Code Blue! Your parents were just blown up in a terrorist bombing at Metro

[many a good man]

(note: cuss words removed. my wife works at the local public h.s. and told me about this)


CODE BLUE! There has been an explosion at Shady Grove Metro Station. Victims will be Med-Evac'ed to school property.

The classroom erupts in shouts and wails. The announcement is drowned out by the sound of an actual helicopter landing in the field outside the classroom window.

Girls shout: My mommy takes the Metro at Shady Grove! Another screams: Mine, too!

The teacher proclaims: Its a lie. There was no bomb! Can't you tell when the government is lying to you? Your parents are fine.

Amid the bedlam the announcer's voice could not be heard. Ten minutes later the helicopter takes off. The principle's voice could finally be heard above the din:

This was only a drill conducted in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security. Code Blue is now lifted.

:wtf:


Four and a half years ago three students at this school lost a parent in the attack on the Pentagon. I can't imagine what was going through these kids' minds.

Last fall there was another DHS drill. The announcement said there was a chemical spill at the local elementary school and the students were being evacuated to the high school. Kids shouted: My little brother goes to that school! Mine, too! The buses that were supposed to evacuate them never showed up so the kids were marched two miles down the suburban streets to the high school. Hundreds of little elementary school kids, one behind the other, hand on the shoulder of the kid in front of them. For forty-five minutes traffic was stopped on a six lane county road while the endless procession of children snaked their way onto school grounds. Once they all arrived safely, another announcement came over the PA telling everyone this was just a drill of the Department of Homeland Security.

:grr:

I'm so mad right now I don't even know what to say...

[MountainLaurel]

1. OMG.

Is the media aware of this horseshit mindfuck?

I live in the District near AU and got the bejeezus scared out of me last year when the Kennedy Center set off fireworks as part of its some cultural festival: Where I was, you could hear several loud booms in succession, periodically for about 10 minutes. DC 911 operators logged hundreds of calls from terrified residents. As for me, I just assumed that someone had bombed one of the embassies.

[Warpy]

2. And we thought those stupid "duck and cover" drills

when we were six that have haunted our nightmares our whole lives were bad. Mine, coincidentally, were just outside DC.

This is unconscionable. These filthy scumballs need to be stopped.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. The inculcation of fear...

Continues apace. All is going to plans, citizen. Have faith in the wisdom of your leaders.

[NashVegas]

4. Six Lane Country Road?

Interstate?

[many a good man]

6. County

This is suburban sprawlsville. And the most liberal progressive county in the DC metro area.

[NashVegas]

15. It's Late For Me

Thanks.

[Ecumenist]

5. Oh my God!!

Who's bright idea was this? Those poor kids.. I know how I felt when my mother was killed and I was 40 years old when it happened..

[silverweb]

7. Verification?

Where do we call our transit stations "the Metro"? (On edit: Okay, Silver Springs, MD. I found it. Never had heard it called that before, thought it sounded British.)

I STILL think if this had actually happened, we'd have heard about it in some form besides an undocumented e-mail. Checking Snopes now....

On edit: I can't find it in Snopes, but that could just mean it's too new to have been researched yet.

I'm still skeptical.

[many a good man]

8. Eyewitness account.

You heard it here first. Happened today.

[silverweb]

10. Unbelievable.

I hope the the parents and the media in that town raise holy hell and get this plastered on every front page and TV screen in the country.

[tocqueville]

12. delete

[ContraBass Black]

40. "Metro" is the official name of the D.C. transit system.

[Dr. Jones]

42. That's Silver Spring, MD.

no "s" on the end.

In DC, people call the underground trains "The Metro." Kinda like, "I'm gonna go see the new Indian Museum tomorrow - I'm gonna take the Metro and get off at the Smithsonian station.

I too would like a link to this story. I'm skeptical as well.

[Dr. Jones]

43. That's Silver Spring, MD.

no "s" on the end.

In DC, people call the underground trains "The Metro." Kinda like, "I'm gonna go see the new Indian Museum tomorrow - I'm gonna take the Metro and get off at the Smithsonian station."

I too would like a link to this story. I'm skeptical as well.

[MadMaddie]

9. Folks this is Katrina all over again....if it isn't clear that the people

at DHS have no idea what they are doing....it should be clear now....if you haven't sat down with your families and actually documented an emergency evacaution plan please do it.....go to your schools and find out what their plans are for evacuation....

My partner and I have already decided that our dogs go with us and we will leave as soon as humanly possible...

DHS
D isaster
H appening
S hit Out of Luck (Americans)

I am so sorry you and other parents had to go through this...

