The Power of Communication

IT WAS JUST A DRILL

Mrs. Smith is a 6th Grade Social Studies teacher. She loves her job but is concerned with the ways in which adulthood and adult themed situations are impacting kids at a seemingly younger age every year. Like any other day, Mrs. Smith goes to school with a smile on her face, excited to impart a little wisdom and knowledge on her students. Today is particularly pleasant, considering the school year is almost over. The weather is warm, and the sun is shining. It has been a long winter, and while her students are generally well behaved, she is ready for her upcoming summer break.

The morning has come and gone as usual. She has one more class in the afternoon, and her lesson is going exceptionally well today! Halfway through class, the lockdown announcement is made. The public announcement system is old and barely audible. Mrs. Smith moves to lock the door and turn out the lights. She is scared, though trying not to show it. Just a week earlier, a Middle School much like her own was attacked by a gunman. Her mind is racing a million miles an hour as she circles through worst case scenario after worst case scenario. She ushers her students into a closet, figuring this will be the safest place for them to hide.

Unfortunately, she has no cellular service in the closet. An hour goes by and there is still no contact or information. Occasionally, she can hear noises in the hallway. It’s pitch black in the closet, and while the students are generally calm, they are starting to worry. They are unsure what is going on and their ability to hide their fear is waning. Mrs. Smith’s own ability to hide her fear is deteriorating. To make matters worse, one of her students needs to use the restroom. Does she risk their safety to help the student to the restroom or does the poor girl need to continue to try her best to hold it?

Ninety minutes go by before finally Mrs. Smith is willing to risk leaving the closet to allow her student to relieve herself. She moves into the hallway with the student, only to find that the rest of the school is continuing their day as if nothing happened. “What the heck?” she thinks to herself. She finds another teacher and asks what happened. Mr. Jones replies that the lockdown was a false alarm. He went on to say that the lockdown had been lifted almost twenty minutes ago. Mr. Jones becomes concerned, “Were you in hiding this entire time?”, he asks her. Embarrassed and upset, Mrs. Smith returns to her classroom to release the rest of the children.

THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION

Mrs. Smith, a 6th Grade Social Science teacher, is teaching her last class for the day. The weather is nice and she’s looking forward to her summer break. Halfway through her lesson the lockdown announcement is made. They’ve been practicing for this but considering the active shooter situation at a nearby Middle School, she is on edge. Immediately, she locks the door, turns out the light and ushers the students to the corner of the room where the RedBag is located. This location has been discussed in the past, and she feels confident it is the safest place in the room.

Mrs. Smith then scans the RedBag Radio QR code. She’s comforted by the fact that it tells her exactly what needs to happen. She marks off that she’s locked the door, turned out the lights and annotates the number of students and adults with her. As she is doing this, a message is broadcasted from incident command. The first message reads, “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight!” Shortly after another message is broadcasted. This message reads “This is just a drill. Thank you for your cooperation, all is well!”

Her mind at ease, Mrs. Smith informs her students that this is just a drill. “Thank God!” she thinks to herself. There are several new messages that have come across. One of the messages tells her that their security team will be working their way through the building and is encouraged to hang tight! Another message informs Mrs. Smith that the communication tool is where she will see messages, both broadcasted and personalized. She takes this opportunity to test the system, stating that there is an emergency in her classroom. Several moments later, she receives a personalized message from the school’s incident command team. The message is asking whether this is a real-world situation or not. Whoops! She writes back that she was simply testing the system. After roughly 30 minutes, her room has been cleared and the lockdown drill has ended.

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