The school my daughter attends has lockdown drills, fire drills, and yes, the school nurse also reminds parents to sunscreen their kids and send them in with sunscreen that they can put on themselves. When I worked at a preschool with a pool for swim lessons, we had a lifeguard at all times in case of drowning.

I just don't understand why one precaution is a good idea and one isn't. I guess I can't speak for other schools but around here, a lockdown drill just means someone says "the school is a lockdown" and teachers lock doors, turn off lights, close blinds and move the class into a corner of the room. No one uses it as a scare tactic, it's literally just like a fire drill where the teachers and students practice what to do.

This isn't coming out of nowhere. When I was kid we didn't have lockdown drills at all. All the school doors were unlocked during the day and anyone could walk in without signing in at the office and getting a visitor pass. There had also never been elementary school students shot at their school before.

Are the odds low? Sure. Odds are also pretty low the school will catch fire and yet schools practice this because it's hard to evacuate a whole school without a set plan. It's the same thing with a lockdown, it's just a plan for the worst.

Just curious, what do recommend instead of lockdowns in the case of police chasing a suspect near the school or something similar happening in the area? This seems to be a more common reason for lockdowns. Or, in the rare case there is an armed intruder, what could the schools do differently instead of the plan being to lockdown the school?