By Sam Cavalcanti, YDP
One of our main priorities at the Boys and Girls Club is to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for all of our members. This includes, of course, emergency preparedness procedures, which are a must for both our staff and our members. Last week, we ran a LEAF Drill– which stands for Lockdown, Earthquake, Active Shooter, and Fire Drill– at our John Adams Middle School (JAMS) site. We covered the Lockdown and Active Shooter procedures, and have scheduled future drills to cover the rest of the protective measures in the near future.
Every child has the right to frequent school and after-school settings without worrying about tragic, life-threatening incidents. They should be thinking about classes, about their classmates, about making friends, having fun, and growing as individuals with a bright future ahead of them. The idea that someone would dare cut any of that short is absolutely deplorable. We hope that no child ever has to face a real lockdown or active shooter situation, but if such an incident were to occur, it is important that they are as prepared as possible, and that begins by familiarizing them with the appropriate immediate responses.
You can read some of the measures in the image below. To know more about school shootings, including an up-to-date tracker, you may visit the EdWeek Yearly Tracker, and you can read more about lockdown procedures in the ADT School Lockdown page.