“The shelter-in-place has now been lifted. Thank you for your cooperation; classes can now resume as normal.” IHS students have heard this announcement over the loudspeaker several times this year, but many remain uncertain as to what happens during shelter-in-places.
In an effort to provide explanations and ease worries, Principal Trumble responded to a series of questions regarding the school’s communication policies on shelter-in-places. Many of these questions targeted concerns based on student input (194 responses), which were gathered by a survey sent out to the school (see graphics). Some of the topics addressed were communication, rumors, and safety.
According to students, 70.5 percent of students wished for more communication. Additionally, almost 40 percent of respondents felt unsafe during shelter-in-places specifically due to a lack of communication. In response, Mr. Trumble explained that he is unable to give specific details in order to ensure student privacy and confidentiality. For example, in the case of a medical emergency, disclosure of information about the incident would endanger individual privacy. Mr. Trumble admits, “It’s hard because you want to assure everyone that everything’s okay.” But for confidentiality reasons, the school policy necessitates that identities and specific situations are kept private. The school’s hope is that shelter-in-places will keep a system of order during individual emergencies, allowing classes to continue as normal.
Nonetheless, student concerns paint a different picture. In a school of over 1,300 students, rumors have the capacity to spread like wildfire. In fact, 98 percent of respondents to the survey reported hearing indecisive rumors of all kinds, including violence, medical emergency, and intruders. With 69 percent of respondents feeling unsafe during shelter-in-places, it’s clear that things need further clarification. Mr. Trumble emphasized that while these rumors can be alarming, there is usually nothing serious for students to be concerned about. He explains that “9.5 times out of 10, we’re moving someone to the nurse’s office and protecting identity.” Furthermore, if there was a truly threatening situation, such as a violent intruder, the school would transition into a lock down, meaning that classes would stop, and classrooms would be made to seem entirely empty.
For the 70.5 percent of students who want more communication, this information may provide some solace. However, the information remains minimal and may not bridge the discrepancy suggested by the numbers. Especially in this day and age, where danger and violence are all-too frequent in public locations across the country, students have every right to be curious as to what’s happening. In short, shelter-in-places are not a perfect system. Mr. Trumble says, “The hard part for me is that people are guessing or left to assume things, but I think we have to start assuming that the best of intentions is to make sure that we have a protocol and a system in place where we know where everybody is; we can deal with whatever it is we’re dealing with in a minimally distracting way. The limiting of information that is coming out is not to spread rumor and gossip; it’s to protect people’s identities.” Nonetheless, the student responses from the survey suggest that shelter-in-places have created a concerned mentality among the student body, demonstrating that this remains a significant problem.
