Responding and Recovering from a Death in the School Community��Scott Poland, Ed.D.�NSU Florida, Fort Lauderdale��spoland@nova.edu

Introductory Thoughts

• All school counselors will be faced with deaths of students and staff
• Cultural sensitivity and awareness is very important
• There is no perfect crisis response
• I have a long history of responding to school tragedies and will share practical examples
• Counselors are an essential part of a school team

​

​

Introductory Thoughts

• Responding to a school death is very challenging and anxiety provoking
• I give myself a pep talk, maintain calmness and believe that I can help
• There may be things going on in your life that make it hard for you to help others at this moment
• Quotes from the wise principal in Realengo, Brazil
• My message to Parkland, Florida school administrators and parents

​

​

​

First Steps

• Verification of the death
• Convene the school crisis team
• Personal contact to the family of the victim (in person preferred ideally the counselor and administrator together)
• Decide how information will be shared
• Support the staff first and then students and parents

​

Bereavement

​

Personality

Cultural practices

Religious beliefs &

practices

Emotional maturity

Age

Previous experiences with death

Social support

Relationship to

deceased

​

Grief

​

The Grief Process

What are the typical reactions that children have to a tragedy?

• Please put your answer in the chat box?

Childhood Reactions to Trauma

• Sleeping problems

​

• Fear of the future and worries

​

• Regression academically

​

• Regression behaviorally

​

​

Schools and Death: Key Questions

• Who was the person
• What happened to them
• Where did the death occur
• What else has the school experienced
• Who was the perpetrator

​

Common Scenario

• You are a counselor, and your principal calls you from the hospital to say that one of the students has just been pronounced dead as a result of an accident that was witnessed by several of his friends.
• Students gathered at the hospital have been told to leave as they are creating chaos. The principal needs your advice about what to do? It is the first day of a school vacation.
• Please put a few thoughts in the chat box.

Dimensions of Vulnerability

• Geographical Proximity

​

• Population at risk

​

• Psychosocial Proximity

Circles of Vulnerability

Geographical Proximity

Population at Risk

Psychosocial Proximity

60---20---20 Rule and Recovery Estimates

• 60% will be fine with existing support
• 20% will have minor problems
• 20% will have major problems
• Traumatized adolescents at now more risk for substance abuse, depression and reckless behavior

Administrators Role in a Crisis

• Get input from crisis team
• Activate calling tree but if school is not in session
• If school is in session notify faculty by memo or PA system
• Conduct a faculty meeting asap (examples)
• Contact the family
• Verify the facts and tell the truth
• Be visible and available

​

Administrator Continued

​

• Empower staff and students
• Accept outside help when needed
• Recognize the short- and long-term impact
• Keep everyone updated
• Manage the media and protect staff and students from the media

Roles for School Counselors

• Advise the administrator
• Know key components of psychological first aid
• Give everyone permission for range of emotions
• Help the faculty first
• Recognize the individual crisis history of each person
• Follow the schedule of deceased
• Communicate with parents of affected students

Psychological First Aid�8 Core Actions

1. Initiate contact and engagement
2. Ensure safety and comfort
3. Stabilization
4. Gather information on current needs and concerns
5. Provide practical assistance
6. Connect with social supports
7. Provide information on coping
8. Link with collaborative services

Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for PTSD, Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide, September, 2005

Key Points

• Most students will get help they need in classroom
• Follow up with parents and teachers
• Locate additional help
• Keep records of who was seen and concerns
• Ensure those most affected receive ongoing services
• Be aware of anniversary dates and milestones

​

Helping Teachers Scenario�

• You are asked to talk to the 5th grade teaching team before school as a student, Roberto was killed last night while trying to get his dog out of the street
• What might you say the affected teachers?
• What are your goals for the session?
• How can teachers help their students?

​

Entering Roberto’s Classroom��

• You are asked to talk to his classmates after his death
• How might you approach the class?
• What classroom arrangement would be best?
• What are your goals for the intervention?
• What activities might work the best with 5^th graders?

​

Teachers’ Role

• Put the desks in a circle and sit down
• Provide factual information and stop rumors
• Model the expression of emotions
• Give permission for a range of emotions and religious beliefs
• Know students well and their crisis history and identify students who need counseling help
• Provide activities such as writing and drawing especially for younger students

Teacher Continued

• Provide a range of activities for students to process emotions
• Help students communicate to victim’s family
• Emphasize no one is to blame
• Be familiar with developmental stages of death (Piaget)
• Prepare students for funerals

​

Teacher Continued

• Listen to students as each has a story to tell
• Remember the five T’s: talk, touch, tears, time and take care of oneself
• Emphasize coping strategies
• Help students to remember the positives about the deceased

​

​

​

Factors Increasing Coping for Children

​

• Adults model calmness and optimism and reassure children of safety
• Adults that are patient and tolerant and good listeners
• Provide activities that allow children to express their feelings
• Getting back to school with peers and teachers and reestablishing routines
• Ukraine student quote about when sirens go off, “I feel safer when I am sheltering at school than when I am home”

​

What if the death was a suicide?

• Do you do respond differently
• Is there danger of suicide contagion
• Classroom not assembly discussion
• Answers for student questions
• What about school memorials
• Resources for suicide postvention

Interventions

• Vital that effective interventions be provided quickly
• Normal recovery should be the expectation
• Interventions reduce distress, PTSD, and depression
• Those providing early intervention should be trained
• More research and evaluation is needed on school interventions

Training in Crisis Intervention (getting a credential)

• National Organization of Victims Assistance
• Red Cross
• Critical Incidence Stress Management
• NASP PrePare
• Psychological First Aid from the National Center for Children and Stress Network

NASP NEAT TEAM

• More research is needed on processing and crisis intervention needs to be taught in university programs
• Processing opportunities lets the staff and students know administration cares and they are not alone, and trauma will not be ignored
• Schools should concentrate on outcomes: grades, attendance/discipline/perceived support
• Structure of follow-up services must be planned before processing

​

Review of tips for helping students

Share information truthfully in developmentally appropriate ways

Students need to hear sad or tragic news from trusted adults and should be able to ask questions

​

Turn off TVs and gather students in a circle and talk about the event and their perceptions, safety concerns and help them identify sources of help

​

Poland, Samuel-Barrett, Waguespack (in press)

​

​

“The manner in which schools respond to a death can…set the stage for healing, recovery, and a return to relative normalcy.”

​

​

​

​

​

In Conclusion

Work as a team and take care of yourself.

Scott Poland, author of six books on school crisis with two more in press and I am presenting a workshop at ISCA Conference in Athens 2024

spoland@nova.edu

www.nova.edu/suicideprevention

​

​

Resources

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Suicide Prevention Resource Center www.afsp.org

​

After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools (2011, revised 2018). Dr. Poland helped develop it.

​

National Child Traumatic Stress Network: www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/traumatic-grief

​

​

​

Questions