Take a look at this video aimed at children of that period in our history. I have no idea how this didn't scar us for the rest of our lives. Come to think of it, maybe it did.
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Sunday, April 05, 2020
At Least No One Is Scaring the Kids Half to Death Right Now
As bad as this whole Covid-19 pandemic seems to be (and really is), here's a reminder of what life was like in the 1950s when people my age were in elementary school. We were learning all about, and practicing, our "Duck and Cover" techniques every week so that we might survive a nuclear bomb if the Russians decided to drop one on us.
Take a look at this video aimed at children of that period in our history. I have no idea how this didn't scar us for the rest of our lives. Come to think of it, maybe it did.
Take a look at this video aimed at children of that period in our history. I have no idea how this didn't scar us for the rest of our lives. Come to think of it, maybe it did.
Like a school desk is going to protect you from a nuclear bomb!
ReplyDeleteThe strange thing is that I don't ever remember questioning that point back then. I guess we figured that adults knew what they were talking about and never expected them to lie to us.
DeleteKids these days do have to do active shooter drills, which is scary for them. Mine have not seemed overly concerned about COVID-19. My youngest is 11, so I guess they're all old enough to understand. My husband and I aren't panicking, so they aren't either.
ReplyDeleteSusan, great point about the active shooter drills. That's got to be a scary drill to go through, especially since the actual event has happened so often. I guess the main difference is that the active shooter drills teach a survival technique that actually works - the duck & cover drills really didn't do that at all.
DeleteKids do take take on the attitudes of their parents when it comes to something like that. Parents can make all the difference in the world right now.
Good grief, that was certainly to the point. But actually I like the fact that the video was completely honest with children, no beating about the bush and so on. I actually don't remember anything like this in the UK but I gather drills did happen.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that the drills were a North America - Western Europe thing, but I've never really read anything much about them. I do remember them, and pretty much being OK with the whole concept.
DeleteI think I was much more traumatized by the Cuban Missile Crisis than by those drills though. I was in my early teens by then and remember reading the Doomsday newspaper headlines warning that we were right on the brink of nuclear war. I don't remember my parents even talking about it, and I don't think I approached them with my fears. That made it all even worse.