Teachers stage fake gunman attack on sixth-graders

[Walsingham]

Don't you think it might be more likely that they had a quirky sense of humour that wound up being taken way too seriously by everybody? Rather than them being mental?

[Gorgon]

People are scared and they don't know what to do, so they do something rather than nothing, even if it's stupid.

[metadigital]

Don't you think it might be more likely that they had a quirky sense of humour that wound up being taken way too seriously by everybody? Rather than them being mental?

Who "they"?

[Walsingham]

The teachers. And on re-reading it seems to me they were just trying to spark some thought in their kids. The problem is they pulled a stunt better suited to 18 year olds on little kids.

[Calax]

Maybe a crazed gunman drill would be in order, you could even have the alarm do a special ringtone so the students would know not to run out and be mowed down like cattle, but to throw themselves out of the windows instead. The drill would cause only moderate casualties if propperly prepared.

 

Or alternately, you could make sure that guns were so unavailable, particularly to children and homocidal maniacs, that these things would be so unlikely to happen that drills would be unnecessary

 

Nahh, too advanced.

the european siren takes care of the first one. (in america it's just head under your desks kids)

 

and given the reaction I got for writing out

 

"pull fire alarm, wait, shoot" on a letter, I could believe the CS thing.

[Sand]

Don't you think it might be more likely that they had a quirky sense of humour that wound up being taken way too seriously by everybody? Rather than them being mental?

 

When is it ever humorous to traumatize a child?

[Pop]

when the child is obviously a nerd.

[Walsingham]

Don't you think it might be more likely that they had a quirky sense of humour that wound up being taken way too seriously by everybody? Rather than them being mental?

 

When is it ever humorous to traumatize a child?

 

You're not an uncle, are you?

[metadigital]

The teachers. And on re-reading it seems to me they were just trying to spark some thought in their kids. The problem is they pulled a stunt better suited to 18 year olds on little kids.

Oh, you're talking about the original post.

 

Yes, yes.

[Sand]

when the child is obviously a nerd.

And that is how we get events like Virgina Tech.

[Pop]

Do you know anything about Virginia Tech? The shooter wasn't bullied, he was a kid with a history of sexual abuse and a mental problem. The oppression he felt was imaginary. If you had the wits you'd cite Columbine, which would be the appropriate example of actual bullying pushing a person to violence.

[GreasyDogMeat]

This was unbelievably stupid on so many levels. What if parents were armed, heard about a gunman and whipped out a weapon? Kids pissing their pants under a table thinking their lives are going to end any second. If you want to prepare for a gunmen, you tell everyone what you are doing and teach them appropriate actions to take in the situation.

 

I'm not one for lawsuits, but frankly I'd love to see these idiots sued into the ground. Or even better, have someone break into their homes armed with weapons and make them think they are going to die... 'Oh, just kidding, it was a drill to see how you would react to a burglar'.

 

"Do you know anything about Virginia Tech? The shooter wasn't bullied, he was a kid with a history of sexual abuse and a mental problem. The oppression he felt was imaginary. If you had the wits you'd cite Columbine, which would be the appropriate example of actual bullying pushing a person to violence. "

 

That actually wouldn't be an appropriate example either as bullying didn't push them to violence. Atleast one of them was phsychotic. If you read parts of his diary he was just as loony as the VT shooter, if not more so. The Columbine idiots were trying to break a record. They had even planted explosives in vehicles, but thankfully none of them detinated.

Edited May 16, 2007 by GreasyDogMeat

[Tigranes]

It was obviously an innocent idea gone wrong through a critical lapse of judgment. i.e. teachers are worried about kids not taking such emergencies seriously, and not appreciating any advice on how to act in such situations, so they decide it might be something they can do. Or it was just a practical joke on the kids by a group of teachers that have some humour. Unfortunately, they were severely mistaken and caused a lot of disturbance.

 

To suggest that the group of teachers deliberately tried to traumatise the kids or that they're sick freaks is just insanely stupid, and the kind of blind thinking that leads to knee-jerk reactions and lawsuits that harm people just as much as these incidents themselves.

[Sand]

To suggest that the group of teachers deliberately tried to traumatise the kids or that they're sick freaks is just insanely stupid, and the kind of blind thinking that leads to knee-jerk reactions and lawsuits that harm people just as much as these incidents themselves.

It doesn't matter if it was to deliberate to traumatize these children or not, the fact remains that they were. The teachers in this incident used very poor judgement and should be duly punished for their actions. There was no cause for this action whatsoever. Pretending to be a gunman seeking to kill children is not in any shape or form an innocent idea.

[GreasyDogMeat]

Just as students are punished for misbehavior these teachers definitely need some sort of discipline. Maybe not a lawsuit... but something. If this was just some big prank, it was incredibly stupid and cruel considering the VT shooting happened within a month What they did is equivalent to going into a class room a month after 9-11 and telling the students Al-Qaida is planning on bombing the building. HAHA! Good one!

 

If it was some kind of drill intended to raise awareness of 'how do you handle a crazed gunman situation?' it was handled in the worst possible way. Drills are something you learn and practice. It would be like the first year of school, the teacher just runs in and yells 'FIRE!' to see the students freak out and rush the exits. Then the teacher says "No no no! That is not how you should have handled the situation!" after dozens of students have been trampled and knocked around in the panic.

[metadigital]

If it was some kind of drill intended to raise awareness of 'how do you handle a crazed gunman situation?' it was handled in the worst possible way. Drills are something you learn and practice. It would be like the first year of school, the teacher just runs in and yells 'FIRE!' to see the students freak out and rush the exits. Then the teacher says "No no no! That is not how you should have handled the situation!" after dozens of students have been trampled and knocked around in the panic.

I think that sums up the issue nicely.

[Sand]

If a teacher or a group of teachers done this to my child, if I had children, I think a lawsuit would be in order. Not a lawsuit for money mind you, but a lawsuit that makes sure these people have nothing to do with the teaching profession for the rest of their lives and no contact with children whatsoever. For teachers to be useful in a community there needs to be a level of trust between the teacher, the student, and the community and these teachers broke that trust big time.

[metadigital]

Now I'm scared. And scarred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children of Sand ...

[Sand]

Children of Sand ...

 

No particle accelerator needed!

Edited May 16, 2007 by Sand

[Gorgon]

Sounds like a horror B movie.

[Sand]

Sounds like a horror B movie.

 

Starring Mark Hammil and Jennifer Tilly!

[Walsingham]

I'd rather they got a straightforward dressing down, followed by them apologising and getting on with their jobs. Talk about over-reacting. Sheesh.

[Sand]

They were fired the last I heard.

 

EDIT: Oh, they were only suspended til the end of the year. Damn slap on the wrist. They should have been fired and their licenses and creditials revoked.

Edited May 16, 2007 by Sand

[Rosbjerg]

yeah because your schoolsystem really needs to fire everyone who makes a bad call - that's gonna make for better education.. no-ones perfect - but no "one" was responsible here, I think it's appropriate - I bet they learned their lesson about creative drills!

 

if they do something stupid of this magnitude again however - then you can fire them.

[Gfted1]

^So, IYO, whats crossing the line? If making the children in their charge literally fear for their lives is a "bad call" punishable with what amounts to a 11 day suspension (schools typically close around 1 Jun for summer break), what is a fireable offence?