School Safety
Resources for Helping Children Deal with Traumatic Events
When traumatic events occur, whether in the local community or across the world, educators may experience demands and needs from their students that are quite different from their usual classroom experiences. Many of you have guidelines and procedures for how to respond to your students who have heard reports about this shooting and have questions or reactions of their own. However, some of you might not have those resources available. Below are some key recommendations and resources to help guide you in handling these situations with students.
- Be sure to take care of your own emotional and psychological well-being.
- Manage your feelings in a healthy way, as this will influence how children respond themselves.
- Be aware of children's cues:
- Look for signs or symptoms, both normal and severe. Be especially aware of children who have a history of trauma or psychological symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety).
- Read about common reactions of children and youth to traumatic events in the community on the Web site of the American Psychological Association. This Web site also provides tips to educators and parents for responding to children when traumas occur.
- Watch for severe reactions to traumas, such as re-experiencing (not just imagining) the incident. Reactions of note are described by the National Association for School Psychologists (NASP) in "Identifying Seriously Traumatized Children: Tips for Parents and Educators".
- Allow children talk to about the incident if they wish, but don't force it.
- Forcing children to talk about it, or spending large amounts of class time on work related to the traumatic event, can increase the harm that children experience from the trauma.
- Read NASP teacher tips on facilitating classroom discussions about loss.
We hope this information is helpful. Please don't hesitate to consult with mental health experts in your area for more resources if necessary.