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| A police vehicle blocks an entrance to the University of New Haven's parking lot during a Dec. 3 lockdown. Photo by Brandon T. Bisceglia. |
A version of this op-ed was first published in the Connecticut Post on Dec. 12.
Although the shootings at
Sandy Hook Elementary are undoubtedly on all our minds at this time of year, I
never expected to have the situation those people experienced come as close to
home as it did for me on a recent Tuesday.
Yet there I found myself, in
a closet with my classmates at the University of New Haven after police werealerted to a Fairfield student making his way onto campus with a gun, merely
ten days before the anniversary of that horrible attack.
We were fortunate: police
responded swiftly, and there were no injuries. Fear and inconvenience is a
small burden to bear compared to what could have been. We had plenty of time
while we were in hiding to consider the full range of possibilities.
Most schools have adopted
protocols for emergency lockdowns, and some practice them on a regular basis.
Practice, though, has its limits. It cannot replicate the emotional turmoil of
those first moments after the realization strikes: this is real.
My classes may have been
canceled that day, but I learned some valuable lessons about the ways that our
systems work to foster or undermine safety. Here are a few of those lessons:
- Don't Panic: It's the best
advice anyone can give. Our classroom had glass walls and doors that provided
little protection, so we had to take alternative action. Within a minute of
receiving the alerts from UNH's emergency notification system, we had hidden
our belongings, turned off the lights, and locked ourselves into a large closet
inside the classroom. Our professor was swift and direct, and no one hesitated.
If any of us had panicked, it would have delayed our retreat and broken up the
group, possibly putting us in greater danger. We continued to watch out for and
reassure one another throughout the afternoon.
- Be Vigilant: The woman who
first called police is a hero, and became one by paying attention to her
environment. One of my professors wondered aloud afterward whether someone
walking down the street while staring at a smartphone or wearing ear buds might
have been too ensconced in her encapsulated world to have noticed the gun. I
wonder, too.
- Tech is Your Friend: Aside
from the obvious advantage of the initial warnings from the notification
system, many of us brought our phones with us when we filed into the closet,
allowing us to follow Twitter feeds, local media, and updates from the
university. We stayed connected even while isolated. Because of this, we found
out when the suspect had been arrested and that the immediate danger had likely
passed. We could make an informed decision to move back into the classroom
while we waited for the "shelter in place" order to be lifted.
- Tech is Your Enemy: During
the height of the crisis, someone on campus posted to Twitter saying exactly
what room she was in. If I could read it, a potential shooter could as well. It
can be tempting to talk about what's happening during an emergency, but you
have to keep in mind that social media are public forums. Be careful about what
you say.
- Policies Can Conflict: The
day after the lockdown, one of my professors pointed out that some teachers
have a policy requiring students to turn their phones off. "If everyone
had turned everything off," he asked the class, "would we have known
about the alerts?" The answer, of course, is no. Fortunately, few students
actually follow "phones off" policies. What may seem to be a needless
distraction at one moment can become a life-saving tool the next.
I learned all these things
and more that Tuesday. I sincerely hope that no one who reads this will ever have to
make use of these lessons. Unfortunately, the recent trend of school threats
has tempered my hope with a pessimistic realism.
