Intruder preparedness, or “lockdown drills” used to be a big deal here in Arlington, Massachusetts. However, since Covid-19, these drills have stopped and haven’t been revisited for some time. We used to hide in a corner of the classroom and follow certain procedures that the teachers set up for us to do. After Covid-19, however, these intruder drills have stopped. In this article, we’ll be hearing the opinions of 3 people at Ottoson concerning their thoughts on the matter, and whether they believe these lockdown drills should return.

According to 7th grader Sanjana Arun, intruder drills should return, but with some modifications. “I think that the idea of intruder drills is a good idea, but we need a less stressful strategy,” Sanjana explains. “Maybe we could have an informational session or something else that would be less scary.” While it’s important to be informed about this topic, to some the abruptness and stress of these drills can be too much.

Another student, Josie Lombardi, states, “There should be a drill since there have been incidents with intruders in other states.” She tells us, “I want to have the drills again because it would be more scary for it to happen for real and not know what to do about it.” 

Finally, OMS student Samantha Pilarczyk feels that “There should not be drills returning, since they are stressful.” She suggests, “We can maybe have an informational session at the start of the year or something, but the intruder drills gave me a headache and scared me when I was younger. That was when we had no idea what was going to happen! Now that we do know what the drill is about, it’s worse and not better!”

Overall, students at Ottoson seem to want to feel informed and prepared, without the anxiety of loud, unexpected drills. It may be time for schools to rethink how they approach these exercises, finding a way to accomplish the goal with less negative impact on students.