Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for Education Dive, Shawna De La Rosa explains how schools are implementing social-emotional learning to help students deal with trauma and prevent future tragedies.

· How does social-emotional learning promote good mental health and focus? How does SEL help student develop coping skills?

· Here's more on the benefits of social-emotional learning.

Trauma impacts students for years after an initial event, but a New Jersey principal suggests ongoing SEL programming gives students tools to deal with adverse events at school and home.

Trauma has lasting effects that continue to devastate communities decades after the initial tragedy ends. By making social-emotional learning part of a school’s ongoing curriculum, students are exposed to resources and self-help skills before they need them.

The need for support after a tragedy is substantial. In the last couple of months, two Parkland school shooting survivors committed suicide. One, Sydney Aiello, had experienced survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress syndrome after the attack. In May, 37-year-old Austin Eubanks, a 1999 Columbine High School shooting survivor, died of an apparent drug overdose. Eubanks had been open about his opioid addiction after he was shot in the hand and knee during the attack. His best friend died beside him.

For many low-income communities, these supports can also assist students in dealing with traumas stemming from poverty-related factors. If schools wait until after an adverse event to create a social-emotionally supportive culture, however, it may already be too late.

Read the full article about social-emotional learning by Shawna De La Rosa at Education Dive.