This Photo of a Little Girl "Playing" Will Give You Chills For the Worst Reason

One of the greatest joys of parenting is watching your child's imagination run wild while they play. The floor can turn into lava, dolls can come to life, and small figurines can survive epic battles on the living room floor. But Sherry Hollands, a mom from Nashville, TN, was recently saddened and enraged when she found out the reason behind her 5-year-old daughter's "play" session. While most little kids are pretending to be superheroes or Disney heroines, her daughter's version of make-believe was far more real and scary.

"This is my daughter this morning," Hollands wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of her daughter, who was dressed as Elsa from Frozen, burying her face on the bed and pretending to be in a school lockdown with her favourite dolls, aka her classmates. "She brought all of her babies into our bed. Placed them face down. Cut the light off and locked the door. I asked her what she was doing. SHE IS PRACTICING HER DRILLS. THIS IS NOT WHAT PRETEND FOR A 5 YEAR OLD SHOULD LOOK LIKE!!! March on people. We can't do enough to protect our kids. We have to start making change now! #Marchforourlives"

While practicing drills for different situations is nothing new, this one struck Hollands because drills are now becoming reality far too often. "I believe lockdown drills are an unfortunate necessity due to the world we live in presently," Hollands told POPSUGAR, adding that she is a firmly against arming teachers and would like to see stricter gun control legislation. She also explained that part of helping children deal with this terror begins with the parents. "Every parent of every child needs to try and see the daily stresses the children of our future are facing. We have not equipped them to fight for their lives while trying to become our leaders. Let them learn, and they will fight for what they want to see in their future world. Our job is simply to make schools their safe places to become those leaders."

The full caption on the photo reads:

"My husband has to work today so I can't go to the March for Our Lives Protest. For all of you out there, THANK YOU! This is my daughter this morning. She brought all of her babies into our bed. Placed them face down. Cut the light off and locked the door. I asked her what she was doing. SHE IS PRACTICING HER DRILLS. THIS IS NOT WHAT PRETEND FOR A 5 YEAR OLD SHOULD LOOK LIKE!!! March on people. We can't do enough to protect our kids. We have to start making change now! #Marchforourlives"