Have you ever wondered if you were safe in school? Have you ever thought about what to do if a intruder comes into school, where to hide, where to run? Do you know how to get into lockdown mode? Does your school have a 90% and above lockdown accuracy?

On February 25th, Officer Osias gave her time to the CST for an interview. This interview mainly focused on the topic of school shootings and how to prepare for one. The preparation in case of a school shooting has been a high priority this year. Officer Osias believes the most important rule kids need to know for school safety is what to do in an lock down drill. She states, “It is to be behind a locked door, quiet, and out of sight. We know that they want high body counts and that they are limited in time, because WE are coming. So if we can not have targets for him/her that delays or stops people from getting shot and gives us time.”

Lindenhurst Schools are not alone in their habit of lockdown drills.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics 90% of public schools in the U.S. drilled students on school shooting plans in 2015 – 2016. But there still might be those children in public schools who do not know what to do.  According to Officer Osias, “You don’t wanna be anywhere near that intruder, you wanna stay as far away from the intruder as possible. So the deal is to run away and hide.” This clearly explains the importance of lockdown drills in our school and other schools in the area.  

Although LHS was not initially perfect at the practice of locking down, our scores and results have dramatically improved since the beginning of the year.  Officer Osias commended LHS for our progress stating, ”[You] are now almost 98% complete intotal compliance. Which means that 98% of the school was in lockdown at a timely fashion, kids were quiet, out of sight, and all the doors were locked.”  Our success rate is due to ritualistic practice of this drill. The more the school practices it, the routine will become automatic in the case of a emergency. Officer Osias agrees that this is not a easy thing for some students and teachers to do but says, “as disgusting is that it is that we have to be automatic for a lockdown drill, we want everybody to know what to do and be safe.”

While all the kids in the school have practiced these lockdown drills, most kids have only practiced lockdown drills in class. What if they were in lunch or gym? Different parts of the school have different lockdown drills and guided directions. If students are in lunch and the lockdown drill alarm goes off, kids would have to go into the kitchens and hide. Mr Campbell has arranged periodic cafeteria drills during 9th period to help with this process.  The goal is that more and more students are aware of what to do in that given situation and could guide and assist others.