The Lincoln Times

Civil Defense Chief Requests That School Authorities Start Air Raid Alert Drills In Schools
RALEIGH - State Civil Defense Director Edward F. Griffin today advocated that training of school children in safety procedure during air raid alerts be started with the least possible delay after the opening of the fall school term. Full instructions have been placed in the hands of school superintendents and local PTA presidents, he said "Civil Defense In Schools", a handbook of instruction, issued last year by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Charles F. Carroll, in accord with State Civil Defense policies, is a simple adaptation of "what-to-do" activities in event of emergency during school hours. Assistance from the local Civil Defense Director in translating the instruction into action would be helpful, but not essential, Griffin said. The handbook was sent to all school superintendents -- city and county immediately after publication. North Carolina Congress of Parents and Teachers headquarters has mailed this month, copies of the handbook, with a cover letter from the organization's CD committee chairman, to all local PTA presidents. The letter urged that the instructions be turned over to school principals and used to the fullest advantage "The cooperative efforts of the department of Public Instruction and state PTA with North Carolina Civil Defense, in publishing and distributing this vital information to school authorities, represents the limit of our present authority," the state director said. "Public opinion will have to do the rest. "If and when the general public wakes up to the fact that we must prepare for any eventuality during this uneasy period of international tension . . . then every youngster will receive the protective training to which he is entitled if he is going to survive in the atomic age . . . Let's hope it won't be too late," he concluded.