[Imalittleteapot]

11. Fear indoctrination worked us up over

Communists. This is just a new duck and cover scheme. Be afraid.

When there is a fire drill they don't give details of the fire over the intercom. I'm not opposed to drills, but this one, with all of the insensitive drama, is way out of line.

Has this really happened? :shrug:

[many a good man]

13. Totally out of line

Everyone shrugged off the elementary school thing last Fall but I think they'll raise holy hell over this one. I haven't heard anything yet, but its still so new. Drills are fine, but this is unconscionable.

Maybe people are different around here. This is suburban Washington, DC so we've had to endure 911 (several Pentagon workers killed lived around here), the anthrax attacks, and the DC sniper (a guy down my street was a victim). This is a deep blue area and lots of us feel vulnerable with that idiot in the White House. There's only so much one can bear.

[gardenista]

20. And don't forget the earlier sniper events.

In Mt. Pleasant, during the early 90's.

A lovely woman, an activist, friend to all, and truly good person was killed in the alley behind the house I lived in at the time.

[Coastie for Truth]

14. DHS/FEMA is screwed up. When the locals do it

the "suits" (principals, hospital staff, etc.) know in advance; they usually ask for "volunteers" (to play injured or contaminated - for a free lunch).

And, unless you get up past the fire rigs, police cars and ambulances and Red Cross mini vans and ham radio mini-trailers - it has a "picnic" air. But- if you get past the yellow "DO NOT CROSS" tape - it can be realistic.

Altho the fire fighters are working their butts off during the exercise -- they kid around with the kids before, and let them sit in the rig and pretend to "drive" afterwards.

I am involved in about four of these a year.

I get the impression it's part "show and tell" for the emergency responders. The "Chief Officers" want the taxpayers to know that their responders are

* Part of the community
* Well trained
* Working for them

But the DHS/FEMA guys ..... :puke:

[many a good man]

16. Update: not a peep

No news stories. No irate phone calls. No idle gossip in the halls.

Just life as usual in America...

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. So they don't tell the kids it is just a drill?

We do emergency evacuation drills at my school regularly but we ALWAYS tell the kids it is a drill. This is despicable, IMO, to make these kids think there is an actual emergency.

[gardenista]

18. This is horrible child abuse! WTF????? Everyone involved in this fiasco

should be fired!

Oh my GOD!!!!!!!

What in the HELL gives DHS a right to come into a school and do that, and for WHAT THE HELL REASON??!!!

I can't believe this.

[gardenista]

19. K & R

[rateyes]

21. I've had enough of this kind of shit...

when the hell are we going to take to the damned streets and demand change? We've become a nation of damned cowards!

The people who did that, and all who support it should be out in the damned streets! Assholes.

[DIKB]

22. Indoctrination

of our youth. Training the young to be afraid and subservient. This PISSES ME OFF !!!! :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Bluebear]

23. K&R - They're fostering fear and more fear, and EARLY nt

[FredStembottom]

24. All sounds classically urban legend-y to me!

I await real confirmation.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. I don't doubt it

Since 9/11, we have been mandated to have much more frequent disaster drills in schools.

[tomreedtoon]

25. Great side effect though...the kids will never trust school again.

Those kids may not have realized what an egotistical, manipulative weasel the average schoolteacher or "professional educator" is, but this incident will cement it into their little under-educated minds.

It shouldn't take a Columbine incident to remind people that the American educational system is completely wrong-headed. An incident like this should do fine. And don't blame "Homeland Security," which couldn't organize a drill to save anyone's life. This was done by the educators, who probably misread a memo from H.S. (They can't teach children how to read; what makes you think they can read themselves?)

In a high school here in Florida another group of morons with tenure did the classical "prejudice" experiment, tagging every kid whose last name began with N through Z with yellow stars, and made them "Jews in Nazi Germany" for a day. Sure enough, the A through M kids became Nazis and mistreated the N through Z's, sometimes physically, with the approval of the administration. Parents screamed bloody murder, and I'm sure the school system will not get any additional tax money or teacher raises for the next few years. They sure proved their worth.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. um you do realize there are a lot of teachers on DU?

Like me. Your remarks are offensive and uncalled for.

This story points to a dumb idea at ONE school. It certainly doesn't prove the average teacher is an "an egotistical, manipulative weasel".

I would also like to know how the idiotic Nazi experiment will have an effect on tax money and teacher raises. You sure don't seem to understand much about funding for public education if you really believe this. :eyes:

[tomreedtoon]

34. Yes, I realize that the few teachers that can read are on DU.

And may I say that as offensive as my remarks may be, what the teaching "profession" does to destroy children outclasses that.

