How are your schools handling the Newtown Shooting?

[JohnD13]

My grandson, 13 years old, called last night. He is a smart kid, very aware of what is going on, and he wanted to talk about it. It seems that whenever one of the other students asked a question about what happened, the teacher would say "We're not going to talk about that now." The hallways were abnormally quiet, and about half the kids were not in school.

Then his mom gets an e-mail from the school, saying that there will be no discussion of the shooting. Apparently the administration feels it would be too disruptive to their program, and too upsetting to the kids. I think they are making a huge mistake. Kids are aware of what happened, and are trying to make sense of it. And some, like my grandson are asking what they should do in case it ever happens were they are.

This young man was home schooled up until this year, he really wanted to go to school with his friends. Right now, I wish he had decided to continue schooling at home. Has anyone else heard anything like this from their kids, or their school? I don't think the school is handling this in the best manner.

[GunClasses.Net]

A close relative of mine is a social worker and school therapist for two elementary schools. She says...:

I heard the same theme at my schools that they didn’t discuss it unless students brought it up. That makes sense to me to let the child take the lead. We, as adults, process grief and loss differently than children do. It’s my understanding that teachers talked to students on a one to one basis if it was brought up. Not discussing it as a whole school makes sense because who knows what parents discussed with their children and exposed them to. Both principals stated there weren’t too many conversations about it. It’s “normal” for parents to keep students out of school after something like this. They may wait for the buzz to die down or they are worried about their child’s safety.
Schools practice lock downs and he should know what to do. I think what the child needs to hear is their teachers and school staff number job is to keep them safe and that there are some bad people in the world and they do bad things.

Hope that helps?

[KYK22]

Most news accounts across KY say that there is "increased security" at most schools across the state today.
I taught high school for 31 years and I always caught flak from my students, other teachers, and the administration for keeping the door(s) to my room locked at all times. I taught at two different schools during my tenure. At the first school, there were two doors leading in/out of my room, and both stayed locked at all times. There was only one door in/out my room at the second school, but it stayed locked all the time too. The only person who told me that I was doing the right thing was the Assistant Principle, whose office was just across the hall from my room, at the second school.
After the Colorado school shooting, the District Administration put school lockdown procedures in place - lock the door, turn off the lights, and move students away from direct line of sight of the door. I often wondered how effective these would be, but I guess they were better than none at all.
I made the remark once to the Principle at the second school I taught at that I was convinced that someone could cut the phone lines, get in the building, and probably do quit a bit of damage before anyone knew what was going on. Soon after, security cameras went up and an armed Police Officer was assigned to the (high) school. Violence at the school dropped by 90% plus after that.
I really hate that armed Police Officers may have to be assigned to schools, but if that's what it takes to keep kids safe, then thats what it takes.
And one last thought, if your (family) kids ask about what happened last Friday, tell them the truth. If they are old enough and aware enough to ask, then they are old enought to be told and understand. I feel this is better than them finding out "through the grapevine" with all the misinformation that's floating around about this tragic incident.