Helping Students and Families

Deal with Distress and Trauma

Objective

Increase educators’ understandings of the range of possible effects of traumatic displacement on students and

their families.

Recognizing the Symptoms

• Listen to the story• On a piece of paper, note key words or

ideas about the symptoms and reactions of children in the story who have experienced a traumatic event

Symptoms of Distress and Trauma

What were some of the feelings and reactions you noted?

How did Sherman get help?

Symptoms of Distress and Trauma

Review the Handout:What is Trauma?What are some of the symptoms of distress

and trauma?

What might you add to our list?

Four Phases of Reaction to Disasters

• Anticipation and preparation• Disaster impact • Immediate post-disaster impact• Long-term post-disaster impact

How Long Will This Last?

Tips for Helping Students• Parents - Give children choices about food, clothes,

what games to play, or any appropriate choices helps them feel some control when their environment has felt out of control.

• Teachers - Provide flexibility such as extra time to do work, extra support for challenging subjects and different ways of showing competence.

• Counselors - try to keep red tape to a minimum whenever possible, realizing that school will be the place many families gain access to social services.

Making it Real• Select a partner and choose two or three of

the tips from the guidebook Tips for Helping Students Recovering from Traumatic Events that fit your role.

• In the context of your role, such as the grade level and content area you teach if you are a teacher, develop some concrete examples of ways you can implement the tips from the guidebook.

After the Storm Activities