PARIS – At 8:10 a.m. Friday at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, lights were turned off, doors were locked and students were sent to their rooms’ “safe-zones” – areas out of the line of sight of potential gunmen – during a mock drill designed to prepare students in the event of a school shooting.

The drill itself lasted only 20 minutes, leaving students little to do save sleep and think, which many proceeded to do. The students were to maintain strict silence during the drill, which they more or less adhered to. Sirens were audible from inside the building, as emergency vehicles arrived.

After the drill, surveys regarding the attitude of the students toward the school were distributed. The students were asked to complete statements such as, “I wish my school ” and “Our school’s biggest challenge is .”

Student groups then discussed the survey. Some expressed a concern about the number of rules and regulations at the school, and there was a discussion regarding the balance between freedom and security.

In addition to the surveys, some student groups were asked to conduct a role-playing activity in which they separated into groups to simulate cliques. Groups were comprised of three or four members, with two of the members not belonging to the simulated cliques to increase sensitivity to students who might be seen as “outcasts.”

Following these activities, students took part in an evacuation simulation. At the school’s bus loop, students viewed the emergency vehicles, which included police cars and fire-control vehicles.

Once the evacuation was complete, students were sent back inside to discuss the lockdown with emergency officials. More surveys were distributed, this time regarding the lockdown and moral values, the latter from the Web site teachingvalues.com.

Discussions of the survey included concerns over alternate scenarios, such as a shooting during lunch, when large groups of students are together in the cafeteria. Officials also responded to students’ questions about procedures the drill had not adequately covered. Possible future drills were also discussed.

Students had mixed feelings regarding the mock lockdown. While some thought it prepared them for such a situation, many felt that it was unnecessary and failed to make the school safer, a feeling perhaps made evident by the large number of absent students. Other concerns were that the day would be better spent learning, rather than running a drill which they viewed as being unnecessary.

There were also concerns about the students not being informed as to the exact procedure emergency officials followed. Some felt that this created a feeling of uncertainty rather than safety. Another concern was that potential shooters might now be aware of the situation inside classrooms and might be able to exploit the system.

Officials said that the response time was fairly accurate to expectations, although the emergency services were prepared to act as soon as the lockdown was initiated, unlike in a real scenario.

On Monday, emergency officials will offer further debriefing and assessment of the school’s performance.

Robert Miller is a student at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School and was inside the building during the drill.