Why did it take the active shooter drill to establish the spaces she's allowed to go into? Presumably she's had PE class all year, and presumably she's had to go to the bathroom during school. Is...
Why did it take the active shooter drill to establish the spaces she's allowed to go into? Presumably she's had PE class all year, and presumably she's had to go to the bathroom during school. Is she not allowed in either locker room or either bathroom? If so, that's the real story here.
Also, separate from the girl's exclusion entirely, the way this active shooter training was executed has not been in line with the ones I've done. The trainings we execute eliminate the idea that there is a set structure you can follow in the event of a shooter (e.g. "all boys into the boys' locker room."). The situation is fundamentally unpredictable because you do not know the location or circumstances in which it might happen, and, in the event that it is happening, safety supersedes all.
This last part cannot be overstated. The first year we did an active shooter drill, it was hard for a lot of us teachers to wrap our minds around the fact that there wasn't a protocol. We like rules and known outcomes. We're always counting students' heads and moving through hallways in lines. Our whole day is timed down to the minute with bells. We're so used to fire drills where we have time to line up and file out in an orderly fashion. We're so used to there being a set point that we all go to where we stay by class and call roll again to make sure everyone made it out. But if a shooter starts firing down the hall, half my students may run, while the others may freeze and cover in place. Structure is broken at that point, and it'd be detrimental to try to put it back. What benefit would keeping my class together have? None. What if some kids run into a class that isn't theirs? Doesn't matter. What if they run out of the building and don't come back? Great! That's actually the best course of action! The right move in any given moment is for each individual kid to do whatever they can to maximize their own safety.
And with everyone acting individually, stucture no longer matters--survival does. If a girl, transgender or not, runs into the boy's bathroom and it saves her life, there is not only nothing wrong with that but there is everything right with that. Because the student is still alive. The moment we are threatened with death is the moment locations should stop being seen as belonging to "boys" or "girls" and instead start being seen simply as "cover" or "exit."
An update with an interview with the girl's mother and written statement by the girl that her aunt read at a city council meeting. It fills in some details, answering the question @kfwyre raised...
It fills in some details, answering the question @kfwyre raised about what the policy was before this. For 4 years she's been barred from using the gendered restrooms her classmates use, having to go to one far from her classes, and she is not allowed to change in the locker room (having to to keep her gym clothes in her bag and change elsewhere).
In elementary school, classes would be taken to the bathroom as a group, with the students divided by gender on either side of the hallway. They’d then go into the restrooms two at a time. “It was humiliating for her,” Amy explained, “because she would have to walk down a completely separate hallway to go use the bathroom.”
This is pretty horrifying, but it just highlights again how different people behave from everyone I know. I don't even understand how you could argue about this. Step 1: Follow the school's...
This is pretty horrifying, but it just highlights again how different people behave from everyone I know. I don't even understand how you could argue about this. Step 1: Follow the school's policy, which can be argued about later. If there is no policy proceed to step 2. Step 2: Ask/let the girl go where she wants.
On top of that why do they need to separate by gender to begin with? Just get to the nearest safe location! At a previous job we had an active shooter threat and everyone went into the women's...
On top of that why do they need to separate by gender to begin with? Just get to the nearest safe location! At a previous job we had an active shooter threat and everyone went into the women's bathroom regardless of gender and barricaded the door.
Yeah, every time I travel to various factories for work, the signs all say "In event of Tornado Warning, bathrooms are non-specific" or something like that. A work place for adults and a storm,...
Yeah, every time I travel to various factories for work, the signs all say "In event of Tornado Warning, bathrooms are non-specific" or something like that.
A work place for adults and a storm, are different then a school for children and a shooter, but if anything all the more reason emphasis should be placed on sheltering students as quickly as possible. What if a kid has to cross a gym and take longer to get to the "appropriate" locker? Honestly this whole thing is outrageous.
That I don't get, we had a tornado almost hit my high school and my class ended up in the girls locker room since it was the closest non-exterior facing room to where we were, gender be damned....
That I don't get, we had a tornado almost hit my high school and my class ended up in the girls locker room since it was the closest non-exterior facing room to where we were, gender be damned. And this was over a decade ago too!
This whole scenario is utterly fucked, and I hope there's repercussions for the school district coming out of this.
That's a very good question. The only plausible things I could think of is management. Splitting by gender could be an easy way to get a rough 50/50 split so teachers have to keep track of 1/2 as...
That's a very good question. The only plausible things I could think of is management. Splitting by gender could be an easy way to get a rough 50/50 split so teachers have to keep track of 1/2 as many students than if they were to all go to a central location. Having everyone together might be something you'd want to avoid during an active shooter situation.
I think it's most likely just lack of experience. They are presuming that a shooting is something they can control, and this gives them an illusion of control. People hate, HATE being out of...
