"Shut the lights off, say no more," rhyme teaching kindergartners what to do in a lockdown

SOMERVILLE, Mass. (KFSN) -- A rhyme written in colorful letters to help prepare young children for a lockdown is drawing strong opinions on social media.

Mother Cindi Hirst said, "I don't like it. It's scary."

A frustrated mother tweeted a photo of the rhyme at the Arthur D. Healey Elementary School in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The rhyme reads:

"Lockdown, lockdown, lock the doors.
Shut the lights off, say no more.
Go behind the desk and hide.
Wait until its safe inside.
Lockdown, lockdown, it's all done.
Now it's time to have some fun."

"Just in case they really need to do it, the kids can rhyme to the song and do what's needed to be done," said parent Sana Bazzaz.

In the wake of several deadly school shootings, Somerville School Committee Chairman Andre Green stands behind the message.

"We're trying to figure out how to make something that's jarring-- how to make that as okay as it can be for our children."

The rhyme is alarming to many, but Hirst believes it's necessary to save lives in the event of a lockdown.

"I guess that's the reality of it now and it's best that they're prepared."