Local school teaches gun safety lessons

CITRONELLE, Ala. (WALA) - Students at McDavid-Jones Elementary are getting some extra instructions that counselor Nellie McDavid said could save their lives.

McDavid started her gun safety lessons three years ago. She said it just seemed natural for the rural Citronelle community.

"I felt like it was important at the time, because we have hunters. We have a lot of hunting people in this area," McDavid said.

She wanted to be sure the students had the basics about gun safety.

"Guns and kids are a dangerous combination. Never pick up gun without adult supervision. Never, never, touch a gun,” were responses we received from several several grade students at the school.

When 20 children were massacred in their school in Connecticut, McDavid said she decided basic gun safety was no longer enough.

"When the shooting first happened, that was when most of them were having a little worry. I brought them in here and I talked to them about it. I explained what we could do that would keep them safe," McDavid said.

That's when the school made some additions to its emergency plan.

"A lot of the teachers have already went over a safety plan with them. If you're in the cafeteria or the hallway and you hear a gunshot, what do you do? I tell them to get on the floor, lay flat on the floor, because if you're down you're less likely to get hit," she said.

There's also a code to alert the school of a potential shooter on campus.

When the secret code comes over the intercom the doors are immediately locked, the lights are turned off and the children know to go to their "safe place".

"And, I just tell them that there are bad people in the world. And when they get mad, they just want to hurt somebody, and you see them coming into schools, and they're shooting in schools," McDavid said.

Mcdavid said a team of teachers and parents are still working on the schools safety plan. They also plan to have regular drills to test it, just like tornado and fire drills.