Stranger Danger

We were on the playground the second week of school.

Eating snacks outside is a great way to keep stuff off the floors.
And cleanup is a breeze... there's even a trash can on the playground.

It was a warm afternoon, a little breeze was blowing and the air was clear.
Everyone was sitting around and chit-chatting and snacking.

My assistant isn't someone I know well, so I was not sure how closely she monitored activity around us, but I heard a guy yelling. The yelling got louder, which let me know he was approaching. He came into sight at the end of our field, outside our fence. He was swearing loudly and waving his arms. When he saw us, the volume increased. I started being able to understand his words.

I nudged my assistant, said, "We need to get inside."

The guy started screaming, "Is there a teacher? Is there a fucking teacher out here? There better not be a fucking teacher!"

Strangely, the kids still hadn't noticed him.

I was glad they hadn't.

Then he dropped his filthy, baggy sweatpants and still shouting, started waving his junk around. Just what we needed.

So I started trying to hustle the kids indoors. We had not yet done an 'evacuate the playground' drill, and several of them didn't know me well. I didn't know them, either.

So they wanted to question me.
"Why are we going in?"
"We just came out!"
"How come we have to go inside? I don't want to go in already!"

I couldn't take the time to explain, he was getting closer. So I put on my grumpy face and said, "You can't argue with me right now. GO!"

I told my assistant, who has a badge that gets us into the building, to "Go! Just go! Take them up the stairs." I pointed at the doors two flights up.

In a situation like that,  I am last in the door so that I can make sure all the kids get in safely. I have to count them as they go in and if they're not all with us, I will have to find the kid(s) and get them into the building.

My intention was for her to get them up the nearest staircase, away from danger.

The guy was still heading toward us on the sidewalk, although he'd put his, er,  hose away. He was still ranting.

And my assistant, who had never worked with school aged kids before and never worked outside a day care center took them back toward the building by going down the stairs and onto the sidewalk where our weirdo was now caught up with everyone.

He didn't make a threatening move toward any of the children, but he was still swearing. Unfortunately, they heard him now.

Two teachers were leaving the building as my assistant reached the doors, and they both put their bodies between this nut and my kids. The male teacher had a bicycle, which he also used as a barrier. He shouted over the guy and told him, "You need to leave. You can't be here on this side of the street!"

He pointed and miraculously, the guy crossed the street. Still yelling.
There were no stragglers, and everyone was fine. We got indoors safely.

No point in being mean to my assistant.
It wasn't her fault and she didn't know what to do.

She didn't know her way around the building, did not know which doors have a badge window (not all of them do) and she was just trying to get the kids off the playground as fast as she could.

It was lucky the guy wasn't violent, just noisy and gross.

So after we got indoors and things calmed down, (I called the school office and let them know what had transpired and the police non-emergency line where I was on hold so long I gave up) I explained to the kids what had happened. I told them that we didn't know what was wrong with the man, that he was having what we call a breakdown or crisis, and that when people are in that state, they're unpredictable and not safe for us to be around.

That in the future, if I say, "Evacuate the playground!" or "Get indoors now!" there will be no discussion until after we're inside safely.

"As soon as everyone is safely inside, then you can ask me all the questions you want, and I'll answer them until you're done asking. But don't ever argue with me when I tell you it's an emergency situation, it's my job to keep you safe."

I also had a talk with my assistant. Told her that if we ever need to evacuate again, both upper doors from the playground are accessible with our badges. And to, "Get the kids inside as fast as you can, I will bring up the rear. Do not stand with the door open after you have all the kids, I have a badge, too, and I'll get in. You need to take them as far away from danger as you can, as fast as you can. I will make sure they're all off the grounds and then I'll join you."

She felt that she had acted incorrectly, but I told her she really hadn't. She knew that her badge would open the door closest to our classroom and she immediately took the kids there, which, under the circumstances, was the right thing.

"What if you'd taken them to a door that didn't have a badge window? You'd have been stuck outside the door and had to take them all to a different entrance. This is only your second week here, and I haven't ever given you a tour. We got them indoors, no harm was done to anyone, and we learned from it."

I had to notify all the parents of what had occurred, too. I didn't make light of it. I let them know that there were teachers on site who had stepped up to protect the kids and that we had stayed indoors for the rest of the afternoon as we were unsure about where the guy had ended up.

I am willing to step between a child and someone who would harm them, but I hope it's not something I ever have to do.


I hope that guy got some help.
And I hope we never see him again.