Just as schools across America practice fire and earthquake drills, a more frequent lockdown drill should also be practiced by Pierce students and staff.
Lockdown drills prepare students for the inevitable. Student safety is a major concern for schools today, as school shooting are occurring more often than they should. With a new student body coming into Pierce every semester, it’s best that they know how to stay safe during a lockdown.
Students need to know that Pierce is not a small school, so it is hard for the school police and administration to keep track of about 20,000 people, who may or may not be on campus at all times. Watching over students is not an easy task for the administration, so implementing a lockdown drill will make it easier for students to know what to do without being surprised.
A lockdown procedure not only prepares students for potential school shootings, but also in the event of police activity nearby, riots or hostage situations. A school is supposed to be prepared for anything that may occur and protect its students from it.
Students know how to prepare themselves for an earthquake and they also know what to in the event of a fire. However, do students know how to prepare themselves when a lockdown is needed by the school? Students may not know the first thing they should do in the event of a lockdown. Students will decide that the best option to do in the event of a lockdown is to leave school immediately and allow the authorities to control the situation.
I have had the pleasure of being in one of the lockdowns on Sept. 17, 2014. That day caused a lot of confusion between the teachers and students. In class I received a message that said to stay indoors due to a lockdown being implemented and was told not to leave until it was lifted.
After the initial commotion, we then received another text message from the school that said there was a need for an immediate evacuation of the campus. Some of my classmates stayed while most left as the text directed. My point is that neither the students nor the professor had adequate information to know what exactly to do. If we would have known what to do, it would have been a much less confusing day.
Before Pierce can implement a lockdown drill, it needs a much more reliable way to communicate with its staff and students than just text messages and emails. A school wide intercom system would be more reliable and can get the attention of the entire campus while at the same time be useful in the event of a fire or the aftermath of an earthquake.