Yesterday we received shocking news about gun
violence at one of our region’s public schools. Our thoughts and prayers are
with those impacted by the shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
Another act of gun violence so close to home is
scary and this news is always difficult to hear, but I want to reassure parents
that our school continues to work actively for our children’s safety. As our school grows into today’s size, it is
particularly challenging for our safety crew to recognize the outcomers.
Therefore, I am here to plead for your help to reinforce our school uniform
policy and visitor policy. By this means, please have your students to wear
uniform to school, also when you come to volunteer please do sign in at front
desk and wear the volunteer vest at all time. This way can effectively assist
the safety crew to distinguish strangers from our community. Besides staff and
safety crew, I also sincerely invite you to mindfully look out unusual people
or things while you are at school in a way to help our school the safest place
for our children. Feeling safe as well as secure in a school community are
fundamental to a successful learning environment for children and we can work
hand in hand in our commitment to this.
To support your child at home, below, please find
excerpted from the American Psychological Association guidance for responding
to violent events.
Limit exposure to news coverage
Parents should monitor how much exposure
a child has to news reports of traumatic events. Research has shown that some
young children believe that the events are reoccurring each time they see a
television replay of the news footage.
Talk to your children
Should children learn troubling news,
psychologists who work in the area of trauma and recovery advise parents to use
these events as an opportunity to talk and listen to their children. It is
important, say these psychologists, to be honest. Parents should acknowledge to
children that bad things do happen, but also reassure them with the information
that many people are working to keep them safe, including their parents,
teachers, and local police.
Young children may communicate their
fears through play or drawings. Elementary school children will use a
combination of play and talking to express themselves. Adolescents are more
likely to have the skills to communicate their feelings and fears verbally.
Adults should be attentive to a child's concerns, but also try to help the
children put their fears into proportion to the real risk. Again, it is
important to reassure children that the adults in their lives are doing
everything they can to make their environment — school, home and neighborhood —
safe for them.
Know the warning signs
Most children are quite resilient and
will return to their normal activities and personality relatively quickly, but
parents should be alert to any signs of anxiety that might suggest that a child
or teenager might need more assistance. Such indicators could be a change in
the child's school performance, changes in relationships with peers and
teachers, excessive worry, school refusal, sleeplessness, nightmares, headaches
or stomachaches, or loss of interest in activities that the child used to
enjoy. Also remember that every child will respond to trauma differently. Some
will have no ill effects; others may suffer an immediate and acute effect.
Still others may not show signs of stress until sometime after the event.
Pei-Hwa Lin & Hui-Ting Wang, Vice Principals
Tzu Chi Academy, Seattle
