GainesvilleMoms.com

Today I receive a text message from my high school student. All it says is: Mom skwl on lk down, no class.

ok, i'm on a call with my boss when i receive this. i tell him i've got to go, got to figure out what is going on. so, now the text messages really fly.

Mom to kid: Why
Kid to Mom: idk (i don't know, had to figure that one out myself)
Mom to Kid: where are you
Kid to Mom: skwl (school, no duh kid...)
Mom to Kid: yes, daughter, what class
Mom to Kid: are you OK
Kid to Mom: all cool here call u later

ok, at this point, i'm freaking out. so i call the skwl i mean school. i ask them if they are on lockdown and yes they confirm. ok, why?!? now i'm getting ticked. oh, no worries, just a drill, but mam, how did you know we were on lockdown. ok, realizing i could really get daughter in trouble at this point, i froze, even though the idea of her being in trouble with someone else was appealing, i knew i would be blamed in the long run. I said, ok, just wanted to make sure everything was ok and i hung up.

So, now school is out and i am finally able talk to baby girl. i asked her if she was afraid, nope, i asked her if they ever told them it was a drill, she said nope again and that one teacher said it was not a drill. ok, blood pressure rising again, call school again. they assured me that principal read a statement over intercom explaining the drill. so a little embarrassed, i tell the nice office lady that i'll take it up with my resident ding bat. next step, call resident ding bat back. are you sure they did not tell you it was a drill? nope, everyone was screaming so loud that we couldn't hear the announcement at all...

here's where i lose it, what if it had not been a drill? these kids would not have been able to hear any instruction. i asked what class she was in and low and behold it was mr coach, mr cool teacher, ok, where was he? he was in his office and the intern was in charge...

lord help me, if any of you hear of a crazy woman running around a local high school campus trying to get the adults responsible to clue in, remember i tried to vent here first...

OMG! I would be upset also. And I would also be upset on the school questioning you on how and/or why you want to know. Give me a break...you are a parent and they have your child. They should never question as to how or why you want this information. That would have me upset as well. Sometimes the alachua county schools have me so mad, but I am not even going to step on that soap box.

I totally agree with msw. Are you kidding me? Why do they care HOW you knew they were on lockdown? That is your child. They should be happy that parents are calling to find out what is going on. And in these days and times, I could not imagine getting a text like that from my child!

i understand their wanting to know...kids are not supposed to have cell phones on at school...

my child will always have her phone on her and be able to operate it at any time. now with that being said, i also require her to be respectful and not use it unless it is an emergency. i don't allow her to text during class, i don't allow her to have her phone out of her purse or backpack during the day.

cell phones have become very very disruptive during the day.

my biggest gripe is that the students were with an intern during a lockdown, the intern had no idea what the rules were, kept teaching, the students got stupid, running around, making noise. they had no idea what the instructions were. if the student body had been told to go to one area, my child would have had no idea what to do.

during a lockdown, all activities are to stop, lights are to be turned off, blinds are to be closed and students and faculty are to be quiet and wait for further instructions. this did not happen yesterday. if it had not been a drill, my child's life could very well have been at risk.

I see what you are saying. I am familiar with interns and their rules. Are they allowed to have control of a classroom unsupervised? And if a lock-down does happen, drill or not, shouldn't someone know and assist the intern as to how to handle the situation?

one would think but you have to remember, this is mr. GQ teacher, mr. cool man, mr. coach. nothing he does is wrong.

interns have complete control of the classroom at the end of their internship but as i'm learning more everyday, mr. coach teacher has taken advantage of the situation from the beginning.

i plan on trying to talk to him one on one before i bring this back to the administration. i try to give them an opportunity before "getting them in trouble". we'll see...

Keep us posted on this situation...