It happened again. I was glued to the television last Thursday. UMass Boston had evacuated two buildings due to a 911 call saying there was an active shooter. Now we hear about school shootings almost daily it seems which is so wrong, but this one was different for me. It was personal. I immediately texted my friend asking if her son was home. Her son who I taught for several years and who is a freshman at UMass Boston. He wasn't home and in fact he was in one of the buildings evacuated. A police officer told him it was a confirmed active shooter. Luckily her son called his mom, and she talked him through the entire "escape" and even more luckily it was a false alarm. However, for about an hour or so it was really scary. My mind flashbacked to April 1999--the Columbine shooting. That was not
the first school shooting and in fact it was not even the first one that month. (Source) It was however the first one with deaths in the double digits. I was on school break when it happened. I was glued to my television. I remember yelling at the reporters and camerapeople to put their cameras and microphones down. They were adults and should be helping the kids and not filming the kids' worst moments. After that we seemed to hear about school shootings a bit more. There was the Amish school shooting in 2006 and the Sandy Hook Shooting in 2012. Those both affected me so much because of the age of the children. Plus, I grew up in Connecticut and had friends who knew people involved with the Sandy Hook shooting. Then in 2007, a student was stabbed in a bathroom in the hallway of the school I taught in the previous school year. I was glued to the television again. More and more school shootings were filling our news and quite honestly, I had begun to tune them out a bit and forget about them. I wasn't teaching anymore. Hazel was young and usually with me and we were sending her to small private schools. I didn't even realize how much the news of school shootings began to affect her. We didn't let her watch the news when she was young and tried not to have it on around her. However, the Parkland, Florida shooting affected her. I remember her talking about it with Steven and me. As I started working in her schools I learned about the lockdown drills. It bothered me that young students had to practice lockdown drills and made me question what was wrong with our country and in particular its leaders that this was a thing. Now as a teacher at a very small private school, we have a few practices of drills, but most of our drills are not lockdown drills. We have certain language for different things that the school administrators worked with the police department and a counseling service on our campus to word for the kids. We have four levels of words with meanings like keep all kids in classroom but continue to teach. Keep kids indoors (we have multiple buildings and allow kids to take a lap around the building). Keep kids in classroom and stop teaching. This one is like a lockdown. And then the one that is like the fire drill. Get them outside to specified spaces. We don't practice them too much, but they are hanging in our room with their meanings. The pressure of a lockdown drill is a lot for most kids. Today we are sharing a book about it. The book is Not Like Every Day: Finding Calm During School Lockdown Drills by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.
About the Book:
For Henry, lockdown drills can be scary. Staying quiet and still is tough, but with the support of his teacher, he’s able to stay calm. This reassuring story explores the complex emotions surrounding school lockdown drills and includes helpful resources from a school psychologist and safety expert.I wish today was like every other day.
But it isn’t.
Today my stomach is twisted in the middle
like a bunch of tissue paper butterflies.
During his school’s lockdown drill, Henry tries to make himself as small, and still, and quiet as possible, but even though he knows it’s just a drill and it’s not real, he still doesn’t like it. And even when the drill is over, it doesn’t feel over for him.
Luckily, Henry’s teacher is there to offer guidance and reassurance. Together, they practice breathing exercises and focus on what Henry can smell right now to help anchor him in the present. And, most importantly, they talk about his feelings until he feels safe—until the tissue paper butterflies in his stomach untwist and fly away.
With poetic prose and gentle artwork, this accessible picture book serves as an ideal starting point for discussions about lockdown drills and includes helpful resources for parents and teachers, such as discussion questions, a mindfulness exercise guide, and best practices for reducing the potential for trauma when conducting lockdown drills.
From Me:
I have been having a hard time writing this review. Not because of the book but because of why we need such a book. The book is a wonderful example of how some kids may feel during lockdown drills. Did you know some kids have it on the 504 plans or IEPs that they need to be told ahead of any safety drills including fire drills. Our school has had fights with the fire department over this in the past. But if it is written into one of the plans, by law they have to be told. We always say if it is a real emergency and it causes the stress or whatever then it will be worth it, but for a drill it is not worth it. Now imagine one of those kids who are afraid of the fire drill having to do a lockdown drill. It is awful to think about. I suppose it is similar to the bombing drills during World War II. It is a scary world we live in. I know as a parent I have tried to shield Hazel from some of that. Now that she is a teenager she finds out about all of it on her own. When she was young though I tried to keep her a bit shielded. We can't shield our kids if they are having lockdown drills at school. This book helps teachers, kids and parents prepare the kids with some mindfulness strategies as well as the realization that they are not alone.
In the story Henry wonders why the drill affects him more than his classmates, but he also points out that some of the girls are holding hands during the drill for support. One of the boys helps another boy from looking out the window. It is hard for many kids in different ways. Henry is one who internalizes it and understands what it is truly for. He worries that he cannot be small enough or quiet enough. He reminds himself it is not real. This book shares how terrifying this can be for the kids. When the kids go out for extra recess, Henry stays back and talks to his teacher. She walks him through some breathing and other mindfulness exercises to help keep him grounded and to help him get back to himself. These techniques are wonderful for all adults and kids to know. I understand why it is important to practice for the scary moments that hopefully will never happen, but it is also important to support our children through those practices. Hazel pointed out in middle school how she and her friends talked about the various school shootings and how scared they were. Our society needs to change, and we need to protect our children and schools. Schools should be a safe place for every child. With how commonplace school shootings are nowadays, schools do not feel safe all the time. These needs to be dealt with by the politicians. Teachers often know which students may have a problem, but there are often laws and more that prohibit the reporting or others who do not take the reports seriously. Plus, some of the shootings are happening by adults or people not actually part of the school. Our society needs to focus on mental health and make sure everyone can access it. We need better gun control. Not necessarily gun laws but laws that can be followed and checked. We also all need to stop thinking only of ourselves and consider others especially the children around us. If you have a sensitive child or are a classroom teacher, I highly recommend this book. It will help prepare the child(ren) for a lockdown drill and help begin a discussion about it.
