From picnic trials to fire drills: How kids in Delhi schools are kept calm during bomb scares

Her voice brisk, edged with a sudden gush of seriousness Sharmila Bakshi, principal of Vasant Valley School, described how she spotted the email in her inbox around 6 am. “Whenever there is a bomb scare, it’s the school that springs into action immediately,” she told The Indian Express.

“I hurriedly informed my staff. Emails were shared on time so that parents wouldn’t send their children to school. So many teachers had also left their homes by then.”

The school promptly declared a holiday.

Switching to online mode, Bakshi said, was not viable on such short notice. “Even for online classes, parents need to be prepared. The devices for younger children, especially, are often used by working parents. If one teaching day is lost, it is a huge setback as teachers would have prepared activities and lesson plans. This creates a lot of backlogs.”

Sporting events scheduled for the day also had to be rescheduled, she added.

“Such random hoax threats really disrupt every stakeholder… Parents become apprehensive. They have to suddenly arrange everything at home. And in some schools, students had already arrived. In such situations, sometimes students end up reaching an empty home.”

Asked about the use of metal detectors or additional screening, Bakshi said the school had not adopted such measures citing feasibility concerns.

But beyond logistics, it is the emotional response and communication with younger children that needs care.

“When we had mock drills during high tensions between India and Pakistan, we did not tell the children of a war like situation. They were told that it’s a fire or earthquake drill,” she said. “Similarly, during these bomb threats, our first priority is to avoid panic. We explain it to them as a regular drill.”

At SPV, where a threat was received early Wednesday morning, the school followed standard protocols and issued timely alerts, said sources from the administration.

A message to parents at 8.30 am said the school would remain closed and that a bomb disposal squad was sanitising the premises.

A second message shared around 11.30 am assured parents that nothing harmful had been found and that all children were safely escorted home. “We commend the cooperation shown by students, staff, and emergency personnel,” the statement read.

Parents find sudden disruption not easy

Karan Aggarwal, whose daughter is in Class 1 at SPV, said, “Luckily, I had just come back from my morning walk and saw the school message. We didn’t panic because the school bus staff shared live locations on WhatsApp. But several parents had already left for work. One couple I know had to return from their office within an hour.”

“Parents who privately pick and drop children are the worst impacted,” he added. “My daughter was also very sad that she couldn’t attend school.”

Former Modern School Vasant Vihar principal Meenakshi Sahni, who has dealt with multiple such emergencies during her tenure, emphasised the role of adult conduct.

“The response of adults determines the children’s reaction. If teachers remain calm and composed, children—whose minds are malleable—respond better.”

However, Sahni believes that current disaster protocols require significant simplification for effective ground-level implementation. “SOPs laid down by experts are often complex. There is a need to simplify these into six- or ten-point bullet instructions that can be publicly displayed and easily remembered.”

“When I was principal, we made CPR training compulsory for Classes 11 and 12 and trained all staff to respond to emergencies. Readiness matters. It shouldn’t just be a reactionary mechanism. This needs to be taught regularly as part of the curriculum.”

Sahni also flagged a gap in awareness. “Recently, during the Indo-Pak situation flare-up, people on campus had no idea mock drills were happening. When sirens blared, panic set in. Without proper awareness, drills themselves can cause mayhem.”

She suggested using mass platforms for awareness, much like the anti-tobacco campaigns in movie theatres. “Everyone looks away during those visuals. Passive learning is powerful. Why not use theatres to spread awareness about emergency preparedness, too?”

“Every day, some activity is planned in school. And every lost day adds to the disruption,” said Bakshi, summing up the frustration vivid among the educators.