Everyone gets that sense of panic when you hear your principal or an administrator over the intercom stating that we need to get into position for a lockdown. While it may be panicky, it is also exhilarating in a weird way.

We got to not only barricade a door with the desks we have to sit in every day, but we also get to hold self-defense weapons ranging from water bottles to laptops to even bowling balls. Why do we have bowling balls? I do not know.

I asked some students what their thoughts were pertaining to the lockdown, and while we all are happy that the community reacted and acted the way they did, we also think it may have been a little blown out of proportion.

Now, I know that we have to take precautionary measures in situations like this, and that we didn’t know at the time where the student was, and if he had a weapon, but a lot of us weren’t expecting the entirety of the Bethel park police, and even the Mt. Lebo incident control to be there, much less a chopper.

That made the situation even more scary, especially for those who were put at gunpoint when they didn’t know what was happening, or when they tried to open a door for the police.

Also, I just want to clear something up. The campus-wide lockdown was not because of the posting on social media, it was because of rumors that circulated from the posting.

After the kid was detained, they found out about the social media threat.

And the news, while they may just be doing their job, reported very false information.

For one, not every student was checked before leaving, maybe some, but the majority was not, including me.

Secondly, we were not released early. We in fact, were there for an hour, maybe more, maybe less (for some), over the regular dismissal time.

Third and foremost, the threat was not posted on Facebook, it was posted on Instagram. That’s how most of us saw it, it was on the kid’s Instagram.

Now my thoughts on this was that it was taken very seriously, and I’m glad that I can feel safe in my school, even a little extra now, but it might have been blown out of the water a little bit.

But, in worse case scenario, there could have been a weapon, and some of us could be gone. So let’s thank the higher powers that that is not the case.