Drills

On Facebook recently I saw references to the air raid drills we had when we were in school during the 50's and 60's. Boy do I remember those! In elementary school when the air raid siren went off (drills only) we had to do one of two things: we climbed under our desks and got into the "turtle"position, curled up with our knees beneath us and our hands crossed behind our necks, heads to the floor and eyes closed. (They told us about bright light that would hurt our eyes and other scary things so we did as we were told.)

The other option was when we went into the hallway and lined up against the walls, down on the floor in the same position, we girls told that if this were a real incident and not a drill we should pull our skirts up over our heads as well. I think that was scarier than the idea of a bomb going off. I don't remember a great deal of fear associated with these drills because they were like fire drills - just part of the deal at school and not really anything to worry about.

But by the time I got to junior high school things were a bit more intimidating because by then people were building bomb shelters and the high school building we attended was a designated shelter with the triangular yellow and black sign letting the community know they could come there in case of an atomic attack. I'm not sure what the adults were thinking. My father used to pooh-pooh it all saying he'd prefer not to survive if we were to be bombed and I think he had the right idea.

Survival was not a pretty alternative, at least according to all the movies made in the 1960s about the survivors of such things. Movies like "The Omega Man" and "Planet of the Apes" were good xamples. I think Dad was right. I'm not sure why they stopped having those drills but perhaps it was because those in charge finally recognized the folly of their planning. It was a strange period in our history that fortunately our own children are totally unaware of. I'm happy to say they no longer have those drills in schools. Perhaps we're fooling ourselves. Or perhaps we're just being practical.