Yes, they’re serious.
The superintendent of a Pennsylvania school district told state lawmakers that his students are trained to protect themselves against mass shooters with rocks, and that buckets of river stones are placed in every classroom, KTVI reports.
“Every classroom has been equipped with a five-gallon bucket of river stone,” Blue Mountain School District Superintendent David Helsel said in a testimony before members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week.
“If an armed intruder attempts to gain entrance into any of our classrooms, they will face a classroom full of students armed with rocks and they will be stoned,” he declared.
Helsel told WNEP why he decided to include stones in his schools’ safety plans:
“At one time I just had the idea of river stone, they’re the right size for hands, you can throw them very hard and they will create or cause pain, which can distract.”
The superintendent stressed that the rocks are only used as a “last resort.”
In addition to the stone buckets, Blue Mountain schools take other security measures.
“We have devices installed in our doors that help to secure them, to make it very difficult to break through,” Helsel explained. “We also have, we train kids and talk about barricading the doors.”
The schools follow an active shooter training program called Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate (ALICE). Drills are carried out regularly.
Additionally, Helsel said “We have devices installed in our doors that help to secure them, to make it very difficult to break through. We also have, we train kids and talk about barricading the doors.”
The superintendent told the outlet his district does not plan to arm teachers, but that each school does have an armed and trained custodian on campus.
The news came days after an armed school resource officer stopped a school shooter within a minute after the incident began at Great Mills High School in Maryland.
One student called the idea of using rocks “comical.” A parent told KTVI “It’s absurd, arm the teachers.” Another parent supported the plan, arguing “we have to get creative.”
A student who liked the plan said “anything helps, rocks are better than books and pencils.”
You know what else is “better than books and pencils?” Guns.
Twitter conservatives were eager to cast the first stone.
Attn: Snowflakes – you don’t show up to a gunfight with a rock!
— Brian Black (@brianblack92) March 23, 2018
Well check that would’ve probably worked, back in David and Goliaths day. But I think I’ll keep my gun, just in case. LOL
— Tx MAGAGAL ??BREWER??♂️? (@Bre63068675Judy) March 23, 2018
At Least Give Them SlingShots!!
— DP Shepard (@dp_shepard) March 23, 2018
You have got to be kidding me…sticks and stones may break my bones…but a gun, or a knife, or a bomb just might kill me!!!!
— Diane (@Dialmond) March 23, 2018
Obviously run by liberals. They said a cop with a handgun couldn’t take out a shooter w/an AR 15. What good will kids throwing rocks do???
— Deplorable Dorje (@WarrenStan2) March 23, 2018
“You know what stops a bad guy with a gun?”
“A five-gallon bucket of river rocks.”
GTFO.https://t.co/lbaMlFenhO— Christopher Eaton (@TheMysteryTin) March 23, 2018
I’d pull my kids out of that school immediately. They’re not qualified to teach
— B (@HashtagthisOk) March 23, 2018
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