For many students across the country, a school lockdown causes anxiety and uncertainty. Due to the high number of recent lockdowns at Clarke Central High School, many of which were accidental, students may become confused about how they should react when the alarm goes off. “Unfortunately, the harsh reality is this: the ability to create false alarms and accidental lockdowns with Centegix badges has created a ‘boy who cried wolf’ type of situation,” Sears wrote. Illustration by Antonio Starks
Administrators should address the a harmful lack of communication with students when lockdowns, especially accidental ones, occur at CCHS.
With school lockdowns among the myriad of administrative safety measures at Clarke Central High School, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and another false alarm.
According to statista.com, there were 249 lockdowns caused by school shootings in the United States in 2021. Of those lockdowns, 240 did not involve active shooters.
This number has more than doubled since the 114 lockdowns that took place in 2020, and during all of those, there was only one active shooter documented.
At CCHS, there is no way to tell the difference between reality and a false alarm, leading to high levels of stress or desensitization entirely. Regardless of severity, every situation is treated like it’s the worst-case scenario — student’s aren’t given signalling to indicate the type of incident.
A graphic shows statistics for school shootings and corresponding lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. 240,000 students have experienced school shootings since 1999, and the shootings negatively impact students’ mental health. “At CCHS, there is no way to tell the difference between reality and a false alarm, leading to high levels of stress or desensitization entirely,” Print Managing Editor Chloe Sears wrote. Graphic by Chloe Sears
Lockdowns are initiated when the button on the Centegix badges that CCHS teachers wear has been pressed eight times or more.
The current policy for teachers to alert administrators to events happening on campus informs all CCHS administrators, security personnel, and Clarke County School District leadership, but it does not fully inform the students affected in a timely manner.
“Typically when we have an event at school, (Family Engagement Specialist Christian Barner) and I, and the admin team would collaborate and craft an email communication to send out to parents,” CCHS principal Dr. Swade Huff said.
In order to create a sense of clarity and transparency, those emails should not only be sent to parents, but students as well.
Communicating with adults is a sensible move, so why not take the extra step to let the young adults in school know that they are in a safe place?
According to Stanford News, the use of antidepressants in young adults under the age of 20 increased 21% because of exposure to school shootings. More than 240,000 students across the country have experienced these events since 1999, and they’ve only become more common since 2015.
Lockdowns — and the lack of communication when they happen — have negative psychological effects on the students who endure them.
Unfortunately, the harsh reality is this: the ability to create false alarms and accidental lockdowns with Centegix badges has created a “boy who cried wolf” type of situation.
With no communication from administrative leaders about lockdowns and fire drills, how are students supposed to know when they should really be afraid?
With no communication from administrative leaders about lockdowns and fire drills, how are students supposed to know when they should really be afraid?
Lockdowns are unexpected events. It’s much better to be safe than sorry when it comes to school safety, but CCHS needs to reassure students of their safety after they’re forced into lockdown.
With proper communication from the administrators and access to resources like the Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s Twitter account for timely community disturbance up- dates, CCHS can become more accountable for these incidents.
Additionally, the administration could create more differentiated lockdown codes in order to communicate with students and teachers in CCHS in the moment about the severity of the event.
Tell students it was a false alarm. Don’t let them sit in the back of a classroom with the lights off, hearts pounding as they wonder whether or not they need to be calling their parents to say goodbye.
