- The police will, like,
they just ran across our playground.
- With?
- Guns.
- With their guns out?
- [Woman] You saw this?
- All the kids saw it.
(upbeat music)
Hi!
- Hey.
- My name is Clara.
I'm in first grade and I'm seven.
- I'm Jed, I'm Clara's Dad.
- [Woman] Jed, do you wanna tell Clara
what we are gonna talk about today?
- So, you're gonna explain to me what a school lockdown is.
- It's like, you stay inside,
because there's something dangerous outside.
They would say, "Pardon, we have a lockdown.
Lock your doors, pull down the shades
and turn the lights off, thank you."
- You're so polite.
What do you do in your class?
- We have like this corner pillow area
and then we can sort of, like, hide near the brown chairs
and in the pillow area and we turn all the lights of
and lock our door and pull the shades down.
- So why do you think you guys go to that pillow area,
to do it?
- It's the farthest place from the door.
- So the ones that you've had at your school,
do you know why they did a lockdown?
- We actually saw police,
they just ran across our playground.
- With?
- Guns.
- With their guns out?
- [Woman] You saw this?
- All the kids saw it.
- [Woman] What was going through your head?
- It was, like, all black and white.
- What do you mean it was all black and white?
- It was like a black and white screen.
Felt scary.
It felt scary.
What was happening?
- What I think happened that time,
is at the end of the block, past your playground,
there was a house where people were selling drugs
and the police were trying to surprise the people
in that house, so in order to surprise them,
they ran through your playground.
- Why did they have their guns drawn?
- That's a great question.
I don't know and I don't think they should have
had their guns drawn.
You know what happens usually in schools?
- What?
- Is that if the police know that something is happening
in the neighborhood,
they call the schools in that neighborhood
and tell them it's a good time to lockdown.
- Yeah, it wasn't a lockdown, it was shelter in place.
- At you school, did they use both those terms?
Shelter in place and lockdown?
Did they tell you if it's one or the other?
- Yes.
They say, like, "Pardon the interruption,
we have a shelter in place, stay in the building."
- Which one is scarier to you?
- Lockdown.
- Yeah.
- Because someone dangerous or something dangerous
could be in the school.
- How long does it last if it's a drill?
- The drill's only like five minutes.
- Do they tell you if it's a drill?
- No, not at first.
So that you actually know how to deal with it
if it's a drill or not.
How do you feel about this?
- It's kinda scary to think about the fact
that you have to go through so many drills
and real lockdowns and shelter in place.
I didn't have to do this when I was a kid,
we mostly did earthquake drills and fire drills.
- Why didn't you have lockdown drills?
- Well, I think that there's more school violence now
that involve guns and so I think that people
are more concerned now about what kind of tragedies
could happen.
When I was a kid it just,
there wasn't that much gun violence in schools.
- [Woman] Do you think this is normal, Clara?
- No.
I wish that we didn't have to do it.
- How come?
- Because it's scary.
- I wish you didn't have to do it either.
- [Woman] Jed, do you have any instructions for Clara
for what she should do?
- Well, you seem to be following the instructions
really well and I think that's important,
so I want you to keep doing that.
Practicing those drills and taking them seriously,
so that you're prepared if anything every really happens.
- [Woman] Clara, do you have a message
to all the kids out there?
- Stay safe and listen, whether it's a drill or not.
- [Woman] All right, you guys can walk off, thank you.
Oh!
- What was that?
(laughing)