Teachers huddle, decide a fake gunman attack on 6th graders was the ticket

[missionhockey21]

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (AP) -- Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged. (Watch student recount incident, mother react Video)

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Some parents said they were upset by the staff's poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

During the last night of the trip, staff members convinced the 69 students that there was a gunman on the loose. They were told to lie on the floor or hide underneath tables and stay quiet. A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, even pulled on a locked door.

After the lights went out, about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said.

"I was like, 'Oh My God,' " she said. "At first I thought I was going to die. We flipped out."

Principal Catherine Stephens declined to say whether the staff members involved would face disciplinary action, but said the situation "involved poor judgment."

Teachers stage fake gunman attack on sixth-graders - CNN.com

Coming up next in our education system: a projector, a town made of legos, a moth and a lizard... Godzilla is real children.

[McKain]

If there's one thing that's gonna come from this, those kids are damn sure gonna know what to do when the 1 in a million chance of their school being chosen by a shooter happens.

[Fishercat]

Assume it's another dumbass prank?

Articles like these make me know that when I do become a teacher, I'll automatically be better than certain other educators.

[redsrbetter]

Ridiculous. I would be pissed if I were a teacher as well. Its all well and good to run an exercise like this as long as everyone knows the deal. Don't put kids who are already going through a lot and have a lot on their minds in a mode of unecessary stress.

Now we have teachers who are building an unhealthy school system. You wonder why more and more kids are being homeschooled. My school experience was hell in California. It is more like a prison yard than a place of learning. I will never allow my kid to go to public school. Liberal way of thinking and I consider myself pretty conservative. But I am left with no choice right now.

[HollywoodLeo]

If there's one thing that's gonna come from this, those kids are damn sure gonna know what to do when the 1 in a million chance of their school being chosen by a shooter happens.

So they'll know how to properly panic?

I'm sorry, but there is no excusable reason to cause this type of panic with kids.

I can see an argument for letting them know it's a drill, but to make them think they're really under attack is just stupid.

[Fishercat]

Homeschooling is actually more a conservative phenomenon than anything.

But yeah, if I ever do have kids, whether I use the public schools will depend on how good the schools actually and my own personal financial situation

[browntown653]

If I have kids, they're most likely going to Catholic school...keep in mind this is coming from a Catholic school lifer and someone whose town has a below-average public school system.

But this is just ridiculous and these teachers should be fired. An absolutely disgusting way to treat these kids.

[missionhockey21]

If I have kids, they're most likely going to Catholic school...keep in mind this is coming from a Catholic school lifer and someone whose town has a below-average public school system.

But this is just ridiculous and these teachers should be fired. An absolutely disgusting way to treat these kids.

I approve of this entire statement.

[browntown653]

I'm missionhockey21 and I approved this message.

Sounds better.

[missionhockey21]

Third person speak is being reserved for my years of insanity (22 and onward, so I am going to enjoy my moments of cerebral clarity while they last.)

[Providence A's]

Perhaps if they practiced these things first and then were not told when they would do the drills, it would be different. At one of the schools I worked at we practiced drills for bombs in the building or shooters outside...the students and parents knew of all the different type of drills, but when a drill happened, no one was told it was a drill. We were to assume it was real. I guess the difference here is the lack of communication and that it wasn't a drill.

[DravenX]

All the schools staff should be fired.

[McKain]

I am glad people caught the less obviously sarcastic part of my post.

While I think running drills like these could be somewhat helpful, it's such a small chance that most schools aren't going to need to do it unless the students/parents are freaking out. and even if you are going to run them you let them know beforehand.

[ATLien]

It's good for schools to prepare & teach students how to act for ANY situation. But for this instance, it doesn't sound like the children learned anything but were scared shitless for no reason. What was the lesson being taught here?

[browntown653]

Definitely agreed...this teachers were missing the point, there's a difference between teaching and scaring.

And by the way I just made the connection that your sig is from the Chapelle Tupac skit...good stuff