A locked down school in response to a “potential” safety threat no longer makes the news headlines. School lock downs happen too frequently these days. But, that does not make locking down a school a daily routine. It isn’t. Enacting a lock down procedure is a very calculated administrative decision that needs to be understood and appreciated for how as well as why it works.
I start with a thank you to the school administrators who sit in the hot seat of decision making. “Thank you for examining the potentiality of a threat to your school and activating lock down procedures that are designed to keep children and adults safe from harm.” Locking down a school is a calculated decision, because threat credibility is what makes a lock down effective. If students and staff believe that credibility, the lock down will be effective. Children and adults will do exactly what they have been trained to do when their safety is threatened. They will find their safe places and remain safe throughout the lock down. If children and adults do not believe that credibility, locking down begins to look like a recess. “Thank you for weighing the information you are given, often incomplete and in a hurry, and making the right call.”
Hot seat decisions regarding school safety are difficult moments. Regional news often broadcasts that a school is locked down because there has been a neighborhood shooting or a person has escaped police custody or a person has called or posted their intent to harm people at school. These are not everyday broadcasts, but they, especially neighborhood violence, rightfully cause school administrators to invoke school lock downs.
Locking down immediately sparks a variety of community and school reactions. There is a flurry of social media and cell phone communication as children contact parents and parents contact children. Some parents immediately go to school to take their children home. Nearby daycare centers take safety precautions. Law enforcement is drawn to the school. Instruction and daily activities at school are immediately affected, depending upon the level of lockdown. Whatever children and teachers were doing becomes secondary to their need to follow lock down protocols. Visitors coming to the school during a lock down cannot enter the school and visitors in the school cannot leave. If the lock down is at noon, it affects lunch schedules; if at the end of the school day, it affects school bus routes and after school activities. Each and all of these are considered by a school administrator making a hot seat decision.
Gladly, I observe that our regional school leaders place school safety first. In almost lock downs, an initial statement of the threat is given by the news agencies. If necessary, local news and school social media update parents and community about the ongoing situation. Afterward, more information regarding the threat becomes available and the sensibility of a lock down is clarified.
Again, thank you to school administrators sitting in the hot seats of decision making for keeping our schools safe. With well-practiced lock down protocols, real threats are being handled realistically.
The ultimate sad truth, though, is that we never have forewarning when violent school tragedy actually befalls us.