Had to attend a one day workshop on care and support as part of RM training. All I can say is, I wasted one day learning nothing.
Lord, if I want to learn about mental illnesses facts, I can just google it. Their tips and techniques are so… fake? Like, if I used those responses in real life, people probably would look at me like I’m some crazy fuck.
Anyway, typing this post because I can’t sleep and was reminded of something from the past.
So during this workshop, we had to roleplay scenarios and how we will handle it. My group was supposed to do one where you found a student crying uncontrollably. How will we approach and engage the student?
Then my group mates started the role play and the ‘crying student’ would immediately list a whole bunch of depress-inducing reasons on why they are crying.
Like hello, you really think a legit, real life crying student will unload their emotional burden on a complete stranger the very moment you asked it?
NO.
But I was too nice to tell them that.
Back to main point, this scenario reminded me of myself when I was 13. I remembered it was a D&T class, we were supposed to present our YOG themed project work. Well, my team was a noob fuck so I had to do most of the work myself and created most of the slides myself too. Took me a few hours to complete the project the night before and the teacher decided it wasn’t up to standard. He threw it into the trash bin. My hard work, into the bin.
I broke down immediately. In front of the class.
But that wasn’t the worst moment.
D&T classes were 2 hours each and I cried the entire time. If the teacher dumping my hard work into the bin was a 5 on a pain scale, the fact that none of my classmates came to console me was a 50 on the pain scale. Everyone just went on with lesson as if I didn’t just break down in front of the class.
I was 13 when I realised that the world only console pretty girls.
I had a good thinking today on what would I had wanted if somebody were to approach me that day. I realised that all I wanted was some comforting words. All I wanted was someone to come up to me and say something like ‘wa that teacher is trash, don’t cry liao la’.
I don’t need advices, I don’t need people to solve my problems, I don’t need people to reaffirm my pain. I just wanted comfort when my heart is in pain.
Oh and if at that time, someone came to me and said ‘oh, it looks like you’re very affected by the action of the teacher and is feeling upset, I can totally empathize’, I will think the person is crazy/emotionless.
I wish they stop teaching people how to use these dumb fuck template lines in such workshop.
