Do you remember those days when all you need to prepare for school are a couple of new notebooks, a brand new lunchbox, and a new backpack?
Nowadays though, with the influx of school shootings, parents are preparing their children on what to do in case a shooter comes to school.
And that’s what Cassie Walton is doing as her five-year-old son, Weston, prepares to start school this August.
“In the back of your mind, you just are always worried about it. And it’s never off the table,” Cassie told ABC News. “It’s always possible no matter where you live, or what kind of school you go to, you just really never know.”
Cassie has began to teach Weston what to do in case a shooter arrives at their school.
She asked him that when a teacher announces on the intercom that this is not a drill and they all need to go to a corner, what will he do? Weston learns well and runs to a corner with his backpack while narrating to his mom what he’s doing.
Cassie follows him and asks him what he’s going to do with his backpack.
He crouches down low and uses his backpack to shield his entire body. For extra measure, Cassie bought him a bulletproof backpack insert that can be placed inside his favorite Spiderman backpack.
And if a teacher tells him he doesn’t need his backpack, Cassie has taught him to say that he needs it because it’s bulletproof.
“I think that it’s important for him to at least know a few ideas of what he should be doing rather than just going in blindly and not knowing anything,” Cassie added. “He has been doing a very good job of remembering what to do and how to do it, and of course, I told him that when it’s in the moment it may not be exactly the same, that he may have to do something different.”
Safe and Sound Schools is an organization founded by Sandy Hook parents, educators, and community members as a response to the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.
They’ve been fighting to further improve and heighten the safety and security measures in schools so that the Sandy Hook shooting doesn’t happen again. And they recommend talking to your young children about school safety, even when it seems intimidating.
They shared a few tips on how to do it.
First, do your own research. Ask the principal, the staff, and the teachers about their safety and security measures and if and what kind of drills are they practicing with the students.
Then ask your child what they know about the security measures in their school. What is their school teaching them about safety?
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It really involves being open and understanding with your children.
“I just wanted to show that even though it is sad, it’s starting to be our reality with the way things are going,” Cassie further explained. “There are more and more and more shootings every single year, and it’s better to be prepared than to be sorry.”
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Watch the video below to see how prepared Weston is for the school season.
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@thewaltonfamily1 Happy back to school season…. #foryoupage #backtoschool #foryou #needschange #PostitAffirmations #momiktok ♬ L$d – Luclover
