Lockdown drill ensures preparedness

Make Mine Marlborough, News Blogs — By isabel '14 on January 12, 2012 7:23 pm

The lights were out, the shades were drawn, the door was locked: Marlborough School was in a lockdown drill. Through the blinds, teachers could be seen purposefully strolling up and down the corridors, a walkie-talkie clutched in one hand and a clipboard in the other. The students were doing homework, muttering to each other about the answer they got for question number eight or last night’s episode of Psych. We were still sitting at our desks, and some people had not even moved from in front of the windows despite the possible hazard. We were in our own little worlds caring about our own little problems.

Then, all of a sudden, the door shakes.

A person outside was trying to force the classroom door knob! The entire class screamed. Our guards were down and we were caught unaware. The School had gotten to us, just as they had in 7th and 8th Grade with the fake blood and inspections by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). We would later discover that it was only Assistant to the Head of School Janice McKinnon, making sure the door was actually locked. Nevertheless, the initial shock of there being a possible murderer on campus snapped us back to the present.

Regardless of whether you have experienced a drill a million times before, you should not relax or take it for granted that you are completely safe and do not need to practice precautions. In the summer of 2010, there was an actual lockdown at Marlborough. A gunman held up a bus right outside our gates on Rossmore Boulevard. Even though it was summer, there were many students on campus who were taking Water Safety and other Summer School courses. When the lockdown occurred, all of the Water Safety students in Caldwell Pool had to get out and, with only their towels for warmth, wait in the locked bathrooms attached to the Employee Lounge until the danger passed.

It should not take someone unexpectedly trying to force the door knob of your classroom door to get you to take the drill seriously. You never know: the next time someone tries to force entry, it might actually be someone menacing.