WS needs to lock down on lockdown drills.

Every school year, WS is required to do a lockdown drill in order to prepare us for any emergency we might encounter, including a gunman entering our school, or something of that nature. However, after the drill we did at the beginning of this school year, some classes in particular will not be very well prepared for any threat to our safety that we could possibly face.

A paucity of our teachers here at WS have slacked off on the drills, even though the voice on the intercom clearly states, with a stern overtone, that the drill is to be taken as seriously as possible, doing everything as we would in a real situation with an intruder entering the building. Teachers have their students continue to work on their assignments, whether it is a test, a quiz, or even just a worksheet. They have been making students work in silence for the most part (we’ll give them that); however, that just isn’t good enough.

According to an article by PolicyMic, there have been 31 school shootings in America since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, and only 14 in the rest of the world combined. So, yes, it is highly unlikely and no one wants to think about these things actually happening at our school, but with the sporadic increase in tragedies lately with intruders, including the Sandy Hook and Navy Yard shootings, our school and all the teachers should be on the same page doing everything we can to be prepared for anything relating to this topic. As students, we want to feel as safe as possible at our school and never have to worry about a threat to our security at WS.

With that said, we think that the administration should be stricter in enforcing that ALL teachers implement ALL the requirements of a proper lockdown drill: cover the windows, turn the lights off, put all students in a safe spot in the classroom, and stay absolutely silent.

This lockdown process does not take that much effort and only takes away from a small amount of class time, but in the end, it is worth it to take the drills as seriously as possible. After all, what’s more important: Our lives or a test?