With the constant threat of nuclear war always around the corner during the Cold War, the United States needed a way to prepare the people in case of an attack.
Thus, the birth of the "nuclear attack drill"...better known as "duck & cover".
Rather than me trying to explain it, use these two resources to gain a better understanding of this Cold War tactic.
One: Article
Two: Video
After you have completed each resource, answer the following two questions (100 words each).
1) What was "duck and cover"?
2) It seems fairly clear that this method would not protect anyone, yet people bought into it. Schools ran these drills for years. Why?
1.) “Duck and cover” was a way that you could try to protect yourself from the effects of a nuclear explosion. They were mainly used and taught in schools. Teachers would do air raid drills with their students by yelling, "Drop!" and the students were supposed to get on the ground, go under their desks, and wrap their hands around their heads and necks as quickly as possible. Students were told to duck and cover if they ever saw a bright flash of light, which would be from the explosion. Schools even showed them an educational film called Duck and Cover. The film showed an animated turtle that would duck and cover whenever he saw a firecracker to show the students what to do. (123)
ReplyDelete2.) Schools continued to use this method even though it was obvious that it would not protect anyone. They did this because it caused them not to panic as much. There was really nothing you could do to save yourself after there was an atomic blast, but by teaching them to duck and cover, it at least made them feel a little safer. The duck and cover method tried to convince people that you could “beat the bomb” by using the method, but it did not protect anyone from the bomb. They tried to reassure people that you could survive an atomic bomb. (103)
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ReplyDelete1. The method “Duck and cover” was used to help yourself from getting hurt by any nuclear explosions. This method was used in schools mostly. The United States government taught to generations of United States school children from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s to duck and cover. There were teachers in selected cities who were encouraged to do raid drills. Teachers would suddenly yell “Drop!” and the students had to kneel down under their desks with their hands clutched around their heads and necks. Metal dog tags were given to some students so if something happened and they died, the bodies would be identified. (112)
ReplyDelete2. So now as we look back we can tell that the “Duck and cover” method was not benefitable to anyone. For one reason I fell like they practiced this so long is because of comfort. When bombs were dropped they did all they knew how to do and that was to duck and cover. Obviously, nothing could save them, but at least it gave them a safe feeling. This method was to satisfy the kids and teach them that they could beat the bomb. It was pretty much based on how your survival. (100)
What is duck and cover it is an action that people do by going under anything as cover to shield themselves from a bombing that is a nuke and that’s my opinion before seeing cartoon. What it really is a cartoon made by the civil defense, federal civil defense administration and in consultation with the safety commission of the national education association meant to inform people of America what to do if they were bomb by other counties especially nukes suspected from Russia or North Korea. The cartoon shows examples of what you will when America is being bomb like at schools the children would get under their desk but this concept is pointless because those bombs are nukes. words119
ReplyDelete“Duck and Cover” was a drill that became popular and encouraged during the Cold War. It was a drill meant to help protect against an atomic bomb attack. People believed that “Duck and Cover” could help prevent burns and other dangers during an atomic bomb attack. It was practiced in schools for many years. It became popular by a demonstrational cartoon with a turtle named Bert illustrating how to “Duck and Cover.” The Federal Civil Defense Administration pushed for everyone to practice this at home, school, or work. The media at the time also encouraged this drill, as it was also a way to comfort worried citizens.
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“Duck and Cover” was an atomic bomb safety drill used in schools for many years, even though it would not really protect anyone. I think the reason the government and media encouraged this drill was because it comforted American citizens. If someone is in the path of an atomic weapon, there is not much they could do to survive. “Duck and Cover” would do them no good if they are obliterated. But instead of telling everyone there is nothing they can do to protect themselves, this gave people at least some comfort, even if it was not really worth anything. Another reason it was encouraged was because the effects of fallout and radiation were not as greatly known as they are today.
