Supporting students after a traumatic event

Schools should be safe learning environments where students can thrive. Ongoing reports of shooting on school grounds are vivid reminders of the need to prevent gun violence in schools (Jonson, 2017). But as we work toward preventing these tragedies, we cannot ignore another essential question: How are schools centering the emotional safety and well-being of students affected by mass shootings and other threats?

Beyond physical safety

Since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado 25 years ago, schools have implemented a number of safety measures to keep students and staff safe. These include surveillance cameras, metal detectors, alarm doors, and locked-down drills (Jonson, 2017). According to Everytown for Gun Safety (2024), the number of active-shooter drills has rapidly increased since the Columbine shooting, with at least 40 states now requiring lockdown drills. These measures focus on the physical safety of students and staff. However, more needs to be done to protect the emotional safety and mental well-being of students.

Although lockdown drills are intended to prepare students and staff for and keep them safe, they have consequences on the mental health and well-being of members of the school community. Everytown for Gun Safety (n.d.) suggests that schools consider the distress and ongoing trauma students, teachers, and staff have experienced because of these drills.

Students need adults who are responsive to their emotional safety needs. The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (n.d.) defines emotional safety as feeling safe to express emotions. When schools do not create space for students to make sense of threats within or near their school community, students are left to make sense of them on their own. Students are also left with unanswered questions and invalidated feelings. They may then fill in these gaps with their own misconceptions and assumptions based on what they hear and see on the news and in social media.

The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (2020) offers suggestions on how to talk to children about tragic events. They recommend listening to children’s feelings and worries and supporting them to make sense of their experiences. Unfortunately, many students do not receive this support.

A student’s perspective

The Uvalde shooting on May 22, 2022, at Robb Elementary School took place approximately 130 miles from Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Laredo, Texas, where a former student, Lili, attended. When we spoke, Lili told me about the impact of the shooting and other incidents in the school community on their emotional safety and well-being.

Unlike other school shootings all around the country, the Uvalde shooting was the first that happened closer to home. The proximity of the shooting created a sense of fear and anxiety. Specifically, Lili expressed feeling uncomfortable attending a sports match off school grounds shortly after the shooting. Although Lili’s coach did not force her to attend the match, they missed the opportunity to inquire more about Lili’s feelings and provide a space for her to be heard. The coach did not say or do anything to help the student navigate or make sense of their feelings.

Other traumatic events impacting Lili involved the fatal car accident of two students, a false active shooter threat, and a bomb threat in the local area. For Lili, ongoing feelings of nervousness were compounded by a feeling of fear when there was a false active shooter threat. Lili was often afraid something was going to happen, and she wouldn’t know where to go or where to hide.

When I asked Lili what support the school provided for their emotional safety or well-being, she indicated that guidance counselors were available only for the passing of the two students. And it was up to the students to reach out to the guidance counselors. What happens to the students who do not speak up and do not seek the support they need? How are schools identifying these students and monitoring their ongoing trauma?

Structures for prevention

While students are not always the shooters in school shootings, those that are can be traced to those facing significant challenges. Leary et al. (2003) found in their case study approach that many students who turned to bring a weapon to their school were often victims of teasing, ostracization, and rejection by their peers. Their findings found that the “typical shooter is a male student who has been ostracized by the majority group at his school for some time, and has been chronically taunted, tased, harassed, and often publicly humiliated.” They may also have psychological issues including depression.

Parents may not always be aware of the types of issues described, which speaks to the importance of having a support system within schools to not only curb this type of unfortunate behavior, but to also provide the kinds of support these students need before turning to violence. Some of these students came from “loving and attentive families” (Warnick, et al., 2010). Marcel Lebrun (2009, p. 55) writes “It has become increasingly evident that youth are now choosing guns and bombs as their premeditated method to resolve conflicts and are senselessly attacking multiple victims at random to express their anger, frustration, and revenge.”

Guidance for educators

School safety cannot be achieved in isolation. All school staff members play an important role in fostering safe and successful learning environments, and they need help to address students’ emotional safety needs. While one report found that “the majority of young people recover from trauma and restore functioning to pre-exposure levels within a few months, it has been shown that some will experience chronic and severe dysfunction” (Travers et al., 2018).

After the Uvalde shooting, Lili’s coach may not have known exactly what to say or do. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2007) has published tips for talking to children and youth after traumatic events. They encourage adults to help children and youth to understand having a wide range of reactions is normal and not to be afraid to admit that they cannot answer all their questions. When parents and educators don’t know what to say or do, it is important to connect children with guidance counselors, social workers, or other mental health experts.

Instead of waiting for a tragedy to occur, schools can establish a system for prevention and intervention services that enables them to be proactive in addressing academic, behavioral, social, emotional, physical, and mental health concerns, rather than being reactive. Having a system of tiered support can help school communities respond to students’ differing and shifting needs (Cowan et al., 2013).

A multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) provides a holistic and integrated approach that enables schools meet the dynamic needs of their student populations. Integrating a tiered support system is a process. It begins with screeners and assessments, universal preventions, and interventions supports for all students. Students who need more assistance also receive targeted supports and interventions in small groups. Students who need one-on-one support receive more intensive interventions, in addition to the universal and small group supports.

Providing safety in our schools involves supporting the whole child, which includes the physical and mental health of students as well as their social and emotional well-being. This is the kind of support that helps reinforce students’ sense of safety and self-confidence. Not only does it provide support for those who experience traumatic events, it can be a deterrent to school shootings, alongside controlling access to weapons and hardening measures on school grounds.

References

Cowan, K.C., Vaillancourt, K., Rossen, E., & Pollitt, K. (2013). A framework for safe and successful schools [Brief]. National Association of School Psychologists.

Everytown for Gun Safety. (n.d.) Reconsider active shooter drills.

Everytown for Gun Safety. (2024). The impact of active shooter drills in schools.

Jonson, C. L. (2017). Preventing school shootings: The effectiveness of safety measures, Victims & Offenders, 12:6, 956-973.

Leary, M. R., Kowalski, R. M., Smith, L. & Phillips, S. (2003). Teaching, rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings. Aggressive Behavior 29, pp. 202-214.

Lebrun, M. (2009). Books, blackboards, and bullets: School shootings and violence in America. Rowman & Littlefield Education.

National Center for Safe Supportive Environment (n.d.) Emotional safety.

National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement. (2020) Talking to children about terrorist attacks and school and community shootings in the news.

Travers, A., McDonagh, T., & Elklit, A. (2018). Youth responses to school shootings: A review. Current Psychiatry Reports 20(6), Article 47.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2007). Tips for talking to children after a traumatic event.

Warnick, B. R., Johnson, B. A., Rocha, S. (2010). Tragedy and the meaning of school shootings. Educational Theory 60(3).

This article was written as part of PDK’s 2024 Emerging Leader and Distinguished Educator programs. Listen to Salnave and Lili’s conversation on PDK’s There’s Power in Teaching podcast.