Spidy
10-01-2007, 06:21 PM
Who is affected?
No matter how many news reports we hear about school violence, we are still shocked, frightened and saddened. Media, educators and parents seek ways to prevent violence. At the same time, helping the victims is a priority. Violent events, however, may cause emotional damage of which many people are unaware. That damage may continue or even begin long after the event took place. Before our youth are overcome with emotions that may lead to serious psychiatric problems, we may learn ways to help them through communication, observation, and education.
A violent act in a school affects every student, teacher, staff member and parent. Some will experience more emotional effects than others, but no person involved should be ignored. Those involved might be divided into the following categories:
Students who were injured
Students who witnessed injury or death
Students who witnessed any part of the violence
Students whose friends were injured or killed
Students whose friends perpetrated the violent acts
All students at the school
Teachers and staff in the same scenarios
Parents (of injured students, of murdered students, of any students)
Additionally, an incident at one school may affect any student, teacher or parent, and it may affect them traumatically.
News broadcasts of violent incidents continue for days after the incident occurs. It should not be surprising that people involved with any school would wonder, perhaps with extreme fear, if such an incident could take place at their school:
Students anywhere who have heard of the violence
Teachers, staff and parents anywhere
Is your school prepared?
Schools should have plans in place to handle the aftermath of school violence. School counselors would lead the creation of such plans, but community mental health organizations may be helpful, too. Outside organizations would also be helpful in providing the additional resources that would be needed after a violent incident. In designing a plan, schools might consider the following questions:
Do we have agreements with outside organizations to help with extra counseling after an incident?
Do our teachers and staff recognize symptoms of trauma?
Do our students know where they can seek help after an incident?
How can we provide outlets in the school as a whole and in classrooms for students to express their grief, anger, confusion, and other emotions?
How do we explain the incident to our students?
How do we reach students who do not seek help but may need it?
How can we communicate with parents about helping their children cope and watching for symptoms of trauma?
How can we explain to students the variety of emotions they may experience directly after and long after the incident as well as what they should do when experiencing these emotions?
Likewise, schools not involved in the incident should be prepared to communicate with students when violence occurs elsewhere.
Students most likely will see news reports about these incidents. While most schools have not experienced violence directly, many have received bomb threats or experienced other close calls. Violent incidents at other schools should not be ignored. Teachers and staff should be prepared to discuss these incidents as well as provide outlets for the students' emotional reactions. Schools and parents should be able to communicate about these issues, as well.
The aftermath
The aftermath of school violence may be handled by addressing the questions in the Preparation section. Some specific actions schools should take include:
Providing extra counseling to all students, teachers and staff
Addressing the student body as a whole about available resources
Addressing classrooms and giving students a chance to talk and ask questions
Providing students with ways to express their emotions
Communicating with parents, perhaps by inviting them to a school meeting, about recognizing trauma and communicating with their children
Understanding that traumatic stress symptoms may begin long after an incident
(its a big post , so i have made it into two parts and i would post both of them one by one )
thanks,
spidy.
No matter how many news reports we hear about school violence, we are still shocked, frightened and saddened. Media, educators and parents seek ways to prevent violence. At the same time, helping the victims is a priority. Violent events, however, may cause emotional damage of which many people are unaware. That damage may continue or even begin long after the event took place. Before our youth are overcome with emotions that may lead to serious psychiatric problems, we may learn ways to help them through communication, observation, and education.
A violent act in a school affects every student, teacher, staff member and parent. Some will experience more emotional effects than others, but no person involved should be ignored. Those involved might be divided into the following categories:
Students who were injured
Students who witnessed injury or death
Students who witnessed any part of the violence
Students whose friends were injured or killed
Students whose friends perpetrated the violent acts
All students at the school
Teachers and staff in the same scenarios
Parents (of injured students, of murdered students, of any students)
Additionally, an incident at one school may affect any student, teacher or parent, and it may affect them traumatically.
News broadcasts of violent incidents continue for days after the incident occurs. It should not be surprising that people involved with any school would wonder, perhaps with extreme fear, if such an incident could take place at their school:
Students anywhere who have heard of the violence
Teachers, staff and parents anywhere
Is your school prepared?
Schools should have plans in place to handle the aftermath of school violence. School counselors would lead the creation of such plans, but community mental health organizations may be helpful, too. Outside organizations would also be helpful in providing the additional resources that would be needed after a violent incident. In designing a plan, schools might consider the following questions:
Do we have agreements with outside organizations to help with extra counseling after an incident?
Do our teachers and staff recognize symptoms of trauma?
Do our students know where they can seek help after an incident?
How can we provide outlets in the school as a whole and in classrooms for students to express their grief, anger, confusion, and other emotions?
How do we explain the incident to our students?
How do we reach students who do not seek help but may need it?
How can we communicate with parents about helping their children cope and watching for symptoms of trauma?
How can we explain to students the variety of emotions they may experience directly after and long after the incident as well as what they should do when experiencing these emotions?
Likewise, schools not involved in the incident should be prepared to communicate with students when violence occurs elsewhere.
Students most likely will see news reports about these incidents. While most schools have not experienced violence directly, many have received bomb threats or experienced other close calls. Violent incidents at other schools should not be ignored. Teachers and staff should be prepared to discuss these incidents as well as provide outlets for the students' emotional reactions. Schools and parents should be able to communicate about these issues, as well.
The aftermath
The aftermath of school violence may be handled by addressing the questions in the Preparation section. Some specific actions schools should take include:
Providing extra counseling to all students, teachers and staff
Addressing the student body as a whole about available resources
Addressing classrooms and giving students a chance to talk and ask questions
Providing students with ways to express their emotions
Communicating with parents, perhaps by inviting them to a school meeting, about recognizing trauma and communicating with their children
Understanding that traumatic stress symptoms may begin long after an incident
(its a big post , so i have made it into two parts and i would post both of them one by one )
thanks,
spidy.