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How duck and cover is pointless because the nuke is simply a bomb it has two to it the explosion and the aftermath radiation so even if you did survive the explosion you got that radiation to worry about so why would show this to the people even that the cartoon pointless is pointless is because USA doesn’t go crazy when someone decides to drop a nuke on them and hope that some survive from it which is most likely slim chance at that happening but it is worth doing if they are desperate the USA was trying achieve emotion management. words101
ReplyDeleteDuck and cover was a drill that was practiced in almost all environments. People were urged to practice it in schools a work and even at home. Duck and cover was a movement during the Cold War when people were scared of nuclear warfare so people would literally duck and cover from a nuke. People would get under a desk or table to protect themselves from burns and shrapnel. A cartoon was released with a turtle named Bert that demonstrated how to duck and cover. Much how we have fire drills and now lockdown drills this would be a regular thing for students across the county. (106)
ReplyDeleteThe duck and cover movement was to protect from nuclear weapons dropped on the country. If a nuclear weapon were to be dropped on the country duck and cover would not help anything. You can duck and cover but a desk or table is not nuke proof. If a nuclear weapon was dropped anywhere close to the town that people lived in ducking and covering is not going to do anything. Duck and cover might help if the nuke was dropped far away from the school or building that is undergoing the duck and cover drill. In almost every situation duck and cover is futile and helps nothing. (109)
Duck and cover was a method which purpose was to protect an individual of a nuclear blast. This was mainly taught to students in schools just like tornado, lockdown, and fire drills today. This was just another one of those precautions used to teach students what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Students were taught to get on the ground and cover as much of their head and neck as possible if they ever saw a bright flash of light or warned of a nuclear attack. This was actively pressed on students during those times because it was the best word of advise they could give. (108)
ReplyDeleteThe procedure of duck and cover obviously would not really do enough to protect an individual of a nuclear attack since those explosions are extremely powerful, but it would calm students and other individuals down. At schools and around the towns during the time of constant nuclear threats the last thing you want is panic. Duck and cover was just a method used to make people feel safer. The sad truth to a nuclear explosion is if it is in range of you, you can not do much to protect yourself. If you are in range of the blast you are unfortuneately more than likely to die either by the blast itself or the radiation. (115)
1. Duck and Cover, was a drill that they used in schools to protect the kids from nuclear bomb attacks. It was used after the bombing incident with Hiroshima and the Cold War. It was if a country threatened to drop a bomb on America. In the schools they would yell the word , “Drop!”and the kids would go under their desks to protect themselves from Atomic bombs. They never knew when an attack would happen so they had to always be prepared. They even made commercials promoting the drill to let every school know what to do. It is to keep the people safe.(105)
ReplyDelete2. The reason why schools kept running them is because they wanted there students to be safe. They knew it wouldn’t protect anyone. But I would rather save a few then none at all. I think it wise to have someway of protecting yourself. They felt it was necessary plus the government said so. It gave people at least do it to hope for the best. They wanted people to think that they could survive nuclear attacks. So they wouldn’t panic and cause an ordeal. If America panicked our country would go into chaos so they had to keep at peace.(101)
Duck and cover was a procedure done in the late 40s and early 50s to "protect" the children at school from a bomb attack. Teachers would yell cover and the children would drop to their knees and crawl under there dest in attempt to protect themselves from the bombing. Later they made it into a cartoon they Could show the kids so it wouldn't freak them out, they also would try to do it as much as possible so it would become normal and the kids wouldn't know if it was a drill or not. (101)
ReplyDeleteThey knew that the Duck and cover method wouldn't be a 100% success rate. But they also didn't know the same things we know today about explosions and radioactive areas. They were just trying to minimize the neck and fack burns and lessen the chances of the children getting hit by debris. They also wanted a simple method they could show people that wouldn't be too confusing for the kids.more than 1.1 million people saw these videos. The Gov. had trucks that would drive from school to school and show these videos in assemblies.(104)
1. “Duck and cover” was a tactic that the FDCA tried to teach the American people. The purpose of “duck and cover” was to provide protection from atomic bombs if atomic bombs were ever to be dropped in America; the main that was supposed to be protected, if you used “duck and cover,” was a burn on your skin worse than sunburn. The “duck and cover” tactic was manly shown to school students. Over 1.1 million people saw the film that promoted the tactic “duck and cover.” These videos were used propaganda to make more Americans aware of the threat of nuclear bombs.
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2. The “duck and cover” tactic, that America tried to teach the public to do if a bomb was ever dropped on our country, provided no protection at all to the area in America that was being bombed. The threat of Nuclear bombs possible being dropped on America made the American people scared, which is what started the tactic. The American people was never told and did not have the knowledge about nuclear radiation and side effects of nuclear bombs, so the tactic “duck and cover” seemed perfectly logical to them. Honestly, the tactic “duck and cover” really just gave the American people peace and helped them feel safer.
