Addressing Covid-19 Related Trauma in School Children: Strategies for Educators
Written by Ishita Ghosh- NoSchoolViolence Senior Researcher - www.noschoolviolence.org
The Covid-19 related mass disruption of schooling has lasted for more than a year causing varying degrees of isolation, anxiety, and stress among children of all age groups which will likely have long-term effects like depression and behavioral issues. Many children were at greater risk of multiple traumas such as physical, sexual, and psychological violence, emotional neglect, exposure to inter-parental violence, social isolation, household stressors e.g., substance abuse and mental illness of a parent as well as financial difficulties (Cénat et al., 2020). Apart from disruption of in-person academics leading to different levels of learning gaps and loss of familiar social structure, students also got disconnected from essential support in terms of health and mental health services, food assistance, and interventions in cases of homelessness and abuse. As schools reopen, educators will face new challenges to transition students into a supportive and enabling environment for academic as well as non-academic services to minimize the risk of long-lasting trauma.=
What schools can do
Academic support
Equip teachers and supporting staff with training and resources to implement trauma-informed education and social-emotional learning (SEL) to foster a safe and supportive environment.
Focus on addressing learning gaps before teaching new content. This could involve a recapitulation of prerequisites before learning new content, extra time interventions built into the schedule in addition to core content instructional time, student-specific intervention, etc.
Provide Individualized Education Program (IEP) to students who have experienced a learning gap due to inequity of learning resources and have had disruption of therapies like speech therapy or social skills group therapy.
Rethink and modify the school curriculum for the academic year to meet the learning gap.
Mental health and emotional support
Enable teachers and /staff to recognize that students may have had differential experiences of the pandemic with varying levels of coping skills and resilience in dealing with isolation, limited resources, trauma, grief, and loss.
Encourage open conversations among students to share their experience of the pandemic as a way of coping with their anxieties and voicing their concerns. This will enable students to reconnect socially and also help teachers identify the common stressors as well as potentially at-risk students for further psychological evaluations by mental health professionals. Suggested classroom activities :
Discussions during circle time in elementary school, small group discussions in middle and high school
Use online sites and apps designed such as BrainPop or Centervention for social-emotional learning and skill-building
Use different narrative modes to facilitate conversations (e.g., story-telling, role-playing, drawing, writing, group activities)
Invite older students to share their stories through contribution to school newsletters and community blogs and videos
Engage children in activities to reduce stress, such as daily affirmation statements, mindfulness, breathing, and movement exercises, yoga, art, music therapy, etc.
Educate teachers/staff about trauma and mental health and how to recognize signs of distress including warning signs of risk of suicide. Signs of distress include :
a. Change in mood that lasts longer than a few days including signs of low
energy, withdrawal from friends (sit alone at lunch, does not talk to anyone in class), .is unusually quiet, being tearful, engaging in disruptive behavior
b. Has difficulty in concentrating or paying attention to lessons, not engaged in class discussions
c. Significant increase or decrease in weight
d. Seems unusually tired - indicative changes in sleep patterns that can be linked to mental health concerns
e. Sudden angry outbursts, irritability, sudden tears, or inability to control emotions
f. Signs of self-harming behavior like cutting or bruising on the skin
g. Talking, reading, writing, or drawing about death or suicide (writing on school property, school assignments)
h. Pay special attention to children with pre-existing mental health and behavioral problems
Address concerns of incidents of stigmatization and bullying which may increase when children return to school due to misinformation around COVID-19. Teach students how to recognize bullying and encourage them to report any incidence of bullying (whether at school and/or online) to an adult.
