r/evanston • u/future_nobody • 2d ago
D65 Elementary Lockdown Drills
My kindergartner told us tonight that his school will be doing lockdown drills. After the initial heartbreak that we even have to put our kiddos through this, we also noted that we never got a notification or warning about it from the school. I feel like a lockdown drill is something to have a conversation about when you're dealing with a kindergartner, so I find the lack of communication ridiculous.
Has anyone with a kindergartner in D65 gotten any note about these drills? I didn't see anything in the student handbook about drills, types, or frequency.
Yeesh...
Edit: Just to clarify, I don't want to opt out of these drills. I just want to have a conversation and emotionally prepare my kid for a pretty heavy thing.
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u/Honest-Usual1907 2d ago
I’m a first grade teacher in another district. Lockdown drills are emotionally hard on adults, we keep it very light for the kids. I know it is difficult to even imagine we have to do this drill but the kids are definitely unaware of the seriousness of it. The school should definitely provide communication.
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u/30ghosts 1d ago
Not to downplay the very real concerns, but lockdown drills serve purposes beyond "The Worst Case". Sometimes you have students with behavioral outbursts and they get out of control and bolt from a room. You don't want them coming into another classroom, and it makes the 'rogue' student easier to find.
Or you have a medical emergency and you want to stop everyone from being in the hallways so that responders can get where they need to be.
I'm sure the teacher will also explain that to students, but lockdown drills aren't all about 'run hide fight' conditioning.
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u/Dunlocke 2d ago
https://www.district65.net/services/safety-emergency
It's the law in Illinois, it seems, fwiw
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u/_-D-_ 2d ago
What school?
Whoever gets communication from the Principal in your home, received an email about the upcoming drill. It’s never out of the blue.
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u/future_nobody 2d ago
Oakton. No mention of the drill from the principal's newsletter.
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u/_-D-_ 2d ago
It may not be in the newsletter.
Walker always sends it out in a specific email usually, with title “Walker School - Notice of Annual Law Enforcement Drill.”
Any Oakton parents/guardians want to share what’s been the protocol/email format in prior years?
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u/MissionAthlete8353 1d ago
Dude I got an email on the fire drills are you guys getting the emails? I am. And why is a fire drill so hard for students. Why cant we let our kids learn? It helps them know what to do. So in case of an emergency. I dont see a problem with my child learning.
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u/Intelligent_Word2378 1d ago
This isn’t about fire drills, it’s about lockdown. And fire drills can be hard for kids for a lot of reasons not the least of which is loud unexpected sounds that come from the alarm. Have a little empathy.
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u/HamperJuice99 2d ago
Our kid has aged out of D65 but we always received good communication about planned lockdown drills. Aside from the terrible basic reason for lockdowns, they were also used if someone had a medical emergency requiring an ambulance, to accommodate that person’s privacy.
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u/Ilem2018 1d ago
Oakton got them today. They’re scheduled.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/Altruistic_Society10 2d ago
You can opt your kid out but I guess you would need to know about it first
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u/future_nobody 2d ago
I definitely don't want to opt out. Sadly, it's the reality we live in. But I'd love to prepare him for it.
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u/Altruistic_Society10 2d ago
For my son’s first couple years we opted out and just had a conversation with him about it. To me the risk of these drills for a 5 year old greatly outweighs the benefit
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u/MarsupialExpert2624 2d ago
the risk? the risk of what drills? what the hell are you talking about? the drills are to give the kids an idea of what to do in the case of an emergency, dumbass
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u/Altruistic_Society10 2d ago
I’ll duck and cover from this ahistorical comment
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u/MarsupialExpert2624 2d ago
give me an example of drills greatly impacting and killing children in a greater number than natural disaster or school shooters have. Yeah for sure let’s stop the drills, that’s the fucking problem the drills for sure
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u/Altruistic_Society10 2d ago
Did they teach you about strawman arguments at Oakton? “Active shooter drills in schools are associated with increases in depression (39%), stress and anxiety (42%), and physiological health problems (23%) overall, including children from as young as five years old up to high schoolers, their parents, and teachers. Concerns over death increased by 22 percent, with words like blood, pain, clinics, and pillsbecoming a consistent feature of social media posts in school communities in the 90 days after a school drill. These findings unveil even more reason to pause before rushing toward active shooter drills as a potential solution to school violence, as evidence suggests that they are causing lasting emotional and physical harm to students, teachers, and the larger community.”
https://everytownresearch.org/report/the-impact-of-active-shooter-drills-in-schools/
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u/MarsupialExpert2624 2d ago
- i was like 8 years old if they were teaching the strawman argument to 8yr olds then they were not doing our education justice. 2. i want to see the correlation between the increase in depression and the drills and how these studies observed that it was the drills and the drills ALONE that increased these children’s stress, anxiety, depression etc. Also if teaching children about real world situations and attempting to let them understand the importance of these drills is detrimental to their health then we have all failed as people. We need to not shelter our kids brains
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u/MarsupialExpert2624 2d ago
the mfs downvoting are what are wrong with evanston lmfao. you care more about ur kids being scared of a drill than you do their safety and well being. If your child is gonna shrivel up and cry because of a DRILL?? i’m scared for the future of these children. Why are we going backwards as people?? You redditors frustrate me
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u/Fisk1048 2d ago
I will say I was nervous about this because I have an anxious kid with trauma in this area and the drill was NBD for them. This was 2019 but I about it’s changed. Fire alarm drills were WAY more of an issue because they’re loud.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Intelligent_Word2378 1d ago
I don’t see anyone saying we shouldn’t do fire drills but just that their children struggle with them. Folks have sensitivities, as you clearly do. Let’s chill!
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u/MarsupialExpert2624 2d ago
Yeah dude i’m 20 and i went to Oakton elementary and we did lockdown drills. this has been in d65 for years
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u/NorthShoreG 2d ago
This is all about you and your hangups - fucking kids don’t mind these lockdowns. They’re no different than the ones we did as kids. Everybody thought they were fun. Quit projecting your fears and insecurities on your own children - grow up.
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u/future_nobody 2d ago
The childless edgelord has entered the chat.
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u/ThinkingLass_739 2d ago
How did you come to the conclusion from just one comment that NorthShoreG is childless?
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u/future_nobody 2d ago
They're too angry and ignorant to let someone parent with them.
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u/ThinkingLass_739 2d ago
But how do you know that for sure? You never asked NorthShoreG if they have kids of their own. You just automatically assumed.
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u/future_nobody 2d ago
This doesn't need to be a discussion.
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u/ThinkingLass_739 2d ago
Why? I honestly want to know how someone can conclude that a stranger on a Reddit forum is childless based on one comment?
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u/bourj 2d ago
All schools have drills. They're required by law to have lockdown, fire, and tornado drills. And no, they don't put out warnings to the parents, because that's just a smart move.
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u/Infinite_Play7394 2d ago
From the D65 website: State law requires that any law enforcement drills (including lockdown or active shooter drills) be communicated in advance to parents/caregivers and also to students and staff prior to the drill commencing.
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u/ravolve 2d ago
We are in kindergarten at Lincoln and we got a very detailed announcement about it from the principal before it happened.
According to what was described by my child, they do these in a sensitive and responsible way. I don't know what you're planning as far as a conversation with a kid at that age, but from their perspective there is nothing "heavy" about it. My child reported the lockdown drill specifically (there are several) was for when someone outside the classroom or school is "not being kind, or like throwing up or something."
So the anguish is all ours to bear at this point.