,
5 tweets,
1 min read
Read on Twitter
I have steadfastly been against active shooter drills since the horrendous practice was first introduced to terrorize children, but after having had a mandatory emergency briefing at our office building today, I’m against them for adults as well. Firmly.
First, absolutely none of the common practices or advice about how to deal with such situations are grounded in any research or statistical analysis. We don’t do training for falling down the stairs, and it’s an infinitely more common cause of workplace injuries.
Second, the official repsonsible for addressing our team casually mentioned that the FDNY advice for what to do in an active shooter situation *directly contradicts* the DHS advice for what to do in the same situation. This was shared with zero concern for the obvious absurdity.
Third, these institutions are unwilling to do what it would take to actually stop workplace violence: aggressive gun control & a systematic dismantling of toxic masculinity. Telling my coworkers to try throwing a stapler at an imagined fantasy of a murderous intruder is insipid.
Normalizing mass gun violence is immoral. Interrupting people’s workday to share horror fantasies about violence is wrong. Reminding many of us that law enforcement would *target* us in an attack, rather than protecting us, is awful. These drills are indoctrination, not training.
