Lockdown.

Today there was a lockdown at Antonio’s school. By chance I was there doing a couple PTSA things AND the lockdown was only because of police activity in the area. 

But there was a lockdown and it was not a drill.

Our PTSA is lucky enough to have a portable all to ourselves. When the lockdown happened I knew it was different from the drill they have every so often. I could tell from the announcement. There was a different tone. A couple minutes later another announcement came over saying the lockdown was still in place and that it was not a drill.

WHAT?!?! 

I'll be honest, I panicked and said to Rebecca, who was there with me, "Oh My God".

I quickly knew, thanks to social media, it was because of the police activity and not because of a shooter or anything else. But I was panicking. 

Even though I was there and could see all was fine at the school. I was panicking. I wanted to see Antonio and reassure him all was fine. How was he handling it? Was his teacher reassuring everyone that they were ok? Because even the teachers were caught off guard by this. 

I learned that IF there was a shooter on campus the announcement over the intercom would say so. 😱 That made me feel better knowing we’d know if there was but also freaked me out that then the kids would also know. That would change those kids lives, some more than others. The whole thing/idea scares me. 

How is this is our reality? This is surely Antonio's reality for the rest of his life. Whether it be at school or in a workplace or at a movie. These things happen. And more often. 

Antonio willingly told me about it when he got home. He started by saying, "something really scary happened at school today." Then he continued to tell me about it and how it was scary because it was not a drill and even he teacher didn't know it was going to happen. I told him I was at school too when it happened and thought it was scary too but knew that he was safe. I asked him if he knew he was safe and he said yes. I asked if his teacher talked about it or told him he was safe and he said no, but he knew his teacher would keep him safe. It means so much to me that he knew from her words and actions throughout the year so far that she would keep him safe. She didn't have to tell him today, he already knew. ❤ 

I don't know details on what the police activity was nor do I need to know. All I care about is that they enforced the lockdown for precautionary reasons because of the activity near the school and they kept my boy safe. I can say that the staff at Antonio's school is amazing and did a fantastic job keeping those kiddos safe. As much as I hope this never happens again other than a drill I do feel better seeing how well they did when it was NOT a drill.

Teachers not only teach our kids but they protect them, even the ones that make everyday a struggle for them. Teachers need more credit, more support, more appreciation and more pay. Where else would the person "in charge" do everything in their power to protect you? In all these school shootings there's always a staff member who either died protecting their students or risked their life to protect students. Teachers are amazing humans! Be sure to thank your child's teacher, I did today. Make sure they know you appreciate them because they do so much for our kids!