Here is another point of view. Let’s deliberate on the issue rather than label as “stupid” or “crazy”.
Was the first fire drill called crazy because it might scare children when in fact there was no fire? Maybe.
We are involved in a war with Islamofascism that considers shooting school children fair game. We also have the occasional nutcase who wants to shoot at the unarmed and defenseless. What is so wrong with preparing for such scenarios by drill? Or do we allow Americans to experience terror for the first time only in a reality situation?
Why is the idea so stupid? What if the children learned something? Or has that also been outlawed in schools so they only learn some sanitized myths about the real world.
BTW, far from encouraging some liberal aversion to ownership of firearms, I would guess that most children who experienced even a practice scenario would realize the necessity of arming oneself. Experiencing the “bad” things in the world is often a cure for the “head up the as” world view that we often tag as a liberalism.
Sixth graders are old enough to learn that the shootings on TV are sometimes real. Prepare for it.
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ALL fire drills inform the participants **prior** to the drill that it **is** a test and **not** the real thing.
In this case, the children were not informed, merely terrorized.
Finally, I agree with you, children do need drills in how to react in a hostage situation. The LAST people I would choose to teach them would be a government school wuss of “teacher” of modest intelligence at best.
Fire drills still happen with no warning to the children. At our school and every other school I’ve been at, the bell just rings in a certain way and the kids get up and leave. Over the last 10 years, we have had 4 genuine emergencies and the kids acted no differently than from a drill, because until they got outside and found out what really happened, they assumed it was a drill. Which is how it is supposed to happen - handle drills calmly in practice and when it is real, the drill goes calmly then also.