Parents divided over school’s reaction to woman ‘armed’ with detergent

It’s hard to imagine the thoughts that must have raced through the heads of hundreds of parents in the UAE when a school went into lockdown on Wednesday because of an “unidentified individual”. It’s a story that more than 200,000 people read on the KT website in a single day.

The GEMS Wellington Academy in Al Khail locked its gates at 11am and alerted authorities. Police immediately reached the spot and started to investigate matters. The pupils had been secured inside classrooms. Everyone was safe.

I was quick to reach the scene as well and witnessed nearly 100 panicking, anxious, tearing and angry parents waiting to collect their children.

Parents were frustrated over the lack of information. They were only told that their children were safe, but they wanted to know more.

After all the panic, confusion, stress and anger, the police revealed that it was a woman with obsessive compulsive disorder who had showed up in a medical mask, cleaning tools and soap with the intention to teach the workers how to clean properly. The school had caused “unnecessary panic”, according to police.

The question is: Did the school act appropriately, or did it overreact? Parents who emailed me in response to the story were divided over the matter.

One mother wrote: “I think the school did well in taking the necessary steps. Agreed that they should have done better in terms of communication and educating the security at the gate. But they did what they had to do because this is the world we have given our children, where people can use any means anywhere to cause harm to another human being.” Another parent had a different opinion. “I am really surprised and frustrated to read the news of the panic created by the school administration. I would like to fully blame the school administration for handling the issue irresponsibly and making everyone panic for no reason.”