I think it's most likely just lack of experience. They are presuming that a shooting is something they can control, and this gives them an illusion of control. People hate, HATE being out of control, and planning to be out of control is even worse. So people don't. They act like everything can be planned and normalised when it just can't be. They gender-segregate not for the students' benefit, but so people can control a world that's out of control.
I should add that in my example there were many bathrooms all over but my specific work area went to one bathroom to make it easier to communicate. The men's and women's bathrooms were right next...
Having everyone together might be something you'd want to avoid during an active shooter situation.
I should add that in my example there were many bathrooms all over but my specific work area went to one bathroom to make it easier to communicate. The men's and women's bathrooms were right next to each other but the women's was the designated shelter and had a landline phone for communication in an emergency. They actually had a pretty decently thought out plan considering there was once a disgruntled worker that went on a shooting spree in the 90's.
Why did it take the active shooter drill to establish the spaces she's allowed to go into? Presumably she's had PE class all year, and presumably she's had to go to the bathroom during school. Is she not allowed in either locker room or either bathroom? If so, that's the real story here.
Also, separate from the girl's exclusion entirely, the way this active shooter training was executed has not been in line with the ones I've done. The trainings we execute eliminate the idea that there is a set structure you can follow in the event of a shooter (e.g. "all boys into the boys' locker room."). The situation is fundamentally unpredictable because you do not know the location or circumstances in which it might happen, and, in the event that it is happening, safety supersedes all.
This last part cannot be overstated. The first year we did an active shooter drill, it was hard for a lot of us teachers to wrap our minds around the fact that there wasn't a protocol. We like rules and known outcomes. We're always counting students' heads and moving through hallways in lines. Our whole day is timed down to the minute with bells. We're so used to fire drills where we have time to line up and file out in an orderly fashion. We're so used to there being a set point that we all go to where we stay by class and call roll again to make sure everyone made it out. But if a shooter starts firing down the hall, half my students may run, while the others may freeze and cover in place. Structure is broken at that point, and it'd be detrimental to try to put it back. What benefit would keeping my class together have? None. What if some kids run into a class that isn't theirs? Doesn't matter. What if they run out of the building and don't come back? Great! That's actually the best course of action! The right move in any given moment is for each individual kid to do whatever they can to maximize their own safety.
And with everyone acting individually, stucture no longer matters--survival does. If a girl, transgender or not, runs into the boy's bathroom and it saves her life, there is not only nothing wrong with that but there is everything right with that. Because the student is still alive. The moment we are threatened with death is the moment locations should stop being seen as belonging to "boys" or "girls" and instead start being seen simply as "cover" or "exit."
An update with an interview with the girl's mother and written statement by the girl that her aunt read at a city council meeting.
It fills in some details, answering the question @kfwyre raised about what the policy was before this. For 4 years she's been barred from using the gendered restrooms her classmates use, having to go to one far from her classes, and she is not allowed to change in the locker room (having to to keep her gym clothes in her bag and change elsewhere).
Wow, that's even more horrible.
This is pretty horrifying, but it just highlights again how different people behave from everyone I know. I don't even understand how you could argue about this. Step 1: Follow the school's policy, which can be argued about later. If there is no policy proceed to step 2. Step 2: Ask/let the girl go where she wants.
On top of that why do they need to separate by gender to begin with? Just get to the nearest safe location! At a previous job we had an active shooter threat and everyone went into the women's bathroom regardless of gender and barricaded the door.
Yeah, every time I travel to various factories for work, the signs all say "In event of Tornado Warning, bathrooms are non-specific" or something like that.
A work place for adults and a storm, are different then a school for children and a shooter, but if anything all the more reason emphasis should be placed on sheltering students as quickly as possible. What if a kid has to cross a gym and take longer to get to the "appropriate" locker? Honestly this whole thing is outrageous.
That I don't get, we had a tornado almost hit my high school and my class ended up in the girls locker room since it was the closest non-exterior facing room to where we were, gender be damned. And this was over a decade ago too!
This whole scenario is utterly fucked, and I hope there's repercussions for the school district coming out of this.
That's a very good question. The only plausible things I could think of is management. Splitting by gender could be an easy way to get a rough 50/50 split so teachers have to keep track of 1/2 as many students than if they were to all go to a central location. Having everyone together might be something you'd want to avoid during an active shooter situation.
I think it's most likely just lack of experience. They are presuming that a shooting is something they can control, and this gives them an illusion of control. People hate, HATE being out of control, and planning to be out of control is even worse. So people don't. They act like everything can be planned and normalised when it just can't be. They gender-segregate not for the students' benefit, but so people can control a world that's out of control.
I should add that in my example there were many bathrooms all over but my specific work area went to one bathroom to make it easier to communicate. The men's and women's bathrooms were right next to each other but the women's was the designated shelter and had a landline phone for communication in an emergency. They actually had a pretty decently thought out plan considering there was once a disgruntled worker that went on a shooting spree in the 90's.