FCPS- weapons detection causing wait and anxiety-

[Anonymous]

wow. OP here. This is in the "special needs" forum

I appreciate some of the perspectives, but I truly have to wonder if any of you have a child with tremendous anxiety. If you don't think we are in therapy with a counselor and psychiatrist you are wrong. If I could snap my fingers and make my kid normal I would, trust. That would be a lot easier.

And I'm angry that FCPS sucks so bad and implemented this "theater" security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:wow. OP here. This is in the "special needs" forum

I appreciate some of the perspectives, but I truly have to wonder if any of you have a child with tremendous anxiety. If you don't think we are in therapy with a counselor and psychiatrist you are wrong. If I could snap my fingers and make my kid normal I would, trust. That would be a lot easier.

And I'm angry that FCPS sucks so bad and implemented this "theater" security.

And I am sorry normal should have been in quotes "normal" I'm so tired but I'm glad to know I'm trying to take the easy way out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow. OP here. This is in the "special needs" forum

I appreciate some of the perspectives, but I truly have to wonder if any of you have a child with tremendous anxiety. If you don't think we are in therapy with a counselor and psychiatrist you are wrong. If I could snap my fingers and make my kid normal I would, trust. That would be a lot easier.

And I'm angry that FCPS sucks so bad and implemented this "theater" security.

And I am sorry normal should have been in quotes "normal" I'm so tired but I'm glad to know I'm trying to take the easy way out

No one said you are taking the easy way out. Many of us have anxiety and kids with anxiety and have done enough therapy to know that the goal is not to avoid anxiety ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why accommodate this?

My kid has been going to a school with metal detectors for 2 years. He figured out he wanted to get to school early to avoid the lines.

That's nice.
FCPS HS do not allow students to "get to school early". They stand in a crowd with thousands of other kids and the door is unlocked at X time every day.

Dp. Even so, if the kid is early, wouldn’t he be at the front and therefore have a shorter wait time?

I would guess that the long wait time is exacerbates the anxiety. So this sounds like a reasonable suggestion to try imo.

[Anonymous]

NP. There needs to be a way for this board to be taken out of recent topics. Can even people with normal, non-anxious kids really not see how this is problematic for a kid who might become school avoidant? I mean, if not, count yourselves lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. There needs to be a way for this board to be taken out of recent topics. Can even people with normal, non-anxious kids really not see how this is problematic for a kid who might become school avoidant? I mean, if not, count yourselves lucky.

Here we go with the you couldn’t possibly understand posts…🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. There needs to be a way for this board to be taken out of recent topics. Can even people with normal, non-anxious kids really not see how this is problematic for a kid who might become school avoidant? I mean, if not, count yourselves lucky.

If your kid tends to school avoidance an anxiety that is all the more reason to be on guard against the next thing they are going to say they cannot cope with and therefore have to stay home/skip/be late. This should be an overall framework any parent of an anxious kid has learned through therapies such as SPACE. Life is a series of unexpected events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why accommodate this?

My kid has been going to a school with metal detectors for 2 years. He figured out he wanted to get to school early to avoid the lines.

That's nice.
FCPS HS do not allow students to "get to school early". They stand in a crowd with thousands of other kids and the door is unlocked at X time every day.

Dp. Even so, if the kid is early, wouldn’t he be at the front and therefore have a shorter wait time?

I would guess that the long wait time is exacerbates the anxiety. So this sounds like a reasonable suggestion to try imo.

I think the key here is that the kid figures it out. My anxious kid figured out he wanted to get to school 30 minutes early to avoid the line and doesn’t take his phone to avoid the second devise check in/check out line. His school is small but I will say that an added benefit of the metal detectors and security guards is that they see him every day and know him - and they absolutely give the social worker a call if something is off (like when they saw some self harm marks).

As a parent you need to reinforce - yes kid you need to go to school. You can figure out how to cope.

[Anonymous]

OP, I feel you. We didn’t deal with this exactly but when my very anxious child was tipping into school avoidance we lucked out and he got PE first period (he is very into sports and physical activity resets his brain) and the difference was huge. I didn’t know that was what he needed, until he got it!
All of that is to say… I find myself trying to brainstorm ways to get your kiddo off on the right foot at the start of the school day. Because this situation sounds like a mess and my crowd-hating kid would absolutely loathe it.
Would *adding* a morning ritual help? Like if you could pull over a block from school, listen to their favorite song and hand them a muffin… would something like that help? A chocolate milk in a thermos handed as they hop out of the car? What about really good over-the-ear headphones to drown out the chaos and listen to their fave song or 5 minute affirmation on the Calm app, or a podcast, or something - on the way thru the security line?
I’m hoping some soothing ritual immediately beforehand that would dim the anxiety.
Like as adults we have these rituals, right? I feel more stoic walking into work with an iced latte in my hand…
Good luck. 💕