what are you asking “what IF an armed bystander saw this happening, you would have a real tragedy.”? Saw what happen?
Do I think it was extreme? Yes. Was it as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Nope. If VA Tech wouldn’t have just happened this wouldn’t even be news.
I attribute my cannibalistic tendencies to a paddling I got in the 5th grade.
#3 –” Students and staff got together and discussed what they would have done in a real situation.”
This is what they should have done instead of the fake attack.
#8 – ” A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, even pulled on locked door.”
That obviously scared the daylights out of the kids. That’s a nasty way to teach.
How many times does this have to happen before people realize it is a bad idea? Does anyone remember when the Christian camp did this same thing? Though the camp had people posing as gunmen.
“This is what they should have done instead of the fake attack”
Not sure how many discussions you have had with 6th graders.
I know from dealing with my kids, they learn from action. I can tell my 2 year old 300 times that something is hot, until she feels it or burns herself then she doesn’t learn. I understand that that isn’t a perfect analogy.
These are 12 year olds we are talking about they aren’t ignorant, have probably seen more violent situations on TV and in video games than what they encountered here.
12 – So if you want to teach them a gun is dangerous, you shoot them?
#13
No and that is a stupid thing to say. I said the analogy wasn’t perfect.
If you want to teach them that a gun is dangerous, you tell them why it is dangerous, you show them what can happen if it is used incorrectly, you train them on what to do if it is used incorrectly. You give THEM the knowledge.
People are really overreacting to this. You have to get kids to think on their feet, a terror simulation might be a good idea. It is not very different than how you manipulate the sheep that is the adult population (terror warnings, elect).
Fear is part of life, what does not kill you (generally will make you stronger). The only problem is that for most people fear actually just makes them easier to control (like the bully hockey coach or high ranking military officer with a grudge). Well, enough about my life…
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I actuality, I think this was a bad idea, however, it really isn’t much different than what goes on in our daily lives. Violence is part of the human condition. The only difference is the “maturity” of those involved (they need to be able to rationalize what has happened).
That being said when I was in elementary school and junior high we used to play hockey (full contact), tackle football on concrete, and a lot of my friends routinely fired guns (and we were not a hunting community or a slum). I lived in a typical suburb and this was a little more than a decade ago.
Further, we had these simulations, and they often did not tell us “if they were real or not.” It was usually weather related (though they picked days that looked like a tornado could actually touch down), there was also the old man in the car (drug pusher, child ******), and finally, the someone on the playground had a gun “act.” I swear, the school that I went to was like the breeding ground of research for the Chicago School.
13…no, you have them shoot watermelons with faces painted on.
I’ve actually done something quite similar, and so have thousands of other Scout leaders. We dress up kids as if they were in a major accident, including guts hanging out, fake blood, and broken bones. 12 Daniel is exactly right…those kids need to see it. Talking to them about this is a waste of breath.
#15 are you kidding me? If I walk into the school and see this happening, the fake perpetrator DIES or is seriously injured. I don’t understand the logic in scaring the shit out of these kids. Just totally insane. How idiotic are the people that planned this? Doesn’t someone realize that this is a bad ideas?
What fake perpetrator? There was a teacher in a hooded sweatshirt.
You are going to react and kill or injure him. Seems that your gut reaction is the EXACT thing that the teachers are trying to educate the children about. They want the kids to be prepared for the situation.
Yet people trust the government with guns and not the citizen, go figure.
When students practice fire drills they and the parents and the teachers know there is such a thing as a fire drill. It is not a surprise the first time it happens.
With this incident, why could they have not come up with a good plan for such an event, worked with the students and staff and parents to come up with a good plan. At least have the parents notified that they are going to prepare for such drills.
The first time you do the drill, before the drill, you talk with the students about the purpose of the drill, then you do dry runs to make sure the paln is feasible.
Whoever came up with this idea should be fired and not allowed to work around children ever again. It is obvious that they were not thinking. This could end up being an unnecessary tramautic event that the kids did not need to go through.
Sure, schools should know what to do in the event of a gunman on the loose. The principal at the very least, if not the school board, needs to validate the plan before they start running drills on it.
Horrible.
17. This wasnt held in school it was a public park, a state park. If I am armed and I see a masked man trying to break into a room full of kids, like Erik, he will be killed. Period.
I think I already answered this in my earlier post. To number #17 it is simply a fact of our new lifestyle, you and your children (and myself included) are being conditioned to accept a certain role in society. This is why we have a war on (put in your favorite).
People can be conditioned through fear. It is easy to manipulate people through fear (sell people on dangers of drugs, global warming, terrorism). Some of the fear is true (there are real problems and dangers), some is not, but the simple fact is that it works. It is simply the easiest way to deliver a message to a select audience and have it resonate.
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To #21, than you would be a very unusual statistic (but good for you). Most people would not interfere. Instead, they would go about their own lives and ignore the problem as if it wasn’t happening. People have been conditioned to believe that this is the role of law enforcement and they are not to get involved. Further, most people have the act of survival ingrained into them as well. I wouldn’t call it an instinct, because I don’t actually believe there are any.
This is why a high percentage of successful break-ins, rapes, and murders happen right out in the broad daylight (often with many people around). The confusion and panic that it causes can often be used as a shield by the perpetrator committing the crime. The honest truth is that most people just don’t want to get involved (it does not matter if it is children, women, or old men).
22. “The honest truth is that most people just don’t want to get involved (it does not matter if it is children, women, or old men). ”
I think thats correct and extremely sad.
Well, now those kids will be prepared for when the REAL THING HAPPENS – which it will, sooner or later. I’d imagine that “terrorism drills” will become the norm, as much as those “nuclear drills” were in my parent’s day, or “earthquake drills” in mine…
What if one of the kids were armed, and had started shooting? Or maybe just said, that’s OK I have a gun. He would have been expelled and maybe thrown in jail for trying to protect his classmates.
Cause hiding under desks is really gonna save you! Just like in the 50’s when they hid under the desk during nuclear bomb drills.
School safety is a joke
I agree!
Fire those A-Holes NOW!
If they were my kids that happened to, I’d be at the Superintendent’s office telling them that.
In this world, children have enough real terror traumaa without our inducing them. I wonder how much damage these D-heads did to those kids.
After the Virginian Tech massacre I heard many gun nuts say that the schools would be safer if students were armed.
I can safely guess that it would stop this kind of drill.
#22….Jeff….a little off topic, but here is exactly what you spoke of when you said most people would just go about their daily lives if something bad was happening.
This story was all over the news today. Check out this video.
http://tinyurl.com/2ob6kt
(Please use tinyurl.com for long URLs. – ed.)
School workers suspended in fake attack
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6515257
Suspended without pay until the end of the school year… The end of the school year!! What’s that two, three weeks? They’re lucky to still have a job.
They should be forced to wear a dunce cap and made to sit in the timeout box where the kids and their parents can throw rotten veggies at them.