Dallas ISD sends home a Winne the Pooh themed school shooting book for young students
Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has issued an apology after parents complained about an unexpected book being distributed to elementary school students, which tackled a sensitive subject matter. The book, which was placed among beloved characters from Winnie the Pooh, delved into how to respond in an active shooter situation on campus. Parents were left completely unprepared for the stark and disturbing nature of the publication.
Cindy Campos, a mother of two boys enrolled in Leslie A. Stemmons Elementary School, was taken aback to find the book in her youngest son’s schoolbag. She described the inclusion of the otherwise innocent-looking title as tone-deaf, lamenting that “It’s sad that we’re normalizing it with a Winnie the Pooh book.” The situation was made worse by the fact that the book was sent home on the first anniversary of a previous tragedy, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The publication, which bears the title “Stay Safe: Run, Hide, Fight,” uses the characters from the popular children’s series to illustrate responses to an active shooter scenario on campus. What made things worse for Campos was the fact that the book was included without any preface or warning, leaving parents with no chance to prepare or discuss the content with their children. The accompanying message, which reads “You’re braver than you think, stronger than you look, and smarter than you think,” did nothing to alleviate the sense of unease.
Campos’s son, Bowie, was equally confused and bewildered by the content of the book. He struggled to understand why the characters were using tactics like “Run like a bunny, hide like a pooh, and fight like Kanga and Roo do.” Campos refrained from placing blame on the teachers but took a stand to seek clarity on the matter.
In a subsequent statement, DISD expressed regret over the incident and acknowledged the failure to provide appropriate guidance or context to parents. The lack of instructional guidance accompanying the book left Campos and other parents feeling at a loss. Despite this, the school district reiterated its commitment to safety, highlighting the continuous efforts in conducting active shooter drills and implementing preventative measures to tackle potential threats.
Campos expressed his concerns on a local parent page, highlighting that other DISD schools had received the book, but there was no information about other Texas districts distributing similar material. With the reliance on books ingrained into the curriculum and as part of extracurricular activities, such oversights underline the need for educational institutions to ensure that there is adequate contextualisation, warnings and resources when it comes to sensitive subjects.
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