After the ALICE drill on Friday, principal Lisa Nemeth told the student body that we had did “great” during the drill. From what I have heard, many students think otherwise.

ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate. After a school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that resulted in a tragedy of many deaths of young children, it was declared that schools needed a better procedure to keep themselves safe in case an intruder enters the building.

The ALICE  drill was supposed to be taken seriously, but instead it was a joke for some students. My class handled the situation seriously. No one scrambled or started screaming when Mrs. Nemeth came on the intercom and said that we were going on a lockdown due to an “intruder.” We all patiently waited for the further instructions on his location in the school.

We were in the back computer lab in the library. After we were informed that the intruder was heading to the E wing we decided it was best for us to evacuate out of the rear emergency exit of the library. When we got outside we headed for the tennis court and waited until we were told we could go back into the school.

We watched others evacuate and listened to them laughing as the police officer disguised as an intruder “shot” at them using an air horn to simulate the gun shots. If the situation was real, I doubt they would be laughing.

I don’t think many people took the drill seriously. They should have because it could help us to know what to do if the situation ever were to occur.

Throughout the day, I heard stories of what was going on in the halls as my class was outside. Many of the stories were about how the students weren’t being quiet, were walking slow, and them running into the “intruder.” One story told said that there were students going down the stairs very slowly and they all stopped when they reached the door because of a puddle outside that they didn’t want to step in.

Although most of the students didn’t handle the situation seriously, teachers did. One teacher in the E wing even barricaded the door.

I think we did a lot better last year. I remember it being so quiet that you could hear each other’s heavy breathing despite the noise coming from the upstairs from them evacuating.

Students could have done better this time.

Next time, stay quiet and take the drill seriously.