In the Name of Safety

Last week the entire Mid-Pacific campus practiced a shelter-in-place drill in the event of an unwanted campus intruder or other safety issue. When I was an elementary student, interestingly, I donʻt recall fire drills (which we do have every month in school), but I do remember the drill in case of a nuclear attack. The thinking at the time was to crouch down if in open space or if in a classroom, to get under your desk, cover yourself with some piece of clothing or arms over your head and to close your eyes tightly. We must have practiced this drill perhaps four times each year. During the war years in Hawai‘i, many kūpuna recall carrying around a gas mask and drills putting these masks on.

In the school setting, preparedness is key. In the event of an emergency and with consistent practice, the goal is for all students and adults to reflexively shift into thinking about their personal and community safety and to take action. Our Director of Security Brad Heatherly has organized training for all employees several times during the school year. The drill last week was to show students and employees how to gather in an enclosed space like the classroom and how to manage themselves. While our young children may not fully understand these environmental threats from humans and the force of nature, our responsibility is to keep them physically safe as much as possible. We know children to be astute and aware, so they do understand the gravity of a threatening situation. Thatʻs why the manner in which adults respond to safety issues can reduce the anxiety, fear, or stress that children experience.

We do more to teach social-emotional safety and well-being daily. While the Character Education curriculum addresses a range of topics such as “reading” social situations, understanding context, managing emotions, making and sustaining friendships, these same topics are addressed in the classroom where there are many actual scenarios to test what they’ve learned in Character Education. Think about all the learning possibilities on the playground during recess. Every teacher begins the school year with agreements or contracts on behavioral expectations. One of the 5th grade classrooms connects these agreements to the U.S. Constitution with “This we believe… “ statements. Referring to these expectations is an important part of the classroom and school culture.

While we’ve developed protocols for many kinds of physical dangers, our protocol for ensuring the social-emotional safety of our children is to listen to them, to hear all sides of the conflict, to teach them that they are inherently good persons who sometimes donʻt make the best choices, and to assure them that tomorrow is a new day. A calm voice, a smile, and a gentle hug.

E Kūlia Kākou! Let’s strive and aspire together!

For our children,

Edna L. Hussey, Ed.D.
Principal