I wrote this piece about drills happening at local schools... Active Shooter Drills, called "Code Red" at my daughter's school. I didn't know what to do with these feelings so I'm putting them here. -Dani

Code Red Drill

The Teacher tells the Children

pretend that Someone is in the building, Someone

got past the security system, perhaps slipped by when

someone else was buzzed in.

But this Someone has a weapon, and the Children

only half-listen as they posture for selfies,

worry about wearing the right clothes or
saying the right words or

having the right friends.

They doodle and fidget and tease and laugh.

The Teacher tells them

I won’t make the choice for you if Someone gets in.

We will lock our door and hide and be silent.

But if Someone gets in, You decide to

Hide or

Defend or

Flee.

The Teacher has to teach the Children to fight

for their lives because We have failed them.

Code Red startles me with its simple integration into any school day.

Code Red worries me from sleep.

Code Red enrages me to scream, to plead, to cry, to vote.

Code Red isn’t practice or preparedness

or strategy or curriculum or law.

Code Red is the pathetic result of an apathetic citizenry

gone too far from the sacred when we tell the Children,

My Children, Your Children, OUR CHILDREN to

Hide or

Defend or

Flee.

Fuck Code Red.