Keep emergency kits in classrooms

I am a junior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. I’m finally back at school, writing this letter after my five-day suspension for leaving my classroom at 2 p.m., when school regularly gets out, but there was a school lockdown.

At about 10 a.m. on Oct. 19, MPHS went into a lockdown because there was an armed robbery at a bank in the area. It was a dreadful afternoon; it was three hours before anyone got to our classroom to escort me to a restroom. I also didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast that morning so I was hungry, too. The office made an announcement that they would provide lunch for us — four hours later, it never came. Two o’clock was nearing and at that point I left my classroom to find another class with food.

I know our safety was apparently at risk, but the school informed us that the suspect was barricaded inside a house surrounded by police, and all school exits/entrances were blocked off by police. I’m pretty sure that’s as safe as it’s going to get.

I’ve read other letters published earlier in the past week on this lockdown controversy. The letters showed both sides of how you might feel about the lockdown. One student said she was in her French class playing games, meeting new people, and eating snacks provided by the teacher. Some of us weren’t so fortunate to get those kinds of luxuries in our classrooms, and had a teacher on our case about everything we did.

I feel that during these situations, all classrooms should have the same privileges and occupying things to do. Also, classrooms should be required to keep an emergency kit with snacks and water so next time it can be a manageable experience.

Dillon Bouressa

Marysville