Image via Huffington Post |
Last week, just one day before the anniversary of the
shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, an 18-year-old teenager
opened fire in Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, critically
injuring a fellow student before taking his own life. For a community still
traumatized by the incidents at Sandy Hook, not to mention the Century Movie
Theater in Aurora in 2012 and Columbine High School in 1999, this can be
understandably overwhelming.
These situations occurred in environments that had been
associated with safety and trust and now something scary and unsafe has altered
that perception. These events have evoked many strong emotions – anger,
sadness, fear, disgust, helplessness, anxiety – not only for those individuals
directly impacted, but also for those who have been exposed through relational
associations, or simply media exposure.
It is natural for children and teens to seek out adults
to help them process these types of experiences. This presents a unique
challenge to parents and teacher because just as the youth are attempting to
organize their thoughts, cope with their feelings and make some meaning of
these events, the adults are engaged in the same process. I have received many
requests from parents and the media asking questions about how to talk with
children about these terrible events without increasing the children’s anxiety
and fears about the world.
The National Child
Traumatic Stress Network offers some good guidelines to answer this
difficult question.
Suggestions for Adults
• Take care of yourself. Do your best to drink plenty of
water, eat regularly, and get enough sleep and exercise.
• Help each other. Take time with other adult relatives,
friends, or members of the community to talk or support each other.
• Put off major decisions. Avoid making any unnecessary
life-altering decisions during this time.
• Give yourself a break. Take time to rest and do things
that you like to do.
Things to Do for Children
• Spend time talking with your children. Let them know
that it is OK to ask questions and express their concerns and feelings. You
should remain open to answering new questions and providing information and
support. You might not know all the answers and it is OK to say that. At the
same time, don’t push teens to talk if they don’t want to. Let them know you
are available when they are ready.
• Find time to have these conversations. Use time such as
when you eat together or sit together in the evening to talk about what is
happening in the family as well as in the community. Try not to have these
conversations at bedtime, as this is the time for resting.
• What does your child already know? Start by asking what
your children already know and think about what they have read, heard or
experienced. Listen carefully in an accepting and non-judgmental manner. As
children express their thoughts and beliefs listen for misperceptions and
misinformation. Be attuned to how their perceptions are making them feel and
validate those experiences before providing information to correct them. Say
something like “This really scared you! I can see the way you are thinking
about this made you feel that way.” Then respectfully correct their inaccurate
information. Provide this new information in a simple, clear and
age-appropriate manner.
• Help your children feel safe. Talk with them about
their concerns over safety and discuss changes that are occurring in the
community to promote safety. Encourage them to voice their concerns to you or
to teachers at school.
• Maintain expectations or “rules.” Stick with family
rules, such as curfews, checking in with you while with friends, and keeping up
with homework and chores. On a time-limited basis, keep a closer watch on where
they are going and what they are planning to do to monitor how they are doing.
Assure them that the extra check-in is temporary, just until things stabilize.
• Address acting out behaviors. Help them understand that
acting out behaviors are a dangerous way to express strong feelings (like anger
and grief) over what happened (e.g., cutting, driving recklessly, engaging in
unprotected sex, abusing drugs or alcohol). You can say, “Many of us feel out
of control and angry right now. Some people may think drinking or taking drugs
will help somehow. It’s very normal to feel that way - but it’s not a good idea
to act on it.” Talk about other ways of coping with these feelings
(distraction, exercise, writing in a journal, spending time with others).
• Limit media exposure. Protect them from too much media
coverage, including on the Internet, radio, television, or other technologies
(e.g., texting, Facebook, Twitter). Explain that media coverage and social
media technologies can spread rumors and trigger fears about the event
happening again.
• Be patient. Children and teens may be more distracted
and need added help with chores or homework once school is in session. It is
normal for all humans to have a stress response to any potential threat in the
environment. Reactions such as increased startle responses, increased emotional
reactions, anxiety, decreased attention span, intrusive thoughts and disrupted
sleep may be present for the first month after the exposure. For most people in
the community these reactions lessen and we are able to re-establish our
equilibrium after about one month. For individuals more directly impacted this
time period can be extended due to continued exposure to reminders of the
events and more complicated feeling of loss and grief.
• Ask for professional help. If the reactions continue or
the family feels unable to manage the situation due to overwhelming emotions or
lack of knowledge and support, contact a professional to assist you and the
family through this experience.
Children are dependent upon their caregivers to
help them feel safe and create meaning of experiences in their world. The
adolescent is in the process of transferring dependency needs from the parents
to peers and possible romantic partners. How a child and the adolescent
processes these types of experiences is greatly influenced by the nature,
quantity and quality of the interactions they have with the significant adults
and peers in their lives. A well regulated, attentive, responsive parent can
help the child re-establish a sense of safety and security and manage
distressing emotions. The child, within this protective relational nest, and
the adolescent within their relational network can learn that at times bad
things happen, to good people, in basically a good world.