I wish I could have signed up for the school lockdown class when I was in college. Now, with the frequency of lockdowns that school's have, teachers, administrators and staff could have actually taken a class about "Lockdowns." Lockdown 101 would have been in the same category of the class about "How To Write On A Chalk Board" a course that was actually given at my undergraduate Alma mater Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana up until the late 1990's.
My first time experiencing a lockdown situation came in 2005 during what was known as the race riots of Thomas Jefferson High School. I remained silent about this experience for quite some time, but now with events that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School as well as the middle school lock down that was reported today, (3/20/13) in Minnesota, I feel it's time for me to speak out and give a first hand account on my experiences during a lockdown.
When there is a lockdown, it means that no one is allowed to enter or exit their location. If it is during class time, I am to lock my students into the classroom. If it is during a passing period, I am to usher students into my classroom as quickly as possible and close the door. These students do not have to be my assigned students. In a lock down situation, there is no such thing as my student or your student. If they are a student of the school, then they are everyones' responsibility.
My understanding of the first lockdown I experienced at Jefferson High School happened as such. Earlier that day there was an earthquake drill where all of the students spent a great deal of idle time on the football field. This idleness lasted until lunch. During lunch, two African-American girls got into a fight. (There's nothing new there.) During the fight, a Hispanic boy threw a milk carton at the two girls. Outraged by the disrespect, an African-American football player confronted the Hispanic boy. Now there is an African-American boy and a Hispanic boy fighting and thus a "race riot" was born. The school went into its first ever lockdown. The 93% of Hispanic students like bulls, charged at the 7% African-American students who were also belligerent in participating in what appeared to be a WWE battle royal. LAPD were contacted and immediately surrounded the school. As students staggered back into the classroom, many of them had cuts, and marks over their body. These marks weren't from fighting one another. They were from the police. As a result, these were my duties for the remainder of the day during lockdown.
1. Keep students securely in the classroom. Because many students thought for some odd reason that they were in a race war, keeping them in the classroom was a challenge. Many students would try to get out from the doors and the windows. Keeping high school students safely in class when they are eager to go towards danger is not an easy task.
2. Tend to my students wombs! Lockdown means students cannot go to the nurse. I had students who eyes were full of mace sprayed by the cops. I had students who had marks all over their back that were placed there by the cops. I had to do my best with what was available to console their wombs.
3. Opportunity Teaching! In crisis situations, students are not likely to do their assigned work, but savvy teachers know how to use the situation to teach other lessons. In this case, lots of time was spent teaching issues such as racism, diversity, and tolerance. The students learned a lot about one another and I learned a lot about them.
4. Cafeteria Worker! During the times when lockdowns are for hours and hours, teachers must turn into cafeteria workers. Authorities would release a select group of teachers to go to the cafeteria and make lunches for every student that's in the classroom. To go in-depth about the cold rubbery stuff that was suppose to be meat that I had to put on the piece of bread would be material for an entirely new blog post.
The longer the lockdown, the more problems the school staff ran into and the more stressful it became for students. Now in 2013, it seems like lockdowns are normal and students are less likely to be effected by it. We even have lock down drills. But the truth of the matter is that lockdowns are serious issues rather there's a gunman loose on campus, or there is a robbery in the neighborhood. Any of these reasons, can cause a school to be on lockdown. When that happens, it is best if students have already eaten, completed their assignments, and have used the restroom. Otherwise at the very least, it can be a very wet and smelly experience!
Shira Dillon is a high school teacher in South, Central Los Angeles. Shira has over 15 years experience working with teenagers and is an expert with helping them and their parents deal with teenage issues. Ms. Dillon is the author of the book Sex, Drugs, and Other Elephants: How To Deal With Teenage Issues that share true stories from the authors life, as well as true stories from teenagers and how they deal with their problems. For more information about the book go to www.heyiwantthatbook.blogspot.com
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