Young children ‘left terrified’ as school tells them It’s WAR
PARENTS ANGRY AFTER PRIMARY’S MOCK 1940s BOMBING RAID
PARENTS say their children were left ‘terrified’ after a primary school staged a mock bombing raid and told them war had broken out.
A number of parents said some youngsters at Ludworth Primary School in Stockport were left in tears – and were sick with fright – because they did not know it was merely an exercise.
A group of parents told the M.E.N. they believed it was particularly inappropriate to stage a mock bombing raid as a child at the Marple Bridge school was at the Manchester Arena on May 22 – and is still traumatised.
The school said children showed ‘no signs of distress’ and were ‘buzzing with excitement’ about the exercise, which was intended to help them empathise with Second World War evacuees.
Many parents, however, said that was not the case and children were left upset.
Pupils between nine and 11 told their parents they were ushered into the school hall before being played a recording of former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announcing that Britain was at war with Germany. An air raid siren then rang out and youngsters were instructed to hide under tables.
Children said they were told they would become evacuees – and some said they thought they wouldn’t see their parents again.
Parents claim youngsters were asked to write a postcard home, the opening line of which read: “Dear mum and dad, I hope you are still alive.”
The school told parents the exercise marked the launch of its Second World War topic and had given the children a ‘great insight into the thoughts and feelings of an evacuated child.’
But a number of parents were furious children weren’t told it was pretend from the start.
Some have contacted the school and the council about Wednesday’s events.
One said: “There are other ways of generating empathy in children without scaring them.
“The school is supposed to be your child’s place of safety. That place of safety has now been shattered.”
Another parent added: “My daughter was in tears. The children are old enough to be able to articulate how they feel.
“A child should not be upset while in the care of their school.”