Teachers fake gunman attack on sixth graders.

[AFCM]

Teachers stage fake gunman attack - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com


MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (AP) -- Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged.

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Some parents said they were upset by the staff's poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

During the last night of the trip, staff members convinced the 69 students that there was a gunman on the loose. They were told to lie on the floor or hide underneath tables and stay quiet. A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, even pulled on a locked door.

After the lights went out, about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said.

"I was like, 'Oh My God,' " she said. "At first I thought I was going to die. We flipped out."

Principal Catherine Stephens declined to say whether the staff members involved would face disciplinary action, but said the situation "involved poor judgment."

[Tim]

I can't decide who needs therapy more; the kids or the faculty! Are these people nuts?

[Karried]

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.


After the lights went out, about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said.

I'd have their jobs. Very stupid and senseless on the teacher's part. Poor kids.

[kmf563]

I agree. I would have their jobs. What kind of sick twisted game is that? You don't teach children how to be safe by scaring the crap out of them!! What's on their agenda for next week? Maybe have some of them get kidnapped and molested to teach them stranger danger? What idiots.

[jbrown84]

This is WRONG. Fire them right now. Don Imus did far less.

[PUGalicious]

Add me to the outraged list... I would have gone ballistic if that had been done to my girls. Un-freakin'-believable.

[MadMonk]

Add me to the outraged list... I would have gone ballistic if that had been done to my girls. Un-freakin'-believable.

[Keith]

Add me to the outraged list... I would have gone ballistic if that had been done to my girls. Un-freakin'-believable.

My thoughts exactly.

[Millie]

I wonder what defense the teachers' union will come up with for this one.

That's ridiculous. It's bad enough that somebody would think of doing that in the first place, but then the other teachers decided to go along with it...

[bandnerd]

There are bad apples in every field, it seems. What a completely stupid thing to do. Makes my profession look even better than it already did.

I know they're human, and we all make mistakes...but come on, a little common sense, people!

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

You know...I don't have kids...But that even makes MY blood boil. Maybe a "fictitious home invasion" might show them how flippin' stupid their idea was.

No, I'm not actually suggesting doing something so retarded. But it WOULD be damn funny....Kick in the door, start screaming at them, line them up on the floor, then say "HAHAHA! JUST KIDDING! You should have seen the look on your face when I told your kids they were going to die! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Yeah...Funny.

Then make them drive the short bus for the next 5 years.

[OkieKAS]

Along with the fake test that really created actual grief in these children, I would make the school district pay for their counseling. I would force these teachers into counseling. I would sue them if this had been my child.

Do they force them to take drugs as part of the Just Say No to Drugs campaign, too?

They committed an act of emotional maltreatment, they should face the District Attorney!

[jbrown84]

What if one or more of them had called 911 with a cell phone while locked in the classroom? These teachers were really stupid.