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Duck and cover was a drill taught in schools during the Cold War. In case of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union, the teacher would yell “Drop!”, and the students would duck underneath their desks, and cover their heads. The students would duck underneath any form over, not just their desks. Duck and Cover was also a cartoon that was made to be produced in schools. It depicted a live cast with an animated turtle that would encourage children to duck and cover in the case of a nuclear attack. The turtle would duck into his shell was a monkey set off a firecracker. This appealed to younger children.(106)
ReplyDeleteThis drill was ran in schools for many reasons. One reason was because people did not really know about the effects of a nuclear blast. They did not know that most people would be vaporized at ground zero. They were more focused on the tremendous heat that would have been produced, and protected themselves from the heat. They were not really concerned with the relatively low amount of radiation that would have been produced. Maybe this would have protected SOME people, but overall, it would not have been that effective. In short, people did not know enough about the atomic bomb to effectively shield themselves from it. (107)
During the Cold War there was a widespread fear of being bombed by Russia. They came up with the duck and cover drill to help prepare people for a H-bomb. They made duck and cover just another safety drill to be practiced in school. They made people try and think that it was possible to survive an attack from a an H-bomb just by taking cover. They taught that you need to try and take cover in a building and under a table if possible. If you outside and unable to quickly get into a building you just duck and take cover wherever you are at.
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Even though the duck and cover drill would not protect anyone it was ran for a number of years. They continued to do these drills as a sort of propaganda. They wanted to make people think that it was possible to survive these bombs just as long as you dropped and took cover, when in reality not even bombs shelters would be effective against the H-bomb. They wanted to make the people feel as I've they could be prepared for this and trick them into thinking the bomb would just knock over some walls, shatter windows, or burn your skin.
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Teachers in selected cities were encouraged to conduct air raid drills where they would yell,” drop!” And students were expected to kneel down under their desks with their hands clutched around their heads and necks. Metal dog tags were sometimes distributed to identify the bodies of students. An educational film was commissioned when an administrator at a private school mentioned duck and cover drills. Live actors and an animated turtle were put in a film to encourage kids to duck down to the ground and get under a form of cover. (100)
ReplyDeleteAlthough the “duck and cover” method was or logical at all, it did not appeal to the American people that way. American people had no knowledge whatsoever of the power of an atomic bomb. It seemed logical to them to duck and cover to protect themselves. “ Duck and cover” put the idea into people's heads that they would be safe if they covered themselves and hid under a large object. It would also prevent panic, which would only make matters worse. Unfortunately, this method wouldn't do enough to protect anyone during this situation. (105)
1. So during the Cold War between the United States of America vs. Russia there was a huge race to see who could build the biggest and baddest nuclear weapon. With this competition people were obviously getting securely scared for their lives and the lives of there children. So in schools teachers and the administration bought into this “duck and cover” drills that they would run if a nuclear weapon ended was launched at the US. The drill is when you hear the signal the students would literally hide under their desks and cover their heads, hence the name duck and cover. This was to protect the children if an atomic bomb was to hit the US. (117)
ReplyDelete2. So obviously children ducking for cover under desks and schools would never protect them if a real atomic bomb was to hit. The real point of these drills was to make the students feel like they would be safe and to calm them down in these stressful situations. So in all the drills of “duck and cover” were not used to really save or protect the students it was to make sure they didn’t break out in panic and full of chaos, but to make them feel safe and secure. Because everyone else knew that ducking under a desk would stop a nuclear atomic bomb. (108)
Duck and cover was taught in school across the states after world war two ended. They thought it would protect everyone from an atomic bomb. To teach the kids how to protect them selfs was that of a turtle named Burt. He taught the kids with a fun little song. The song was designed to be catchy so they will remember it. This was practice just like fire drills, tornado drills, and lock downs. Burt the turtle was finished in 1951 and put in school in 1952. It was first shown in a movie theater in Manhattan. The kids was to put their hand over their neck and hide under a table.(112)
