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The devil is making them do it
The latest addition to our lending library is Be That As It May!: Or ten stupid things governments do to mess up ‘“edyukayshun” by Roberta Maclise McDonald. Written by a retired teacher, the book examines modern educational practices in the light of what was done in the past, usually finding that the past was better. (There are exceptions, for example language immersion and charter schools.) The book is exceptionally interesting, however, because of the light it sheds on teacher powerlessness. Despite deploring many (most?) modern practices, this teacher was unable to do a thing about them. The book will be an eye-opener to those who condemn teachers for going along with progressive policies.
The following is an excerpt from the chapter on “School Time (And Money) Wasters” (pp. 67-68), which includes things like too-frequent fire drills, intercoms, no-textbook policies, overuse of audio-visual materials, assemblies, swim lessons during school time, and the semester system. Here is what she has to say about “the lock-down”. After pointing out that a grand total of 22 people have been shot to death in Canadian schools since 1960, she writes as follows.
“Notwithstanding that these are terrible tragedies, it does not seem to follow that thousands of students as well as their educational progress should have ot suffer to try to avert ‘even one more death’. Educational authorities seem to forget that these events occurred because of deranged, mentally unstable individuals, people who live among us and will continue to do so. Everyone acknowledges that it is impossible to prevent such events from ever happening. The astronomical costs to the detriment of education do not seem to deter bureaucrats from instituting more costly, time-consuming procedures to try to make the schools safer. Shouldn’t the total costs, including the ones related to monetary, psychological, and human rights, be taken into account instead of willy nilly implementing draconian procedures like Lock-Down?
“One of these lock-downs occurred while I was a substitute teacher a couple of years ago. I was very grateful there was a teacher assistant who knew what the procedures were. The children were all herded into a little ‘time out’ room at the back of the classroom; the doors were locked, the blinds drawn, all the lights were turned off, and it was our job to keep the students from whispering, even coughing, for what seemed like an eternity. We were fortunate that the school in question had been built recently, making accommodation for such a hiding facility, something few classrooms have. Altogether the exercise lasted about 25 minutes, ruined most of the period, and totally changed the learning atmosphere. It turned out to be merely a Lock-Down drill.
“Apparently thjis practice drill has been instituted in most schools, and is currently being mandated to take place several times a year. I can say only ‘wow’! Does the minute possibility of danger from this source really justify this huge waste of time? If a killer really were stalking the hallways, how effective would these measures be?”
Lock downs became a reality for one year, that was cause by a young adult man who threatened to blow up the school on the day the school burned down over 20 years ago. It was one way of getting the video equipment and other gear that the school lacked. The school also added new procedures where all doors were lock, and all visitors had to ring the door buzzer, until we were buzzed in. There has not been any lock down practice since that year, the main doors are kept open during school hours, and no parent or visitor has to wait at the door anymore. They see a visitor coming before a person gets to the door, and quickly determined if that person poses a threat, through the use of video. On the day of the anniversary of the fire, the parents was given the option to sent their children in a lock down situation or stay home. I opted to send my child to school, and it turned into a fun day for those who went to school. Lock downs never made sense in my small rural community, where children can escape by windows, lap tops/cell phones are plentiful, and a community where the majority of residents have high-power rifles. A lone gun man would be taken down fairly quickly. There is no more lock-down drills, but the school has some very good safety procedures just in case a deranged person decided to do harm. Since the new video gear, there has been a drastic cut in break-ins, graffiti, and other petty crime in schools and other public buildings in town.