This video is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. I can’t believe that this was ever shown to children in a classroom environment. The safety video basically implies that at some point an atomic bomb will actually detonate. The “duck and cover” method would probably not save anyones life, and I believe that if there was some type of atomic or nuclear threat today, the government would either arrange a mass evacuation or not say anything at all. When it comes to a weapon that is as destructive as an atomic bomb, there isn’t much hope for anyone in the blast radius. The reason this video upsets me is because it was more likely to scare children into thinking that they would soon be burned alive, and the government used a cartoon turtle to try and make this duck and cover method okay. If the government truly believed that an atomic bomb was going to be dropped, would they provide no more relief than a safety video?

It is interesting to point out that the duck and cover method gives the impression that if an atomic bomb were to go off, it would not be the end of the world. I can’t speak for children living in the 60s, but I feel like I would have been terrified that the end was near. Religion plays no role in this video – is this because the government purposefully tries to make this bomb threat look like a routine drill? Based on our readings so far, an atomic bomb could definitely appear to be a sign of the apocalypse to anyone religiously devoted to the Book of Revelation. Did anyone at the time consider this bomb to be a catastrophe related to the sound of one of the Trumpets? An atomic bomb would lead to bloodshed, violence, anger, possible destruction of the Earth (could be considered “poisoning” the water, soil), and darkness. I wonder if children believed what this video told them, and more importantly, what their parents and the rest of America thought about it.