Talking to Children About Traumatic Events
HCPSS has student services teams in every school available to support the social-emotional wellbeing of children every school day. During times of increased stress caused by traumatic events occurring close to home or viewed on the news, there is an increase of required services. Our schools are equipped with the resources to support children during the school day, and we want to make sure parents and community members have resources to speak to children outside of school hours.
As always, if parents/guardians have any specific concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, school counselor or any member of the administrative team.
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) provides the following tips to parents and educators to talk with children about school violence.
- Reassure children that they are safe
- Make time to talk
- Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate
- Review safety procedures
- Observe children’s emotional state
- Limit television (and social media) viewing of these events
- Maintain a normal routine