Skip to main content

Why Do We Do Fire Drills?

http://familyhumancapital.blogspot.com/ scripts for teens professionals
Fire Flames from Public Domain Image


We do fire drills to practice what to do in case of a fire, so we are not floundering around in the event a fire does break out.

I got the idea for this post when I did the STOP blog post. In my experience many people don't have the language tools in their toolbox that they can readily pull out when the situation arises. So from my STOP post, it is easy to say, "de-personalize it" but how exactly to do that? What words to use? What does it mean to ask for data? Set boundaries? Wouldn't it be great if we had a script or sample scripts that we could pull out as the situation demands?

I am sure you all are familiar with "I should have said..". I know I have done quite a bit of that "hindsight" discussion as I thought through all the possible responses I could have made to something someone said, and my actual (lacking) response. If only I had more time to think it through or a chance to practice!

Scripts for parents, teens

As a parent, I need scripts as I feel ill-equipped to handle some teen (or not-yet-teen) discussions.

For example, does your child have a script for when she is asked to use drugs for the first time? Have you both worked out how she should respond to her peers (and just say "No" may not be very helpful in the situation).
What about a script for unwanted sexual advances? Does your daughter or son know what to say if they are being pressured for sex? Bullying?
It seems to me that the pressure kids, especially girls, are under via social media, the need for good conversations and practiced responses is clear.

A script is simply a tool to help ensure that a response is thought through, that you and/or your child can practice, so your child knows what and how to say what he wants to say, so he doesn't default to "Yes."

Glennon Doyle Melton had some most excellent scripts in her post The one conversation that could save your teen's life. 
Take a read of it, it is totally worth it. I promise. Because you never know when the fire may erupt. 

Professional script example

In a professional situation, if confronted with having to tell someone to do something, start with a question instead - 

  • "It is my understanding/I believe/I think that your responsibility/job/work as janitor/school principal is X, is that true/am I right?"
  • If the answer is yes, then you can follow up with your request,  "I am sure you'll be able to help me with A,B, C situation."
  • If the answer is no, then you can follow up to clarify who is best placed to help you, "Who would be the best person to help me with A, B, C situation/Who should I talk to?"

I think I am better prepared for professional discussions, but for sure I need help with the teenage scripts, so I am working on my words.

I'd love to hear your comments. If you have a situation you need help with, or have a few suggestions of your own post it here!

And now, you can follow me on Twitter and on Instagram AustinTrini





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Week 20, Cycles 11,12 of 12: Not Happening

This week the oncologist felt that I had done enough chemo- I was not going to get Cycle 11 and Cycle 12.  I've talked before about the effects of the chemo on my fingers, but you know it is a sad situation when you knot your pyjama bottoms and then can't untie it to go to the bathroom. No more chemotherapy for me. Yay?  Yes, a bit of an anti-climax, but I still get to ring the "end-of-chemo" bell and get confetti thrown on me by my chemo nurses. My doctor also had in her hand the results of my post-chemotherapy MRI and it showed that there was a reduction in the tumour, it looked less dense than before and above all it looks like the volume of the tumour decreased by about 75%. Yay to that for sure! Considering I didn't feel that anything was changing I was very happy about the result. Next on my list: surgery. She said that although my blood counts are low in some areas, she felt that if I wanted to have surgery that day, I was well enough to do it. Me? We

Talking with Lucas on climate change

This is my post for Blog Action Day . This is an annual event where bloggers everywhere in the world post about the same issue on the same day to spark discussion around an issue of global importance. This is part of a conversation I had with my 8-year old. Mama : Do you know what climate change means? Lucas : I think it means when it is like 90F and it is hot.   And the change? It's when in the daytime it might be 90F and sunny and hot, and then you go inside for dinner and then right after dinner and it might have dropped to 70F Well, yes it is that in a way.  That describes what is happening in your area, but when people use the term "climate change" they really mean something more global, like affecting climate around the world Have you heard of the team "global warming"? What global warming is that it is made up of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and when they burn stuff the smoke releases CO2 and it's like a blanket covering the earth and if it k

Cancer by the numbers 2 of 4: That grocery bill

This is the second "Cancer by the Numbers" post, the first was about blood counts . We have been trying to eat organic fruits and vegetables as much as we can, to reduce the pesticide levels we injest. I will publish another post about cancer and food, but for now I thought I'd share the cost of organic vs not organic based on a quick poll of my local grocery (HEB).  We had cut out meat prior to my diagnosis of cancer (ever since reading The China Study ) so perhaps the decline in spending in meat is offset by the more pricey organic items! The graph below shows the increase, as a percentage of the non-organic price, that I pay for common items that I buy. While the actual dollar amounts may not be significant individually, I can tell you that I really feel it on my grocery bill when I buy blueberries! If you feel you want to buy organic, but want to spend the dollars on those items where it makes a difference, take a look at the  Environmental Working