SOMERVILLE (WBZ-AM) -- Authorities in Somerville are defending a nursery rhyme used to prepare elementary school students for a lockdown in their school.
The poem, posted on the wall of a kindergarten classroom at the Arthur D. Healey Elementary School, reads, "Lockdown lockdown, lock the door/shut the lights off, say no more/go behind the desk and hide/wait until it's safe inside."
A parent of a child at that school got thousands of retweets when she posted a picture of the rhyme.
While the poem is a bit jarring to many parents, one parent told WBZ-TV it might be the right thing.
"I guess that's the reality of it now, and it's best that they're prepared," she said.
Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone defended the poem, saying it is a response to the world we're living in--a way to teach kids the steps they'd need to take during a real emergency.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports