Im now almost 36 and Ive never held a gun, and aside from police (who have it bolstered), Ive never seen a gun in real life. Thats so callous. Im Amy, and Im the person behind Never the Right Word. Im a little bit too old to really be a member of the school-shooting-generation (in that I was in undergrad by the time Sandy Hook happened), and my impression when I hear my younger peers talking about it (and from some commenters in threads below) is that the pervasiveness (of both the drills and the threat) is what makes them so traumatizing for many people. The UK is having a heck of a lot of problems, and every so often we wonder if wed need to head back Stateside, but active shooter drills keep it crossed off the list. I am going out on dinner with him. Whats your advice?. I am not sure why the school wanted you to do this, but the drills are a regular thing for Emergency Services. But that was just about 30 minutes, not anything we had to actually do. What I wonder is, if you all spend seven hours at work doing not-work, will you have a huge backlog of work the next day? Please stand firm on the accommodations that you need. Otherwise, its always a really hard day. See, thats what I wonder about. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Communicate early and often with both your NG chain of command and also with your college professors. My parent had been at FEMA for a minute & half before being sent to Katrina to provide IT support. Theres just not that much to cover. For this office, I would avoid a mental health day and really focus on something physical. one of her students went to the supply closet and distributed scissors and protractors to his classmates during a suspected active shooter event. Another pro-tip for basic make up: if you want to pick out a lipstick/tinted lip balm that will look good on you, apply the sample to the tip of your middle finger then pinch your finger just above the first knuckle. Seven hours is unbelievable, but sounds more like a training event for the police than your workplace. Because lets be honest, who does not want to have a hot mug of coffee on the terrace while watching the rain pouring onto the glass of your windows, making a thud sound and yet so calming? If you are sick, you must report to your unit and be evaluated by a medical professional. Click here for full access to" Mindfulness", Click here for full access to "Communicating with Empathy", Self Talk to Promote Wellbeing During Isolation, 5 Strategies to Reconcile With an Ex You Dumped, 5 Psychological Hacks to Deal with Reappearing Exes. The prurient excitement exhibited by those conducting the trainingsand folks like OPs bossis a sickness in our society. You can opt out the same way you opt out of team trust falls and workplace hotdog eating contests. OP, Im sorry you have to deal with this. What are your suggestions for educators and/or students who have to do these trainings, especially those who have been affected by a real situation? A professional email will be expected and it is often a great way to make a great impression with your professional counterparts. For context, I work at a facility that stores large quantities of hazardous materials. There are many reasons why you might just not want to work on the weekend, such as: In this instance, you can propose a better alternative. I know he isnt *always* a jerk, but hes really being a jerk about this. You Were in a Car Accident 8. 1 When Something Comes Up & You Still Want To See Them Shutterstock "Hey, I'm so sorry, but something came up tonight and I. We did an active shooter drill at my organization and I thought it would be similar to the same drills I grew up doing (also a millennial) but it was so much worse than I imagined. Take care of yourself! Call in sick. Make up a story of how your roommate needs your special attention since they are suffering from a. fever. He doesnt sound reasonable, and I dont think the conversation would go well. Be prepared for unexpected expenses. That sounds horrible and not at all like a good use of time. Id never treat a younger person badly for refusing this. There's easily 100+ people that will be at the conference. On top of that, everyone was ordered not to use their cell phones. A year or so before COVID, our state decided to mandate active-shooter drills for schools. LWs boss is nuts. College is a priority. Calmis about simple, achievable habits that workwith the demands of your busy life instead of pretending those demands don't exist. You dont even have to do it well! There Is Inclement Weather 9. My workplace had an active shooter training session prior to COVID that included several drills. Or worse, maybe they know its going to happen sometime between those seven hours, but not when. The builder is intuitive. Same with mine; customized by law enforcement but the only customization was Oh yeah all your doors are glass so hiding isnt an option! You were asked to attenda raging, booze-filled pub crawlon Friday? Agreed, why is this training seven hours long? Thats just totally unreasonable. Oh Heck no, no, no. Ugh. 1) Wont happen herewe are nowhere near the big city where these things happen. They also talked about throwing things like your chair or a pencil (?) My 18 year old brother called me in a panic because his girlfriend was in one of the buildings they thought the shooter was in, and Im pretty sure the panic in his voice is going to stay with me for the rest of my life. I have to do the Run, Hide, Fight video at work. Thats a totally reasonable length for something so complicated and so intertwined with our everyday work, especially where we may be needed to provide specialized assistance to professional EMS/Fire personnel who have less experience with the particular hazards involved. Id develop a migraine toward the end of the day before and call in the next day. My kid survived by diving under their desk and huddling there, shaking, as the shooter stalked the room looking for more targets, listening to the screams of their colleagues who had been shot, and expecting to die in the crossfire once law enforcement arrived. I wouldnt outright say it was a mental health day, since this boss almost certainly wouldnt consider that a valid sick day given his opinions on mental health. I cannot fathom how it has happened that even young children are expected to learn to react to someone with a gun. If a teacher or student has an issue then they should be removed from the