A parent was taken aback by a poster she saw while taking a tour of her five-year-old daughter's kindergarten classroom in Somerville, Massachusetts. The poster was being used to teach the young students what do in case of an emergency lockdown. It was set to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and read:
Lockdown, lockdown, Lock the door
Shut the lights off, Say no more
Go behind the desk and hide
Wait until it’s safe inside
Lockdown, Lockdown it’s all done
Now it’s time to have some fun!
Georgy Cohen took a photo of the poster and shared it on Twitter.
This should not be hanging in my soon-to-be-kindergartener’s classroom.
Cohen spoke with the Boston Globe and said that seeing sign was "jarring" but that she understands that "these are the things they, unfortunately, have to do."
“When I was in kindergarten, we had fire drills. It was different — we didn’t have these same types of threats.”
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Superintendent Mary Skipper issued a joint statement about the poster.
“Students in Somerville and across the country know how unnatural this is, as evidenced by their vocal leadership and advocacy this year in response to continuing school shootings,” the statement said. “Just like school fire drills, lockdown drills have sadly become a common practice in schools, and educators do everything they can to reduce students’ anxiety and stress.”
Skipper told the Globe that the "creative" sign was made by the teacher and not a mandatory part of the curriculum.
Cohen said that she believes that it is important "to be shocked" by the poster.
“To be shocked by it is important. To see that absurdity and horror and have that sick feeling in your stomach is important,” she said. “Stay outraged. And if it gets somebody to do something — to give money to an organization or to call their representatives . . . then great, I think that that’s important.”