RUN, FIGHT, hide. Many people have heard these words, especially when it comes to danger from potential shootings.

These are the basic things that police officers and other authorities recommend you to do in case of an emergency.

Why is this not spoken of more?

News outlets have been circling like no other about the recent shootings that have been happening in our country. There have been walkouts, rumors, threats, lockdowns, and much more just in the past few months.

A lot of things have been circling around our own school, and one thing I don’t think many people do is prepare. But after the Florida shooting, many people began getting anxious and worried.

It is completely normal to wonder, “what if this happens to me?” and other similar questions.

Well, maybe we should all work on actually doing something about it. We should not revolt or anything extreme like that, but just in school- it is always helpful to be prepared.

In journalism class, after the most recent shooting we sat down and the teacher, Mr. Carlisle, helped plan out with us what we could do if something ever did happen to us.

Recently, our own Granger High School was placed under a series of lockdowns- which weren’t drills. Instead of worrying or freaking out, many of the students followed through with the plan, first barricading the door with chairs before shutting off the lights and crouching in the back room.

Personally, I feel this could have gone a lot worse. I heard from various people that in other classrooms tears were shed, some were more frantic while some people weren’t confused. Overall, they weren’t as prepared as they could have been.

It is always useful to know, at least personally, what you are going to do in these situations. Just knowing what you can do in certain situations or in different classrooms is a good way to help keep nerves down and handle things with a bit more of a clear mind.

I believe our class handled it very well, and though there was still panic and worry, I felt a lot more comfortable knowing that we were prepared and that we knew what we were doing.

Maybe a little chat from student to teacher would help calm more people’s nerves.