Ensure mental health services available and accessible in school:
Accessibility to mental counseling, post-trauma therapy during and after school hours
Ensuring that staff knows how to connect children to mental health services and inform students about school counseling online resources
Recognizing the stigma around mental health that often prevents children from seeking help, provide them with information on confidential and anonymous online resources, helplines (such as Teen in Crisis), and smartphone apps such as SEESAY Teen Suicide Prevention
Follow up services - checking in periodically with children at risk and communicating with parents
Involve the larger school community
PTA can be an important link between schools and families creating a sense of community and supporting school families as the school community adapts to a new normal. PTA can facilitate dialogue between teachers and parents to ensure children are being followed up for reintegration issues. This should include :
a. Regular communication with parents through emails, workshops, meetings to address concerns and inform parents of measures and interventions being put in place to help the student cope with trauma as well as learning loss
b. Creating space for teachers and school staff to discuss their classroom experiences, expectations, and concerns
c. The school board should provide teachers and supporting staff with the necessary training and resources needed for a trauma-informed approach in classrooms
Parents should be encouraged to inform the school if children exhibit significant changes in behavior or any of the following symptoms of distress for more than a few weeks :
Preschoolers - crying, thumb sucking, bedwetting, clinging to parents, difficulty in falling asleep or poor sleep, nightmares, loss of appetite, fear of the dark, regression in behavior, and withdrawal
Elementary school children - mood swings, irritability, aggressiveness, clinginess, difficulty in sleeping, nightmares, unusual fears, lack of interest in schoolwork, poor concentration, loss of interest in normal daily activities, withdrawal from family and friends
Adolescents - sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, irritability, rudeness, aggressiveness, withdrawal from family and friends, physical complaints, poor concentration, writing or drawing about death
Research shows that sudden school closures due to natural/man-made disasters lead to trauma and behavioral problems among school children (SAMHSA). The scale and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic intensify this impact. Thus, it is crucial for educators, parents, and the larger school community to focus on the mental health status of school children across ages as they re-enter schools, and provide them with the necessary support for the long term.
References
1. Capurso Michele, Dennis John L, Salmi Luciana Pagano, Parrino Cristin and Mazzeschi Claudia. Empowering Children Through School Re-Entry Activities After the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://continuityineducation.org/articles/10.5334/cie.17/
2. Cénat J.M., Dalexis R.D., Kokou-Kpolou C.K., Mukunzi J.N., Rousseau C. (2020) Social inequalities and collateral damages of the COVID-19 pandemic: when basic needs challenge mental health care. Int. J. Public Health.
3. Cohn-Vargas Becki, Adamson Carlee. (May 13, 2020) Helping Students Through a Period of Grief https://www.edutopia.org/article/helping-students-through-period-grief
4. Darling-Hammond Linda, Hyler Maria E.(04 Sep 2020) Preparing educators for the time of COVID … and beyond https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02619768.2020.1816961
5. DeCuir Amaarah. Reopening Schools Requires More Than Vaccines, Students Need Trauma-Informed Education https://educationpost.org/reopening-schools-requires-more-than-vaccines-students-need-trauma-informed-education/
6. Levenson, Nathan. 5 Strategies for Addressing Learning Loss
https://www.dmgroupk12.com/blog/reopening-schools-addressing-learning-loss
7. Lee Joyce. (April 14, 2020)Mental health effects of school closures during Covid-19. Lancet
8. Mental Health Foundation: Returning to school after lockdown
9. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/school-guidance-for-coping-with-coronavirus
10. Returning to the Classroom After COVID-19 Shutdowns:What to Expect and How to be Prepared chttps://www.lexialearning.com/blog/returning-classroom-after-covid-19-shutdowns-what-expect-and-how-be-prepared
11. National Association for School Psychologists. (2020) Helping Children Cope with Changes resulting From Covid-19 https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/health-crisis-resources/helping-children-cope-with-changes-resulting-from-covid-19
12. Teachers : Recognize the Warning signs of Suicide (2016) Communty Health Network
https://www.ecommunity.com/healthminute/2016/teachers-recognize-warning-signs-suicide
Resources
1. SEL Roadmap - guidance for educators to plan school re-entry
2. SEL Toolkit - trains educators to strategize trauma-informed environments for students
3. BrainPOP - movies with social/emotional learning components that can facilitate discussions
4. CASEL - resources to assist in addressing students’ social and emotional needs
5. Centervention - game-based behavior interventions to help students practice social and emotional skills
6. Sanford Harmony - social and emotional learning tools for pre-K–6.
7. Second Step- for ages 5-13. Also features podcasts for families and a mindfulness program
8. Suicide Prevention Resources - for children 12 years and younger
9. Teen in Crisis - online suicide prevention helpline for adolescents
10. Your life is in your hands Kids and Teen suicide prevention hotline
11. Resources for Youth in Crisis - online mental health support for adolescents