scare tactics for the young?

[acroyear]

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Were They Wearing Brown Shirts?:

This happened about an hour away from me:

Police in the western Michigan community of Wyoming entered two classrooms at Lee Middle and High School on Thursday and announced there was a threat to the school, The Grand Rapids Press reported.

Students, who were unaware police were conducting a drill, were taken from the classroom into the halls, patted down by officers and asked what they had in their pockets, the newspaper said.

"Some of these kids were so scared, they just about wet their pants," said Marge Bradshaw, a parent with four children in Godfrey-Lee Schools. "I think it's pure wrong that the students and parents were not informed of this."

A drill for what, exactly? Under what imaginable scenario would the police have to burst into a school unannounced, line up all the students against the wall with guns on them and frisk them? None that I can think of. I can't imagine any operational justification for this drill. I suspect it's more about spreading fear in the school, letting the students know that big brother is watching and he could do this to you for real.

I know the courts have basically decided that kids in school have no rights except those which their parents are willing to defend (in court), but this is absolutely insane.