A single mom of three has been teaching her seven-year-old daughter how to “play dead” in the event of a school shooter entering her classroom.
Eeka McLeod, 43, from Arizona, shared a video to TikTok of her instructing Ella on how to play a convincing corpse. It’s a morbid scenario to play out, but McLeod believes this kind of practice is an “unfortunate necessity in this day and age.”
“It shouldn’t be, but it is and as a parent, I do my children a disservice if I don’t give them every possible skill to stay alive,” she told Newsweek.
McLeod decided to practice the drill in the wake of the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. Two students and two teachers were killed in the incident, which represents the year’s deadliest school shooting so far.
Eeka McLeod’s seven-year-old daughter Ella playing dead. Eeka believes it’s a necessary bit of preparation for school life.
@themcleodfam/TikTok
“I absolutely believe these skills are important for American children to have with the massive uptick in school shootings and mass shootings,” McLeod said.
In the video—which has been viewed over 30 million times and garnered 4.4 million likes since being posted on September 12—McLeod can be heard advising Ella on how best to stay still and keep her breathing to a minimum. “Playing dead” is one of a number of drills McLeod goes through with her kids.
“We cover the process of a lockdown, which includes staying quiet, turning the lights off and hiding,” McLeod said. “I quiz my children on how to behave in an active shooter situation by asking them questions like, ‘Are you allowed to cry even if you’re really, really scared?’ or ‘Who can you trust?’ or ‘Is it OK to scream for help?'”
McLeod also discusses with them what to do if they can make it outside of a school building and generally tries to “cover all bases” in terms of the threats they could face and how best to react.
“With where we are at as a nation, I see these as survival skills,” she said, likening her approach to that of a parent in the 1980s teaching their kids about kidnappers or someone from the 1990s and 2000s warning about child predators. “In the end, I would rather have my child scared and alive than naive and dead,” McLeod added.
McLeod appears to be justified in being concerned about the situation. According to an analysis by CNN of events reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety there here have been at least 49 school shootings in the United States so far this year.
Thirteen of these took place on college campuses and 36 were on K-12 school grounds. These shootings left 24 people dead and at least 65 injured.
McLeod said doing the drills with her kids has been “difficult” for her, adding: “I have had to learn how to dissociate to be able to complete them. I have to tell myself that I am coaching my children the same as I would coach their soccer team.”
She has been heartened by the response to the video though, claiming that the clip has served as a wake-up call to some.
“I honestly thought all parents were doing something similar, but it seems that our video has actually encouraged parents to start this heavy conversation and teach their children more imperative survival skills,” she said.
“I hope people take away the imminent need for gun reform in our country. The reality for our children is that they are growing up going to school not knowing if they will make it home. It’s hard to believe this is where we are at.”
