Winnie the Pooh ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ book angers parents

A Dallas school district has received backlash from parents after giving elementary school students a Winnie the Pooh-themed book that teaches kids how to “run, hide, and fight” in dangerous situations like a mass shooting.

Cindy Campos, whose two children attend an elementary school in the Dallas Independent School District, said she wasn’t sure what to do when her youngest son, who is in kindergarten, came home from school last week with the book, titled “Stay Safe.”

The book, Mrs. Campo said, had been slipped into her son’s backpack with no note or instructions.

“When danger is near, fear not,” the book reads. “Hide like Pooh does until the police show up.”

At first, Ms. Campos said she wondered if it was a gift from her son’s teacher. But later that night, she found the same book in the backpack of her oldest son, a seventh grader. Then she said she began to wonder if the book was an initiative of the school district.

“The book wasn’t something I wanted,” Ms. Campos said. “It’s unsolicited advice.”

Other parents also complained, questioning why the book was released without instruction and calling the distribution “tone-deaf” for being shared so soon after the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were killed.

The book’s distribution also came about a week after a gunman shot and killed eight people, including three children, at an outdoor mall in Allen, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, on May 6.

“After you read them a book, they have like 50 questions,” Ms Campos said. “How do you go to bed to let them know, ‘Yeah, this is what you do when you get shot at school,’ and then let them sleep?”

“That’s a nightmare waiting to happen,” she said.

The book also caught the attention of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who said further Twitter on Tuesday that “Winnie the Pooh is now teaching Texas kids about active shooters because the elected officials lack the courage to keep our kids safe and pass common sense gun safety laws.”

In a statement on Friday, the school district said the book was sent home “so parents can discuss with their children how to stay safe” in dangerous school situations, such as a shooting. Still, the district admitted it should have advised parents about the book.

“We work every day to prevent school shootings by addressing online threats and hardening our schools,” the district said in an email. “A booklet was recently sent home so that parents can discuss with their children how to stay safe in such cases. Unfortunately, we have not provided parents with any guidance or context. We apologize for the confusion and are grateful to the parents who reached out to us to help us become better partners.”

The district has not disclosed how many books have been distributed or which schools and classes have received them.

The Texas Education Agency, which oversees schools across the state, said Friday that the book was not part of an agency-wide initiative, and deferred questions about the book to the Dallas school district.

Ms. Campos said the book has not been addressed by the principal or teachers. The school’s principal did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The book is published by Praetorian Consulting, a Houston-based company that provides training and services in safety, security, and crisis management. It did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

The book, which was written by Praetorian owner Ken Adcox and Brittany Adcox-Flores, makes no explicit mention of guns. Instead, it refers to threats like “danger” and “something that isn’t right.”

Mr Adcox did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday and Ms Adcox-Flores was not immediately available.

The ‘Stay Safe’ book was created by Texas police officers and teachers to teach elementary school students how to “stay safe and protect themselves if a dangerous school break-in occurs,” Praetorian said on his website.

The company said the material, which features “the familiar and beloved characters” of Winnie the Pooh, teaches the “run, hide, fight” response, which is recommended in an active shooter situation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Originally published in 1926, Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain last year, allowing for character customization.

“It is our belief,” said Praetorian, “that as with other school safety strategies such as fire drills, pedestrian safety and danger to strangers, the Run, Hide, Fight concepts should be discussed regularly with students of all ages.”

The National Association of School Psychologists advises parents and teachers to talk to the primary school children about violence should provide “short, simple information that should be balanced with reassurances that their school and homes are safe and that adults are there to protect them,” said guidance from the organization.

Parents and teachers should remind young children of examples of safety, such as locked doors, the organization said in guidelines on its website. The National Association of School Psychologists did not respond to a request for comment about the Winnie the Pooh book.

Ms. Campos said the school district’s distribution of the book felt like an attempt to “normalize” a wave of gun violence across the country.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Ms Campos said of having to talk to her children about gun violence. “We shouldn’t have to talk to them about it, and it’s so hard as a parent.”

Finally, Ms. Campos said, she gave in and read her youngest son’s book, who is 5.

“There was no way he wouldn’t let me read it,” Ms. Campos said, adding that her son was interested because of Winnie the Pooh.

“I’m finishing the book crying, and he says, ‘Why are you crying?'”