Red Alert Drill

Today at school Emma had a "Red Alert Drill." I was puzzled, because I knew she had already done the obligatory tornado and fire drills. So, I asked what it was. "When a burglar comes into the school, they sound the red alert and we have to go hide in our cubbies." It took me a minute (and Sue miming a gun to me) to realize what she was talking about. A "burglar" is a nice way of saying "a person with a gun" to impressionable kindergarten students. Times really have changed if they're teaching our school children to hide in cubbies in the event of an armed assailant entering the building. There's just nothing funny I can say about this, it's just sick and sad that five year olds have to be trained for this. I'm glad the school is taking the precaution but disturbed that they need to.