Really Stupid Teachers

[richlevy]

OK, I understand we live in a culture of fear, which can lead people to do really stupid things, but this is ridiculous.

Teachers stage fake gunman attack on sixth graders


MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (AP) -- Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged.
"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Some parents said they were upset by the staff's poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

During the last night of the trip, staff members convinced the 69 students that there was a gunman on the loose. They were told to lie on the floor or hide underneath tables and stay quiet. A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, even pulled on a locked door.

After the lights went out, about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said.

"I was like, 'Oh My God,' " she said. "At first I thought I was going to die. We flipped out."

Principal Catherine Stephens declined to say whether the staff members involved would face disciplinary action, but said the situation "involved poor judgment."

It almost makes me wish we did have universal concealed carry. If a few of those kids were armed, the 'training' might have taken a different turn. We might have had the first teacher to make the Darwin Awards, which would have been ironic since a lot of them probably support Creationism.

[lumberjim]

i think that if my kids were in that class....i would have staged a 'you're getting your ass kicked' drill with the teachers. 'this is a left hook. it is not a drill...you are actually being punched in the eye by a 300 lb pissed off parent. the pain you feel is genuine. please whimper and cry accordingly'

[Elspode]

Then you could have sat with them and calmly discussed what it would have been like if you were *really* pissed off and wanted to hurt them.

[piercehawkeye45]

Eh, does this really suprise me?

[Sundae]

What on earth were they trying to achieve? Teaching the children what it feels like to be frightened?

I mean how often is there an issue in school shootings where pupils rush armed gunmen putting their lives at risk? I would assume that most pupils, if told that their lives are at risk and they should lie down behind a locked door will do so, making drills completely unnecessary.

Asinine.

[TheMercenary]

They should be shot.