Giving Compass' Take:
- Save The Children's emergency response experts offer tips and insight on talking to children about the trauma of school shootings and school violence.
- How can donors help schools support trauma-informed approaches to mental health services, primarily to address school gun violence?
- Read more strategies to address the epidemic of school shootings.
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There have been more than 600 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Mass shootings and school shootings may spark feelings of stress, grief and anxiety in children.
Many students, including Kindergarteners as young as five years old, participate in active shooter drills at school. Their awareness of school shootings can lead to emotional conversations filled with complex questions.
Here, Save the Children’s emergency response experts offer tips to help you talk to children about school shootings.
- Start the conversation.
- Emphasize safety.
- Reiterate that it’s normal to be scared.
- Look for leaders.
- Watch for signs of trauma.
Our schools should be safe places where children can learn without fear of gun violence. We urge policymakers and community leaders to come together and work to protect schools and end the scourge of gun violence our children face every day. Our nation must do a better job at preventing all forms of violence—including gun violence—in our schools.
Read the full article about school shootings and violence at Save The Children.