Seniors release stress during “rage room” event

On Jan. 22, members of Milford’s senior class ventured to Destruction Depot, a “rage room” in Whitmore Lake. Designed to release built-up anger and stress, the rage room allowed students to destroy plates, glass, and even car parts in a safe environment.

The event took place at the end of finals week, which made the already exciting event even more attractive to students. “It was really beneficial to go to the rage room right after finals,” began Senior Ella Glaspie. “The rage room allowed me to take out my emotions and release stress from the previous week.”

In order to stay safe in the midst of the chaos, students wore protective gear such as jumpsuits, hard hats, gloves, face shields, and safety glasses. “The gear was pretty comfortable; I had no issues with it,” said Senior Aspen Snyder. “My only recommendation is to wear cheaper shoes because I kept worrying that I would ruin them in the rage room.”

Masks were kept on at all times and only one group went to the rage room at a time to give students peace of mind as the pandemic continued to wreak havoc.

Each group of students was given 30 minutes in a rage room to destroy the given items to their hearts’ content. “Though it seems like a short amount of time, a half-hour was the perfect time frame,” Snyder explained. “Any more and I would’ve been tired and bored, and any less we wouldn’t have had time to destroy everything and it wouldn’t have been worth the money.”

As students approached the rage rooms, they were met with multiple rows of various weapons to choose from to pulverize the items inside of the rooms. “My favorite weapon was definitely the golf clubs,” Snyder exclaimed. “Since the ends were small, it was easy to shatter things instead of cracking them, which made the experience much more satisfying.” Glaspie, however, enjoyed a more unconventional weapon; “I enjoyed using the cane; it was really entertaining and fun to use.”

The rage rooms enclosed the students in blank slates of wood on all four sides, void of anything except things to break and countless marks of damage on all sides of the room from previous fits of rage. Hard rock music played in the distance as the sound of shattering glass and loud bangs filled the room with each group that entered.  A crate full of unique breakable items was given for each student to unleash their anger upon. “One of my favorite things about the rage room was being able to tear all of the film out of the VHS tapes we were given,” said Snyder. Glaspie agreed; “I loved smashing the old VHS tapes with a cane and a crowbar.”

The event was yet another outing planned by the senior parents to make the most of an extremely unconventional school year as well as raise money for the senior all-night party. “This is the best senior event that I’ve been to so far,” Snyder exclaimed. “It was short, but it was still a good chance to bond with friends and get active.”

The rage room was an unforgettable experience for all who went, resulting in lasting memories to save as a reminder of the good times spent with friends in the midst of chaos. Snyder explained, “My favorite memory of the rage room was when the back of Riley’s phone shattered. It sounds bad, but it was honestly really funny. She thought her dad was going to kill her, but it all turned out okay, her phone got fixed, and it was a good laugh for all of us.”

Seniors who attended the event were grateful for the opportunity to release their anger in a way that previously existed only in their wildest dreams. “My stress levels have been so much higher than usual because I still want to perform well both in the classroom and as an athlete, however, it’s hard to do this when you have the mindset of a second-semester senior,” Glaspie explained. “The rage room event was really unique and an out-of-the-box way to relieve stress. It was something that I normally would not have done, but I’m so glad that I went.”