Is high school Supposed to be like this?

Yesterday we were alerted by a text from Alaina at 7:55 am that the high school was in lockdown. The students were locked into their classroom with the lights off for over five hours as police officers and school administrators searched the entire building, room by room, from the top down for a gun. We received notification from the school via mass email & phone calls around 9:00 am.

A student had reported that he had seen two students with a pistol at school. Alaina was unable to text (she had snuck the first text to us but didn't want to risk getting caught texting when she wasn't supposed to) and it was maddening to not know what was going on at the school. Luckily, a friend's mother had linked to an online newspaper article that had been updated several times throughout the morning and they had a reporter at the command center who had access to Twitter. I've seen Twitter mentioned before online but not really bothered to find out what it was. Yesterday - it was my lifeline to sanity. I was able to get updates from the web as soon as the police released details - which they did consistently from the time I clicked over to the Beacon website. The police did an excellent job reassuring the parents and community that they were doing everything they could to keep our students safe. There is some discussion about whether the school administration did as good a job communicating with parents, or not. I understand their first concern was for the students. I asked Alaina and she said she thinks they did what was needed to keep the students safe and the situation under control.

I chose not to go to the community center and wait. I think that was the right decision. I also chose to leave Alaina at school to finish out the last hour instead of checking her out. I'm not sure that was the right decision. She came home pretty upset and it took her awhile to settle down. Writing about it helped.

Things I have since learned, that I didn't think about or understand. When the school goes on Hard Lockdown - which is what happened yesterday - the lights go off, the classroom doors get locked, the students get as far away from line of sight as they can and then they stay like that until the lockdown is over. There are no bathroom breaks and it goes without saying no snack breaks or lunch periods. The teacher can make or break the situation for their class. One teacher tackled a police officer as he entered the classroom, because he saw the gun first and was willing to sacrifice himself to keep the gunman away from his students. Alaina's teacher helped her class relax and find bits of strength and empowerment and even humor as it became more clear that they were not in immediate danger. If you haven't already, go read her post about this on her blog http://missalainius.blogspot.com/.

The weapon was found (an air pistol) and the student who brought it in will be facing consequences. No one was injured. School returned to normal. Life goes on.