ReplyDeleteThe dock and cover was still being used even if the drill would not help in bomb raid. It was still being used for it help keep the kids claim in this time of worrying. The dock and cover method was used to say that we can bet the bombs that soviets was saying they will use on us. The wonted to keep the people from go crazy over the things they are seeing and hearing around. The government thought it will 100 percent work, but they just wonted to keep everyone save and sound. The radioactivity things that come off the bomb after will mostly kill the most.(109)
"Duck and Cover" was an "emotion management" tactic the FCDA used in schools. Teachers throughout selected cities were encouraged to practice air raid drills where they would yell the word "Drop!" And all the students would know to crawl under their desks and clutch their hands around their head and necks. In some cases teachers would give out dog tags so any bodies could be identified if an actual attack took place. The FCDA even showed a film using a turtle to teach the kids what to do if they ever see a bright flash of light. (113)
ReplyDeleteSadly the Duck and Cover drill would not have been able to protect anyone from the horrible affects that come from a nuclear bomb, but some people emotionally needed some form of self protection. Some people might have even realized that it would keep them safe, but something about feeling like you can protect your self during an intense or scary moment would help manage their emotions. It would help them from having things like panic attacks. So essentially the Duck and Cover drill was just a way to make people feel like everything would be alright and it would help them stay calm if a nuclear attack would ever take place. (112)
the Duck and Cover procedure wasn't actually created to save a life, but it was invented to give people the emotional comfort of some protection if a bomb threat were to come. the schools and teachers had to practice bombing raids randomly and even give dog tags to students incase something truly happened. the FCDA developed this tactic and they also made a short film that had a turtle acting it out and "Duck and covering" so kids and teachers knew what to do and how to do it. one main signal that would give away a bombing raid is a big light. 103 words
ReplyDeleteobviously the drill wouldnt be able to protect people from a bomb more less a nuclear bomb by just "Ducking and covering" under a small half inch desk. the idea behind the whole concept was to keep panicking or panic attacks to a low and to keep young kids from screaming and crying incase it was there last few minutes. so in all actuallity the duck and cover drills and was only used to prevent chaos in the classroom during some form of bombing raid, but would never truly protect anyone from a bomb or a nuke if it were dropped on or near the school.106 words
After the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949 the American public grew nervous and became aware of the destruction that the bombs were capable of. As a result the Federal Civil Defense Administration set up In 1951 to educate the country that these attacks could be survived if the event ever arose. The FCDA encouraged educators to perform drills to enforce the young of taking proper precaution. The drill would later be known as “duck and cover” which taught citizens to duck under the ground and get under some form of cover - desk, table, or next to the wall. One year later a educational film was then released to the public featuring an animated Turtle who wore a helmet and quickly ducked his head into his shell when a monkey in a tree set off a fire cracker nearby.(142)
ReplyDeleteI believe the duck and cover method is very flawed and also believe that the government knew so too. Originally duck and cover was introduced to protect citizens from nuclear bombs. After reading the first article it’s obvious that surviving an atomic bomb will or can eventually lead to a slow painful death. In the article it is mentioned that a bomb testing took place near the Marshall Islands injuring nearby fisherman who resulted in severe burns and radiation, not to mention that one of the fisherman died of radiation poisoning. This is why I believe that the citizens of the United States back in 1951 would have not benefited from the “duck and cover” method. While ducking and covering may help protect you from suffering severe burns it absolutely cannot protect you from radiation intake. I believe schools and citizens bought into the idea simply because we like the idea of a precaution or plan of any disaster because it makes us feel “safe.” (165)
“Duck and Cover” was a video depicting what should be done if an atomic bomb is dropped. This procedure was supposed to help protect an individual from an atomic bomb blast. Whenever the alarm is heard or if you seed a flash of light, you are supposed to curl into a ball while covering your head and neck with your hands. During the video, this was taught using a turtle named Bert. Every time Bert saw a flash of light, which was produced by a firecracker being carried by a monkey, he would retract into his shell as a means of protection. This image along with the upbeat song, created a lighthearted way to give the general public the emotional peace it needed during the Cold War. (127)
ReplyDeleteThe “duck and cover” drill was used as a way to achieve “emotional management”. This gave the people what they needed in order to remain somewhat calm. Afterall, if the government says this will work, we will be fine right? At the time there was little to no knowledge of radiation and fallout among the general public. Nevertheless, they did know how harmful and disastrous the atomic bomb was. This drill was used as a way to reassure them that they would be safe if only they would “duck and cover”. It gave them a false sense of hope and safety, but at the time it was something they didn’t know they needed. (113)