So I work as an apprentice at a media group, and we were filming a protest music video and event at our studio. I figured I'd use this job as some exposure therapy, as well as a way to pick up some work-trade hours. It started ok; I was able to focus on my camera moves. But as the day wore on, I was struggling to lock in, and I started getting some pain in my ears from the kids. Trying to tell them not to touch our equipment was really hard. But I'm really grateful that my boss/executive producer acknowledged my difficulty, said I can decompress in the equipment room if I need to, and was proud of me for showing initiative to get out of my comfort zone.
We need more people like my boss who understand that not everyone feels comfortable around kids.