As parents and educators, a real fear today are lockdowns on campus. As unnerving as this topic is, making sure our children are prepared for such a situation is important, and there are many states now requiring "lock down drills" in every classroom and school, starting in Preschool Centers.
If you have a young child who has been through a fire drill, you are aware of how scary that experience could be. There are many books and movies about firemen and how helpful they are, so it might be easy to redirect your child when they see that bright red truck!
There are no books or movies regarding lock down drills that are appropriate for our little ones. Rachel Tepfer Copeland quickly discovered this as she tried to console her preschooler after he was traumatized by a school lockdown drill. As careful as teachers can be, it is scary to practice a lockdown (I know I had one when I was in high school and I was terrified).
As a Certified Child Life Specialist and mother of two, I Can Be A Superhero During A Lockdown was created for this precious age group of children. The book is written in a positive, self-affirming, first-person perspective, which helps children safely practice and visualize a positive ending to a potentially difficult and frightening situation.
The book aims to decrease anxiety through full-color illustrations, easy-to-understand explanations and examples. It was created to assist children by helping them imagine and rehearse their reactions and memorize them so that they can react quickly and automatically in a true emergency.
The book focuses on three main "jobs" that children must accomplish to keep themselves and others safe and become a Superhero. These jobs include:
- Listen to your teacher or the adult in charge.
- Be quiet as a mouse.
- Sit as still as a statue when hiding.
Preparing children for unnerving situations through preparation and practice is the best way to lesson anxiety in real situations. Take it from author, Rachel Tepfer Copeland herself:
"I created the book I Can Be A Superhero During A Lockdown after my son, in preschool at that time, had an upsetting incident during a lockdown drill at his school. After an exhaustive search, I found that there were no child-friendly and developmentally appropriate books about lockdowns for young children.
I thought it was important that all children could effectively learn what a lockdown is and how to behave during them, so I set about writing a story to teach these important lessons to my son. I originally created a single copy just for my son, however, after the shooting at Santa Fe, only miles from our home, I decided to hire an illustrator and publish it myself in the hopes of helping other children and possibly even saving lives."
A coloring sheet is also included to encourage further engagement and to help readers remember tasks through repetition.
Perfect for children ages 4 years old and up, this book can be purchased here on Amazon. I Can Be A Superhero During A Lockdown
I love the concept of this.