Ms. Holloway,
My daughter, Talia Rosenberg, is an 8th grader at Walker Middle Magnet. Today, I received the notification from you that there is another Lockdown Drill this morning. I'd like to take a moment to express my opposition to these drills.
Although school shootings are horrific, and far too common, it's also clear that they are statistically low on the scale of actual threats to our children--the odds of any one of them actually being in an active shooter situation is miniscule. But, the effects of drills such as these are being scrutinized, and it's unclear if they actually provide any benefit, even in the unlikely event of an actual incident. There is, however, mounting evidence that there are real and significant negative psychological effects on students who participate in these drills. In short, we're quite possibly having a meaningful negative impact on our kids by ineffectively training them to deal with something they are unlikely to ever face.
I'm sure you've seen all of this research (and more), and I have a feeling that you aren't in control of how often, or whether, you perform these drills. And, I'm also sure that, were you to announce an end to them, you'd face an enormous backlash from some of the parents. So, I do understand that, even if you agree with my position, you're in a tough spot. That being said, I thought it was important for you to hear from at least one parent who feels this way.
Wishing you a safe day, and a happy holiday season.
Jason Rosenberg
It's not an original thought, but there's a culture of fear which pervades our society, and it's not harmless. We're being trained, in subtle and not so subtle ways, to move through the world as if it were a place of constant danger.
There is of course, danger in the world; anyone would be a fool to suggest otherwise. But, I think it's also manifestly true that the world is often described, and treated, as if it were far more dangerous than it actually is. We could skip the vast majority of the precautions we take in life, and be just fine.
That wouldn't be a problem--better safe than sorry, after all--but we have to realize that every measure that we take to make ourselves safer also has unintended consequences. And, we have to at least think about balancing out those consequences with the actual benefit that we get.
It's an easy target, but how many billions of dollars have been spent, and continue to be spent, on increased airport security since 9/11, and how much safer are we, actually? How much better off would we be as a society if that money were spent on, say, food for the hungry, or enrichment programs for the underprivileged, or, if you're more conservative than I am, tax reduction? What is the real opportunity cost of the expanded TSA?
I remember reading, years ago, about a report on child safety. It seems that because of a perceived increase in child abductions (which was largely fueled by an over-zealous, and more nation-wide media) parents were keeping their children indoors at far higher rates. But, as a result of this, childhood health was plummeting, because kids were spending less time riding their bikes and playing games on their friends' lawns, and more time watching TV and playing video games. We made our kids safer from a barely-existent threat, and gave them diabetes in return.
We have a sheriff's deputy outside our synagogue whenever we have kids in school, or whenever we have services on Shabbat. What message does that send to a person who is trying to attend synagogue for the first time? What does it say to a person of color who is entering our building, and who may have a very different relationship with law enforcement than I do? What is the cost, both financial and personal, of having armed security outside our building, and what actual benefit do we get from it?*
* I've actually asked a few of our (wonderful) deputies this question. Each time, I've been told that there is close to zero benefit in terms of actual safety. Maybe there is a deterrent factor for the random bad-actor, but there is no meaningful increase in security against a determined assailant from having 1 or 2 deputies on duty.
Of course, we need to be prudent. We need airport security. We need to keep our neighborhoods safe. We need to have serious, mature discussions about what measures, at what cost. I just wish we'd actually have those discussions a bit more, and a bit more calmly than I've usually seen them take place.
And, I sure wish my daughter's school would stop pretending that scaring her is making her safer.
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