While it is a dumb idea at one school, it's the only one that got attention. Every day at every school, teachers are lording their egos and psychoses over their charges. The lucky kids laugh it off and get through life okay. The unlucky ones get ground into bloody pulp.

And about the tax money and teacher raises...I went to a school in a St. Louis suburb where the entire educational establishment tried to program the kids into telling their parents to vote for a certain tax increase, or otherwise their school would sink into the mud. All it took to torpedo that tax initiative was the school's inability to deal with rebellious kids, who ended up setting an auditorium on fire. (A fire that trapped me and my physics class, by the way.) That's why educators are afraid of "proof of performance," because no matter what standards are used, they would fail.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. Sounds like you are the one who failed

My sympathy to your teachers. You must have been a gem in class.

[kiteinthewind]

37. Excuse me, teachers are poorly paid and the responsibility they carry

for our children's education.... You really owe ALL teachers an apology. Just because there are SOME bad teachers, doesn't give you the right to slam them all. Shame on you.
:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[countingbluecars]

38. Right wing anti-public school garbage. eom

[Stockholm]

26. You can´t learn old dogs new tricks

Better get them when they are young.

Whomever get the democratic nod in 2008, I hope he/she makes it his/her priority to get the US out of the 9/11 panic room.

[Behind the Aegis]

27. This sounds "funny."

Where is this HS? How can it be confirmed? Why just this one HS? Were other HS' involved? Why "code blue?" 'Code blue' indicates a patient has died and needs resuscitation, unless DNR forms have been signed. Why announce "code blue" and the reason? The students won't know what "code blue" means. I find this story to be very hard to believe.

[many a good man]

44. Lockdown codes

Following the "Beltway Sniper" terror spree schools here implemented a set of lockdown codes to protect the students. Code Blue is the second highest. Doors are closed and locked, students remain in the classroom and class continues. Code Red is the highest and is meant for Colombine-like or street gang-related situations where lives are in danger. Door and windows are locked and covered and the children all move to the front of the class room.

Students know very well what the codes mean. They've had a few Code Red drills, but it was always announced ahead of time that it was just a drill. This time they didn't even tell the teachers. I blame school administrators and DHS for this fiasco.

[nonconformist]

28. What.the.fuck?

And what the hell does THIS mean:

The teacher proclaims: Its a lie. There was no bomb! Can't you tell when the government is lying to you? Your parents are fine.

:wtf:

[many a good man]

31. LOL!

I told my wife she probably shouldn't have said that, but she doesn't care. She has a reputation for bluntness. She's often called bush a liar in front of ther classes and she regularly calls Americans cowards for the way we've reacted to the war on terra. Lucky thing she has tenure! Her anger overboiled at the outrageousness of this stunt. No one was warned about this drill and she knew immediately it was a fake. She was just trying to get the kids to calm down and restore order.

[lostnfound]

29. This is so sick.

The mindsset is that kids are just objects with simple minds..what right do they have to do this to them?!?!

:mad: :grr: :banghead:

[progressoid]

30. Fear and paranoia. Of course it pales in comparison to what we've

been doing to the kids in Iraq for the last 3 years.

[kiteinthewind]

36. Is this for real???

:mad:

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. They are pushing this disaster drill idea at us pretty hard

so it wouldn't surprise me. We have had at least 3 drills this year. But our kids know it is a drill. Not telling them is insane. We have had unannounced fire drills - the fire dept used to mandate we have at least one unannounced drill a year. But the fire alarm going off is completely different from intercom announcements freaking the kids out. They also always tell us - the teachers - we are having a drill. I think this school's administration screwed up big time; they should have at least told the staff so they could immediately calm the kids down and tell them it's a drill.

Now I have a question. Since I have worked my entire career in schools, I don't know the answer. Do businesses have regular fire drills? I remember reading that one of the companies in the WTC had driven their employees crazy with fire drills but they had a relatively small loss of life on 9/11.
My husband said most places he has worked just tell you what to do if there is a fire - where the exits are, etc. Is that the usual routine? Or do they actually vacate the building?

[gardenista]

39. So, is there any confirmation on this now? nt

[many a good man]

46. Still nothing

Maybe the local Gazette will print something next week when it comes out but I doubt it.

I think it was done this way on purpose: they probably want to desensitize the kids so they won't freak out and cause as much bedlam and chaos when/if it ever happens for real. Still pretty lame, IMO, because what do they think is going to happen when they look out the window and see people on stretchers getting pulled out of the helicopters?

[Rose Siding]

45. Did you call anyone in the media about this?

It's the sort of thing our local media might want to cover, at least.