situation. Gathering up glassware in the science lab, students making comments about taking bullets for each other or even their teachers (which, just, no). Thanks, Tell the host a detailed story of how hectic your last week was with all the office meetings, official tours, and prepping up for the big seminar that went great today. Echoing others concern about this training being from a valid source. My boss, who is also the only person to whom I report (no grand-boss applicable), is much older, which I mention because I think hes just coming at this training from a totally different perspective. A seven hour training is rediculous, even actual drills for emergency services dont last that long. Before you comment: Please be kind, stay on-topic, and follow the site's commenting rules. Look, Im a school employee, a military brat, and an LEO wife. As someone who has frequently been the only woman on the team, I certainly understand the concern of being additionally seen as different if you opt out. If you do want to be up front about not being willing to do it, saying you have too much personal experience of gun violence is not disclosing anything about your own mental health, and its a blunt way of pointing out that its your circumstances that are different, not your resilience. Hey [Name], I wouldve loved to have gone out tonight but Im currently. During the week, you were full of hope and motivationfor the weekend ahead. But if thats not the case, tell them you were here (at some distant place) to pick up some work. Their representatives propose these changes. Also, your boss is a horses ass. It is not unreasonable to expect a weekend rest after a hard weeks work. I am not quite old enough to properly recall the gun buyback of 1996. Im sorry you have personal experience with this. As part of the largest department in government, our pre-Covid safety meetings were 2-hour wastes of time with 30 agency coordinators listening to nonsense from the person in charge of occupational safety. Anyone can offer this training, and who knows the background of the trainer, if theyve informed and/or worked with law enforcement to plan and schedule the exercise, or if they have any background in the psychological impacts of active shooter situations, simulated or not (doubtful). Regardless of that, though, opting out should be a reasonable accommodation for anyone with cause to believe the training will have mental health ramifications for them. Never had a garish, clashing lip color since I learned that trick years ago when I worked in department store cosmetics and was a model for make up/hair when my friends went through state boards for their cosmetology licenses. If youre in the National Guard, youre required to attend one weekend of drill per month. It wasnt really an active shooter simulation, but for some reason, the approach at the time was Its really important to stay silent, so try to imagine that its real as you cower in this corner. (Spoiler alert 20ish seven- and eight-year-olds are REALLY bad at playing silent sardines, even when the imaginary stakes are high.). Precisely, More Training Needed. So why not plan this up again someday?. The problem is you have random, unqualified people thinking they can provide effective active shooter information when thats clearly not the case. I love the advice to take two days and do something restorative. That is egregious and worth taking seriously imo. Depressing, yet so effective. If you are in the National Guard, you may be wondering if you can skip a drill weekend. So, maybe next time? ] (which is, essentially, the adult version of the fire drill) and an active shooter drill (which, in my understanding, usually implies some level of re-enactment beyond what Ellis Bell (the teacher above) was describing as lockdown drills at school). Seven hours at work, doing not-work how much of a backlog will there be the next day? I hope LW is able to realize his insensitivity is plenty of cause for reconsidering her stance on him and using all her effort to pushback on such terrible behavior from him. They youd be able to get your note without having to have an excuse, you legit had to miss because you had an appointment that day. Work from home dont only give you the benefit of only flexible working time and let you sleep a little later than normal. So weird, right? The perfect, no commitment excuse. If its that sort of training day, it would be way more involved the typical quick drill or watch Run/Hide/Fight theyd be going over all the logistics, what processes to set up to prevent it, etc. You might still be able to get them to modify how they do the drills, and who they choose to be the instructors, etc. At the time, I had an employee for whom the video would be too much. Assuming theres no policy requiring a doctors note for more than 1 consecutive sickday. It can be a good time to start getting migraines I genuinely get them and I cant even look at a screen to email / call in. Maybe, or maybe he just meant you cant opt out if you are at work. We no longer politely hold the door open to let a stranger into our secure building. That is the point. Here are some tips from some of the worlds best mentor for you to jump-start your career to get that sweet promotion and excel in your career. Oh its very simple, were supposed to die. My mind is so boggled by the fact that anyone would find this an appropriate and normal thing to do in a public setting where there are almost certainly students, staff, faculty, etc. The next year they just showed a video, called Run, Hide, Fight. We started calling it Run, Hide, Die as a joke, if only because if we didnt laugh at it we would all have gone insane. Here are some tips: Weve at least got an HR. When I voiced my concerns, he made a few jokes about how he would simply redirect the shooter to a younger person, then asked if I was saying I wouldnt be able to take it.. Yup I was going to do this pre-pandemic to get out of a (much more minor) mandatory fun activity that happened to involve one of my anxiety triggers because I knew trying to explain why something most people think is at worst annoying makes me shake with nerves was just not worth spending political capital on. Except the trainings are ongoing so new employees can take them and so we keep getting emails. Also, skip the hair routine, finger brush it out. Many generation Z are adopting the quiet quitting culture and it is not because they are lazy. Cant see any problem with that.