How to talk to 4 year old about a school lockdown drill?
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Anonymous
| Anyone have any advice on how to discuss a school lockdown drill with a 4 year old? Bonus points if you can provide anything that would lead to an actual conversation (DS does not communicate much on what happens during school). I'm pretty sure he's experienced some kind of drill in day care but nothing like what I'm sure he'll experience in an actual school setting with 400+ kids so I want to talk about it in advance. |
Anonymous
| A lockdown drill doesn't involve 400+ kids impacting your kid, by definition. In a lockdown drill, the kids shelter in place in their classroom. OP, your best bet is to ask the teacher what language they use with the kids to describe the drill and then model that language in your conversation. |
Anonymous
| Is he in a public preschool? |
Anonymous
Do you preemptively explain fire drills? Is there some reason to think your kid might be anxious or upset about the drill? Mine were not, treated it just like fire drills. |
Anonymous
| Its like a fire drill. You tell him to follow the rules and the teacher's instructions. They are learning an important safety routine. |
Anonymous
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We talked about it afterwards because it was scary and weird to huddle in the classroom bathroom with the entire class. I can't remember how the conversation went, but I mainly listened. Like if DC didn't bring it up, I'd say "I heard there was a drill today." and let them talk. I think giving the kids a chance to talk it through is more important than explaining anything more than what they might ask.
If I had talked about it ahead of time, it would have made my child more anxious. |
Anonymous
| IME, kids roll with these things well. My oldest is pretty sensitive and I expected lockdowns to be very upsetting for him. But they are not. He thinks of it yet like a tornado or fire drill. I would be careful not to put your anxiety about them on him. |
Anonymous
| Can any teacher here tell me what's the protocol in lock down drills in pre-school or ES? Are the kids told to hide and keep quiet? And how is that instruction and the bases for those instructions given? |
Anonymous
You're probably that I'm projecting my sadness, anger and anxiety on this issue by thinking I should talk in advance about it but I know that if I just ask him about it after school I'll just get a blank stare or maybe a "yea" if I'm lucky. The lack of communication is whole 'nother issue for another thread 
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Anonymous
My ES son was told the drill was to keep them safe if someone comes into the school that isn't supposed to be there. He didn't seem to think it was a big deal. |
Anonymous
Forgot to add, the instructions are to hide, like playing hide and seek, and be quiet. I'm not a teacher, just a parent. |
Anonymous
Same with my child. Though I would note, she then asked what would happen because there was at least one child in the classroom who was not generally quiet and she wondered what would happen to them if someone wasn't quiet. 
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Anonymous
| In my son’s preschool, they tell the kids it’s a game where they pretend there’s a wolf outside and have to hide. I’m okay with their approach. FWIW in the 80s in my elementary school we had lockdown drills. The teachers would lock the doors, turn off the lights, shut the blinds, etc. They talked about potential intruders but never about guns or violence, and it wasn’t traumatizing. Young kids don’t need details, just the basics. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
As a teacher, my answer to this is “then we’ll need to practice again.” When I taught young kids, I’d tell them that the principal wanted us to practice being quiet, and that I had a game to make it fun, I’d crumple up a piece of red paper, and tell the kids we were going to pretend it was a campfire, and practice staying close and quiet as if we were listening to the animals in the dark. At the end, I’d give each kid a marshmallow. |