[mkjessup]

Had to laugh at those pictures of kids under their desks like that was going to protect them from a blast.

Permit me the privilege of enlightening you a bit.

The whole 'duck and cover' drill was NEVER intended to protect school kids from the effects of a direct nuclear blast, nobody in their right mind was suggesting that.

The object of 'duck and cover' was to shield the kids from the shards of flying glass and debris that would surely be arriving after the blast wave from a nuclear detonation miles away hit their school, breaking and imploding the windows INTO their classrooms.

Those sturdy metal & wood desks would have provided at least some minimal protection from such injuries, plus it kept the kids down below the window line as well.

We were doing 'duck and cover' drills in my elementary school during the Cuban missile crisis, and I'm here to tell you that it was far better to be mentally and physically prepared for such an event, even as grade school kids. We understood the potential risks, and so did our teachers and families. Parents in my school district sent in extra provisions (cookies, crackers, Hawaiian Punch, etc.) should it become necessary for the kids to live at the schools post-strike due to radiation fallout.

We need that same level of preparation returned to our public schools today.

[Kartographer]

I remember we were living in Gary Indiana, must have been 1959 and a local radio DJ was doing a stunt were he was living in a Fallout Shelter they built out on a street somewhere and I remember we drove by it.

[SkyDancer]

In reading history pictures were shown of NYC being hit with a nuclear device. I don’t doubt that those desks would have saved the kids from flying glass (my thoughts exactly) but a bomb going off in NYC would have obliterated the school. Of course there’s the psychological effect of at least we’re doing something. Thanks for that insight. Janey

[JimRed]

We need that same level of preparation returned to our public schools today.

Boy, wouldn't THAT twist liberal panties into knots!

[Catmom]

I was always the kid who asked teachers why we did certain things.

One day during a bomb drill I asked the teacher why we went down in the basement.

“It’s so the Russians can’t hurt us if they drop a bomb,” she said.

At the age of 7 or 8 the only Russians I knew anything about were named Boris and Natasha and the only bombs I knew of were the round black ones with fuses like you see in cartoons.

So I figured the basement of my elementary school would suffice to protect me from Boris and Natasha and their silly bombs.

[bgill]

shield the kids from the shards of flying glass and debris that would surely be arriving after the blast wave from a nuclear detonation miles away hit their school, breaking and imploding the windows INTO their classrooms.

Someone figured that out and moved us to the hallways away from the windows.