Yesterday we had a bomb threat at our local high school. Here is a detailed first-hand account of controlled chaos.
First off, how messed up can our kids of the 21st century be? Do they lack attention? Are they abused? Are they bullied? Are they the geeks and the nerds who do not feel as though they fit in? Or… are they the “cool” kids having some devastating fun at a whopping cost to both the community and the school? Or are they the smart asses who just don’t care what they do, who they hurt or how often?
I don’t understand the mindset of the teens today. They have every cool gadget known to humanity. They Facebook, Twitter, text, snap phone pictures, create videos for You Tube, all the while knowing exactly what the kid in the last classroom at the end of the hallway is doing at precisely at any given moment. But yet they are dumb enough to etch a bathroom wall with a memo that reads “tick tock tick tock”. How long do they think it will take someone to trace the stunt back to its rightful owner? After all the school has cameras, peers who know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows, and leaks throughout the community.
At about 11:30am yesterday the front office received notification of a bomb threat. The message was scratched on the boys bathroom wall. Emergency crisis training immediately kicks in. First the students have to be transported to another place. This involves locating another school to house the students and faculty as well as the bus garage to get those part-time bus drivers back to the school pronto. Next the cafeteria has to make arrangements to transport and prepare lunches for the hundreds of students at another facility. This involves the entire cafeteria team loading and unloading tons of food and milk products. By now the entrance and exits to the school are closed by emergency personnel, the entire police and sheriff localities, ambulances and fire trucks. Since we are rural the dogs have to be called in from locations that are an hour out of our territory.
By now the phones are ringing off the hook as every kid in the school has texted someone of the situation. Parents want to know where we are going, what time the kids can be picked up and what about those darn sports events. Surely you won’t cancel games or practices. And how about that driver’s license my son or daughter is supposed to get today? Matters of priority.
Students were not allowed to leave the building with book bags or purses of any kind. Driver’s had to leave their vehicles not knowing when they could pick them up. Student attitudes quickly kicked into high NEGATIVE gear because they are like most typical teenagers are self-centered and don’t understand the meaning of
C-R-I-S-I-S M-O-D-E!!!!!
The busses arrive shortly afterwards are loaded by freshmen to seniors and transported to another school. This creates total disruption for the hosting school. The building is cleared of every person–no-one is left except the local law enforcement agencies and the dogs once they arrive.
Parents beat the busses to pick kids up. Within 1.5 hours we had dismissed 220 kids but first we had to make sure the person picking up the student is listed on their pick-up card. Phones ringing off the hook at the host site, continuous announcements going over the loud-speaker to get folks up to the office and bang — it was all over. We could return back to our school just in time for dismissal. About three hours later. However, we are the experts now. This is the district’s 3rd bomb threat this school year. Thank goodness no one was injured.
In a matter of days the culprit(s) will be caught and justice will eventually be served. But how pitiful the whole situation is. Another kid or kids life ruined before the age of eighteen. This is the true tragedy of the entire event.
What is your child doing tonight? Give them a hug and tell them just how deep your love is for him/her. Your child just may be that culprit.
see you soon…
EPIC Tales of YesterYear 