<p>Last Thursday, I was in the hall (walking from math to lunch) when the fire alarm went off. I HATE fire alarms (I have extremely sensitive ears) and the sound got louder if you moved in either direction down the hall, so I was pretty much stuck where I was. Plus, I can’t go down stairs on my own, so it was largely a moot point. The kids and their teachers exit the building, and two my surprise almost NO ONE offers any help (one teacher did). I wait a bit longer and an AP (not one I know) comes up. He’s nice but more or less useless, and his plan involves going down the elevator, which is a bad idea because a) that elevator doesn’t function well on the third floor anyway (do these people know their own SCHOOL?!) b) You aren’t supposed to use it during a fire anyway. Meanwhile, not only I’m I having to contend with the sound (thankfully, a nearby room offers some solice), but I can also smell the smoke.</p>
<p>A few minutes later I see the principal and a school cop walking down hallway, GOING THE OTHER WAY. They really don’t stop to help AT ALL. They say something about finding the mechanical room, which puzzles me because a) there should be FIREMEN doing that (where were they anyway?) and b) it was quite obvipous where the fire was (the coke machine downstairs was burning, and the smoke floated up to the 3rd floor and set the detector). So even later my AP comes (whose job is to help me in these cases ) and is basically totally unhelpful (again). He goes off searching for my ear plugs (which can’t be found) ad then comes up with idea that the cop (whose since completed his routes with principal) should go downstairs and bring the elevator up (for a school obessed with firedrills, these people seem to lack even basic knowledge of fire safety ). So we do that (the alarms been going off for 10-15 minutes now, I think) and finally get ouit.</p>
<p>This whole experience (besides being painful), has left me with the distinct expression that no one in that school literally cares if I burn to death. To make matters worse, my AP was totally dismisive of the whole thing when my mom brought it up (at least the principal was apologetic!)… This is really, horribly troublesome.</p>
<p>Explain some more. I thought when I first read it that you where in a wheelchair, but then I noticed you said that you were “walking from math to lunch.” What is the disability that you cannot go down stairs? When you first said, “I have extremely sensitive ears,” I thought, “OK, don’t a lot of people” but then when you mentioned earplugs and an AP assigned to help you, then I figured out that there must be a serious problem. But what is it? Is it something that is apparent to others around you, or is it a hidden disability, so that in a crisis people wouldn’t know to help? More info…</p>
<p>A very practical suggestion-and it is not to be trite, but as I don’t know all of your circumstances- it is something I hope will give you some aid and some peace of mind…you should have a walkie talkie that is in the posession of a school counselor- so in an emergency you have a plan to contact the counselor asap- to tell them where you are and your status…as well, a whistle or noise maker, if that is bad for your hearing, have a flash light or flashing signal device…strange as it sounds, sometimes you need to get peoples’ attention if they are involved in themselves…as for the AP being dismissive, it was probably because they were not doing their job well and wanted to down play the situation… I volunteer for a woman in a wheelchair, and we have been trained to deal with an emergency in our city building…and it is important that the fire department and rescue people know of your circumstances…take some iinititive and come up with some plans- think about where you are during the day…where exits are when you are changing classes…at lunch, etc…having a plan and presenting it to the staff puts them on notice you are serious about your situation and want to be taken seriously…and you doing gives you control and power…sorry about what happened…people can be pretty self absorbed sometimes…</p>
<p>Your mom needs to also talk to the school superintendent. You are right to be very concerned. The school superintendent needs to be notified because very obviously, your school does not have a good evacuation plan in case of an emergency. This affects not only you, but every person in the school. I also am horrified at the AP’s reaction. What you experienced was potentially a life and death matter, not one to be shrugged off.</p>
<p>Well, people are insensitive all the time. I realize you feared for your life. I agree that it would be appropriate for more action concerning this matter. First try the principal with some proactive suggestions as to what he should do. Like, explain or write a letter to him as you have told us about the experience, and perhaps suggest that in one class, discussions take place. Or, I bet a local disability association could have some members come in for the discussions and suggest that. Teens will not pay attention unless it is in their face, so to speak. Rather than just get mad, think of proactive approaches. When people are given concrete ideas, they are more inclined to respond than if they are given the duty to think of how to respond. I have found this approach works well for me when encountering problems in the community.( active in local volunteer work) Also, you could make it your mission to inform people as to how to respond- rather than say, ‘Be more sensitive to the problems of the handicapped’ say ‘this is what you do for the handicapped in a fire drill.’ . You could do this in writing letters to the editor of newspapers, school newspapers, establishing a program for a group of folks like yourself to speak in elementary school classes, etc. It’s like this, when something bugs you enough, you just have to get active about it.
We can’t change the world, but we can try.</p>
<p>And the walkie /talkie idea is really good too. I’d put that into practice wherever you spend significant time- school, work, dorms, etc.</p>