Most students and teachers in America know about the Standard Response Protocol (SRP). If you don’t, the SRP is used in emergencies. SRP connects students, teachers, parents, administrators, and law enforcement with common language and symbols. The I Love U Guys foundation was formed because of a 2006 school shooting. In the shooting Emily Keyes was taken hostage. While she was taken hostage she texted her mother, “I love you guys. K” and to her father “I love you guys”. Her life was later taken, which provoked the creation of the I Love U Guys Foundation. Their number one goal at the end of the day is that everybody goes home safe.
In the Standard Response Protocol, there are five different actions. Each action has an assigned icon and announcement.
The first action is ‘Hold’. When a hold is in place staff and students remain in their classroom. A hold has no intended danger, but is used for circumstances such as changing light bulbs in the hallway, or a medical incident. A hold may be contained to one part of the building or may be the entire building.
The second action is ‘Secure’. Secure is used when there is a danger outside of the school. This may be such as criminal activity or a wild animal on the playground. In a secure way, every effort is made to keep business as normal. Staff and students remain in the building and lock the outside doors. Staff also increases situational awareness.
The third action is ‘Lockdown’. Lockdown is serious. A lockdown is called when there is active danger inside the building. The odds are that you will never be in an actual lockdown, but there is always a chance. In a lockdown, staff and students lock the door, turn off the lights, and move out of sight. They may also barricade the door. In a lockdown, staff and students are told not to open the door, move to a fire alarm, or a PA Announcement. At LOJ, Mr. Mills or Law Enforcement Officers will unlock the door and evacuate the classroom.
The fourth action is ‘Evacuate’. This is the most common action. It is the same thing as a fire drill. Staff and students go to a location outside the building. Students may also ‘Self Evacuate’ when they feel that their safety is endangered while in an SRP action.
The fifth action is ‘Shelter’. Shelter is used when there is a natural disaster. When they make the shelter announcement, they will state the type of extreme weather and what the safety strategy is. For example, a hazmat situation would involve sealing doors, windows, and fans.
Some students are supportive of the standard response protocol. Some students think that we should change to a new system. According to an LOJ seventh grader, we should swap to the Alice system. He states, “Oxford High School was and still is using Alice at the time of their shooting”. The only problem with Alice is that it only covers the SPR action ‘Lockdown’ It has no other plans. The Standard Response Protocol is not able to be changed, so we can not use both. What do you think, do you think that we should use Alice or SRP?
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