Here's some good information on "Coping with a National Tragedy" made available this week by the National Association of School Psychologists. www.nasponline.org/NEAT/crisis_0911.html
Our school (k-8) announced it over the intercom. I have children in 2nd and 3rd grade. My 3rd grader had a lot of questions. My second grader didn't seem effected. I tried to explain that when someone breaks into your house you are violated. And when they hurt your family you are intruded upon even more. I explained that America is our house, and that New York is one room in our house. The people on those planes' and in those bulidings are our brothers and sisters (family). And then we said a prayer for our "family".
Our school (elementary) had the same policy of NOT discussing it yesterday and keeping the routine as normal as possible. The adults were upset, particularly those with friends/relatives in the trouble areas. Of course, the kids pick up on the tension. A administrative problem we have at times like this (tragedy, bad storms, etc.) is that parents decide to pick their kids up early. Naturally, that's the parents' decision. (I know I felt I wanted my family close at hand!) That adds to the disruption and feeling among the kids that "something's wrong". But more importantly, they may send friends, neighbors, relatives who aren't authorized to take the child (in the childs' records). Then the office staff have to deal with adults who have been told to pick up children, but aren't allowed to do so. Also, the phone calls and drop in visits increase. So the load on the front office increases, and that's one area we tried to help yesterday.
What a difficult time for all of us. In our city we have a huge population of students of middle eastern dissent. They pulled their children out of school by the droves yesterday afraid of retalliation from fellow students. It was very bizarre. My husband was sent home from work and we went to the high school and just hung out to be an adult presence. The city was prepared with many officers doing the same. The middle schools had no problems at all, but today it is expected there will, inevitably, be clashes. The PTAs are making parents available for whatever the schools may need. I am checking with the superintendant this morning to see where they want our support. We are all filled with such grief. Students and parents alike. We remain in fervent prayer. For the victims of this inconceivable attack those in the throws of assistance there and for our community.
our school district sent a letter home today to ALL the schools in our area letting us know that the superintendent's thoughts are with us and his prayers are with us, but, he feels that the nature and extent of these events should be discussed in the family setting at home.They do offer counseling if needed. All of the schools extracurricular activities and field trips have been canceled for the rest of the week.
Today (9/11) has certainly been a sad day for our nation, and my thoughts and prayers are with any of you personally impacted.
I was curious what role, if any, your PTO took today? Some of us were available to help at school, put up signs reminding parents of safety/checkout procedures, did some additional research on helping children cope with tragedy, assisted the school with a letter home to parents, answered the phones after school while all staff participated in a meeting. Several of us will be available tomorrow, just to have some extra hands available to get everyone settled.
Here in Texas, we are pretty removed geographically from the key areas. However, we still expect some reaction from the kids after seeing the news and hearing more at home. I believe the plan tomorrow is for the teachers to allow 20 minutes first thing for discussion (if the class has concerns/questions), but to limit the discussion and to keep things as normal as possible. The school psychologist will implement other suggestions, such as activities classes might undertake to "help". (Apparently, letting the children do something pro-active like collect money, make cards, write letters, etc. is a major piece of coping as it gives the kids some feeling control and lessens their sense of helplessness and fear.)
Anyway, I wondered if any of you were involved with school crisis management plans on behalf of the PTO.
