Just like most parents of soon-to-be kindergartners, Cassie Walton wanted her 5-year-old son Weston to feel safe and confident when he entered the new school year. Naturally, that meant lots of heart-to-heart talks about what to expect on his first day and plenty of back-to-school shopping. But in light of so many recent mass shootings, the young mom of two, who lives in McAlester, Oklahoma, knew she also had to prepare her son in other ways, too. So, she started running active shooter drills at home — which are now starting to go viral.
Walton, 22, is no stranger to these kinds of drills
After all, it wasn't too long ago that she was being put through them herself.
According to Good Morning America, the young mother was born in 1999 — just months after 12 students and one teacher were killed at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. As a result, active shooter drills were sadly commonplace by the time she reached high school herself.
"We would have threats all the time, and you'd never know which ones are serious and which ones are not serious," Walton shared. "So you have to be prepared, no matter what, to go from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye."
Now, she's been using what she learned in school to protect Weston
Walton even filmed one of her drills and posted it on TikTok last week, where it's now been viewed more than 6.9 million times.
@thewaltonfamily1 Happy back to school season…. #foryoupage #backtoschool #foryou #needschange #PostitAffirmations #momiktok ♬ L$d – Luclover
"Teacher calls over the intercom and says, ‘This is not a drill, everybody go in a corner and be really quiet and still,’” Walton tells her son in the clip. "What do you do?"
Instantly, the little boy runs to the corner of the room, telling his mom he'll "be really quiet and still."
"Now show me how you use your bulletproof backpack," Walton says.
Just seconds later, Weston pulls up his Spiderman backpack to cover his face.
"Okay," she tells him. "Good job."
But the lesson isn't over yet
Next, Walton starts running through more potential scenarios with her son, just to see how he'd react.
"[What] if a teacher says, 'Weston, you don't need your backpack, let's get in the corner'?" she asks him in the clip.
"I'd say, 'No, I need it, it's bulletproof!'" Weston tells his mom.
@thewaltonfamily1 Replying to @arielelizabeth_ #greenscreen #backtoschool ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
"Okay, if the police are outside your door but the shooter is in your room and they call out, 'Is anybody in there?' What do you do?" Walton continues.
"I say, 'I'm here!'" Weston replies.
But this time, his mom interjects.
"Absolutely not — you don't say a word," she instructs. "If the shooter is in there, you do not say a word, you stay absolutely silent."
Eventually, Walton moved on to the last phase of the drill: Making it to safety
"Okay, you get out of the building — where do you go, where do you run?" she asks her son in the clip.
Still holding his Spiderman backpack, Weston looks up at his mom and says confidently, "Outside!"
"Where outside?" Walton presses.
"HOME!" Weston tells her.
"You run as far away from the school as you can go," she says. "Mom will find you."
The entire exchange is heartbreaking
But as many people are now pointing out, it's also sadly necessary.
Walton's video comes less than than three months after a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas shocked the nation. During that incident, a total of 19 students and two teachers lost their lives after a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School.
But even if Uvalde had never happened, the US is still facing a major gun violence issue that only continues to get worse. So far this year, there have been more than 300 mass shootings on record, which has parents, teachers, and students on edge.
"In the back of your mind, you just are always worried about it. And it's never off the table," Walton told ABC News. "It's always possible no matter where you live, or what kind of school you go to, you just really never know."
In the comments, TikTokers had a wide range of reactions
Many applauded the mom for teaching her son how to save his life, should it ever come to that.
"I'm so sorry you have to teach this to your child, but good job Mom," one person wrote.
"As a teacher, thank you for sharing the importance of this," said another.
Still, many commented on how unbelievably sad it is that something like this should even need to be taught.
"I'm just baffled that it's come to this," wrote one user. "I really can't believe it … How sad."
"When you said, 'Mom will find you … ' Instant tears," another person added.
Walton is well aware of how sad it is
But sad or not, she wants her son to be safe. And unfortunately, these are the times that we're living in.
"I just wanted to show that even though it is sad, it's starting to be our reality with the way things are going," Walton told ABC. "There's more and more and more shootings every single year, and it's better to be prepared than to be sorry."
