Turner, Oregon school lockdown drill scares students



KGW News – by Mike Benner, KGW Staff

TURNER, Ore — Some parents and students in the small town of Turner, near Salem, were upset after a lockdown drill sent kids running for their classrooms in terror Wednesday.

“I was on the playground and I see everyone screaming, running into their classrooms,” said fifth-grader Carter Bourassa.  “I turn around and there is this guy climbing over the fence with a stick.”

Carter said the man was dressed in a hoodie.

“I thought someone was going to kidnap us or kill us,” said Carter.  “I was scared and there was a lot of people crying.”

The kids raced inside to their classrooms. Carter said the man then started banging on the windows.

According to the principal of Turner Elementary School, it was all part of a surprise lockdown drill.  He admits things went too far when a student teacher, acting as the intruder, got too aggressive.

Carter’s mom sees the need for drills, done sensibly.

“It’s necessary to have drills,” said Heidi Bourassa.  “There need to be drills and the kids need to be informed it’s a drill.”

Melissa Casady, president of the Turner Parent Club, believes it was never the principal’s intention to scare the kids.

“Every decision they make has the best of intentions behind it,” said Casady.

Back at the Bourassa house, Carter’s mom was making sure he learned a lesson.

“Be prepared for the unexpected if necessary,” she said.

The principal sent a letter home to parents after the drill. He said the school has debriefed about the drill and he hopes everyone learned something.

 http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Lockdown-drill-goes-too-far-191955751.html

7 thoughts on “Turner, Oregon school lockdown drill scares students

  1. All about keeping everyone on hightenened (and frightful) alert state of mind!

    I believe this would fall under military psychological warfare if there is no advanced notice of the “drill” in order to mentally prepare oneself.
    . . .

  2. In my grandfather’s day, kids used to bring their hunting rifles to school and park them at the back of the room. This hoodie MoFo would have looked funny getting his shit rearranged.

  3. Very poor decision. Keep doing drills like this and when the real thing happens, the kids and teachers may not do what is necessary to protect themselves because they won’t know if it’s real or not. Sometimes, it’s better to simply discuss what needs to be done in the event of this kind of attack. I can definitely understand tornado and fire drills because the kids obviously know it is not happening and there is no need to panic. If the person portraying an drill attacker gets killed one day, it wouldn’t surprise me. But these kinds of drills are asking for it.

  4. How about closing down all the public indoctrination camps and letting kids learn online in the comfort of their own home?This can be done now but of course there are too many people that rely on the system that try to hide this from the public.There is no need for the taxation to run schools buses,teachers etc.This system relys on infinite growth to keep us in debt and paying taxes but we live in a finite world.Wake up.We don’t need to be slaves anymore.

  5. We live in the safest times in human history, we don’t need the SCHOOLS putting the children in fear and danger. Very poor idea, very very poor choice. This is what happens when the government runs the school system, choices become political rather than logical.

    1. Unless you are just joking with your statement there Benjamin Dover. Are you kidding me? The human race is living in one of the most dangerous times in human history. Wake up Benjamin and smell the coffee. Safest times in human histoey – yea right, what a joke that statement was!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU F`N SERIOUS BD?

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