Due to the frequency in which mass shootings happen in this country, we have pulled together resources that might help adults council and support students after such tragedy.
On the Importance of Talking with Students
When Disaster Strikes: Talking to Children About Traumatic EventsLarge-scale tragedies can be extremely disturbing to children, who thrive on predictability and security. When exposed to these catastrophic events, whether personally or through the media, children often display fears and anxieties that may seem extreme to adults. Usually, these reactions are normal. However, without proper assurance, the impact of events like these can remain with children for a long time, even throughout their lives.
When Bad Things Are HappeningWhen news breaks of disaster or violence, your students may want to discuss a crisis as it unfolds. Here’s how.
Let's Talk! Facilitating Critical Conversations With StudentsEducators play a crucial role in helping students talk openly about the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of social inequality and discrimination. Learning how to communicate about such topics as white privilege, police violence, economic inequality and mass incarceration requires practice, and facilitating critical conversations with students demands courage and skill.
An age-by-age guide on how to talk about difficult topics with your childrenOne of the toughest jobs of parenting is talking to your kids about difficult subjects. It's hard enough to explain when a beloved stuffie gets eaten by the washing machine, or when a bully acts tough at school. But it can feel impossible to put into words some of the really big issues, such as violence, racism and other important topics.
NASP: Talking to Children about ViolenceHigh profile acts of violence, particularly in schools, can confuse and frighten children who may feel in danger or worry that their friends or loved-ones are at risk. They will look to adults for information and guidance on how to react. Parents and school personnel can help children feel safe by establishing a sense of normalcy and security and talking with them about their fears.
Hard Conversations And Finding The Right WordsNo matter our personal views, the events that took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, January 6th, 2021 left us with another parenting challenge of trying to find the right words to explain the things our kids saw and heard in the news. Like most of you, we struggled with how we should talk to our kids about the situation in a way that would shelter them from worry but also answer their questions. So, we reached out to Parker Huston, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and the Clinical Director of the On Our Sleeves Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where he advocates for children’s mental health on a local, regional, and national level. Parker was kind enough to sit down with us to give us tips for talking to the children in our lives about the potentially traumatic events they have been exposed to this week, we hope his insights will help you as much as they did us.
NCTSN goes over some guidelines on how to talk to children who are struggling with their thoughts and feelings about images and the aftermaths of mass shootings.
The CSTS article is going over how to restore a sense of safety after an event. It contains tips and information about how to talk to children and how to answer some common questions that your child might bring up.
The NCTSN article goes over media exposure of these events and how this coverage can impact your child. It goes over how parents can handle media coverage with their child.
This article from the center of resilience well-being in schools offers guidance to help talk to children and youth after something scary or violent happens.
This tip sheet contains information about grief, the grieving process, and what happens when
the process is interrupted and complicated or traumatic grief occurs. It also offers tips and
resources for coping with both types of grief.
ASPR TRACIE has developed and gathered additional information on programs and resources available to the communities affected by mass shooting events. Information is organized by programs and resources.
From the American Psychological Association: Constant news reports about the shootings in communities around the world can cause stress and anxiety for people, leaving them with questions about the causes of and solutions to gun violence. APA offers resources to help those who are suffering distress. Articles include: "Managing your distress in the aftermath of a shooting" and "How to talk to children about difficult news"
The State Library of Louisiana has put together this list of resources to help those who work with children to deal with the trauma of events reported in the media and which children are likely to see.
These suggestions for parents and educators provide guidance on how to talk about school violence or violence in a community, discuss events in the news, and help children feel safe in their environment.
Majorities of Black adults (75%), Asian adults (72%) and Hispanic adults (65%) say that gun laws should be stricter, compared with 45% of White adults.
As acts of mass violence in schools become all too common, USC professor David Schonfeld shares his insights into how best to facilitate recovery for young people who have been affected by tragedy.
