What are some common responses after a school crisis?

The recovery part of a school disaster is usually the longest part. Commonly we may see students that articulate feelings of suicide.  We may see fights going up, we may see rage going up, and this is because anger is a natural part of grieving.  Blame often occurs during the recovery phase, simply because after an event, people feel angry and they are grieving and want to blame one another.  We often see kids maybe crying and sometimes we may see delayed reactions, sometimes upwards of six weeks after an event.  So, it is important to have staff readily available, have staff observing students, have some type of sensitivity training among staff to show them how to be sensitive to the grieving process of students and to also just let staff know that after an event, maybe up to six weeks after an event, that we just need to observe the students.  We need to see what type of behavior they are displaying.  Talk to the parents, and let the parents know what to look for.  Let the parents know behaviors that they are seeing in the students so the parents can intervene as well.

This video clip is part of the series “Mental Health During A School Crisis“.

Michael Dorn and Sonayia Shepherd (School Safety Analysts) gives expert video advice on: What is a school “crisis intervention team”?;  What steps should a school take to minimize trauma in a crisis?;  What are some common responses after a school crisis? and more…