(Untitled)

[therealocelot]

Random information gathering. Feel free to answer if you're not on my friends list, if you stumble upon this post at some point in the distant future, or repost if you happen to share my curiosity

Comments

[geminigirl]

I grew up outside New York City-about 60 miles or so from it...a bit west from the (never operational) Shoream nuclear power plant, across the water from the Groton sub base. I was born in 1975, and we did have, in addition to fire drills, the duck and cover drills in elementary school. I don't recall them in junior high or high school though. And no civil defense sirens. However, the firehouse that I grew up near (about half a mile away) would sound their siren at noon each day

[therealocelot]

I don't know what our local schools do, either. silkensteel says they do lockdown drills, which may be the new version of duck'n'cover for non-earthquake-prone locales.

[geminigirl]

The idea of duck and cover for earthquakes seems strange to me-it was about nuclear war. I grew up in a non-earthquake prone area though.

[trinker]

When I was a kid in public schools in the 80's, in L.A., it was well known that "duck & cover" was going to do bupkis for nuclear war, at least in the L.A. area. My peers all hoped we'd be at ground zero and not in the "survivable as nuclear zombies" zone. Duck & cover was for earthquakes, and there were fire evacuation drills.

[geminigirl]

It was patently obvious to most kids (I was in public school in the 80's as well) that it would do nothing in the event of nuclear war. Which didn't make them stop doing it.

[therealocelot]

It's the same basic principle - protect yourself from falling/flying objects.