This Is (Not) a Drill
2025, 12 minutes, sound with text.
More than 95% of American public schools now impose routine lockdown drills or active-shooter simulations to prepare for school shootings. It’s a multi-billion-dollar business adapted from the world of military readiness, which relies in part on immersive, realistic training scenarios to prepare soldiers for combat while inoculating against the trauma of war.
We are told that unannounced drills and active-shooter simulations are necessary, safe, and effective. But schoolchildren are not soldiers.
What is the true impact of these simulated traumas? How does it feel to have to ask, “is this a drill, or the real thing?”
This is (Not) a Drill is a 12-minute sound documentary and interactive installation about a 21st Century American rite of passage, narrated by the kids who are living it.
This is (Not) a Drill is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.