MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (May 14) - Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged.

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Some parents said they were upset by the staff's poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

During the last night of the trip, staff members convinced the 69 students that there was a gunman on the loose. They were told to lie on the floor or hide underneath tables and stay quiet. A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, even pulled on locked door.

After the lights went out, about 20 kids started to cry, 11-year-old Shay Naylor said.

"I was like, 'Oh My God,' " she said. "At first I thought I was going to die. We flipped out."

Principal Catherine Stephens declined to say whether the staff members involved would face disciplinary action, but said the situation "involved poor judgment."

........................I would so totally sue this school.

Is this for real? Do they realize how much trauma they might have induced on these young people?

I can understand what they were trying to do, but WTF?!

Obviously they want these kids to know what to do in such a situation, and by taking them by surprise, the kids won't simply ignore it. But still - this was beyond irresponsible. I'd be with these parents. Absolutely livid.

This is disgusting, those teachers need to be in jail

This is disgusting, those teachers need to be in jail

Losing their job I can see, but in jail?!

I understand their logic of what they trying to do. They were trying to make it as believable as possible and make the children think it was real to see how they would react in the situation. If they had known it was a drill, no one would take it seriously. Remember the fire drills in school? When they occurred, it wasn't for safety, not for the students. It was a time to see kids in other classes and socialize. At least it was for me. No one takes the fire drills seriously, and don't get me started on weather drills...

I do worry about the children though. They were scared to death. I feel that this should have been taken up with the parents beforehand, maybe at a PTA meeting or something, just so that parents knew about it. They could have talked to their kids, not really about the drill, but what may happen if that ever happened.

I don't think anyone should be fired or sent to jail though.

man... they're just young kids.. they dont need that trauma in their lives.

North American kids have it really, really easy. If a fake gunman is the worst of it, wow. There are children growing up in the world in war zones and living in constant fear of terrorist attack, bloody genocide or tribal war.

Boo freakin' hoo.

Reminds me of a scene in fight club, where Tyler Durden holds man at gunpoint, threatens to kill him, but then let him go just to make him appreciate life. I'll bet these kids will think twice about thinking their GameCube is the be-all-and-end-all of life.

Edited May 14, 200719 yr by Andre

While that is true Andre, our kids don't live in a warzone. Just because other kids do, shouldn't matter in regards to this situation. If I were a parent, I would be PISSED that these teachers took it upon themselves to do this. They may have had good intentions, but they went about it in the wrong way. [!@#$%^&*] like that can severely traumatize a kid and they should be ashamed of what they did.

This is disgusting, those teachers need to be in jail

That's exactly where they belong. These teachers are no better than terrorists. They terrorized kids to prove a point.

While I would be pissed myself, I am more than certain they'll get over it.

And they probably now know what to do in case it really happens.

While I would be pissed myself, I am more than certain they'll get over it.

And they probably now know what to do in case it really happens.

Oh don't underestimate the affect this could have on them. They already know what to do though because they teach you safety routines, but when you're in a situation like that, you're going to be terrified and fear erases almost everything you learn. The problem is that had these been 1st graders or 2, or 3rd, it would be different because their grasp on consequense wouldn't be as advanced. 6th graders KNOW what a gun attack could result in, and they had that fear for the time this went on, that doesn't leave them unless they have excellent follow up and therapy to handle the trauma.

they don't light the school on fire when they want to have a fire drill ...

students may not be like "OMG ... Fire Drill", but they know what to do should a real fire happen all the same! Sadly, the way America has setup its gun laws, school shootings are not unimaginable. Students need to be prepared to know what to do, but it should be in the premise of it being a drill! You don't have the time to teach students anything in the manner they chose.

Wow this is just sad....what pathetic teachers. There are much better ways to get students to learn what to do in case a gunman shoots up at a school and to teach them proper techniques to be safe...this was just not one of them