Crises Management and the School Community

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The practical workshop approach in Crisis Management and the School Community shows school leaders how to develop their own crisis intervention procedures. The emphasis is on real scenarios in which leaders ask themselves: What will I do in the next hour? 12 hours? 24 hours? The first week? The longer term? Personal accounts by teachers, principals and others show how they reacted to actual crises and what was important in retrospect. As one principal says, ‘The advice I feel strongly about is to be sure you regularly involve your staff in making decisions about how the school will operate’. A well-prepared response and recovery plan for crisis management is essential for every school community. Crisis Management and the School Community will assist in developing such a plan.

“This delightfully easy read is carefully guided by Whitla, an experienced practitioner in the real school world. Each chapter has summary learnings, and the tables, flow diagrams and appendices are crystal clear and relevant. I commend it to you. Be prepared.” PROFESSOR GRAHAM MARTIN, THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

EDITED BY MARDIE WHITLA

Mardie Whitla has been a psychologist in Victoria, Australia for sixteen years. She has also worked as a teacher, manager and lecturer in education systems at primary and secondary schools, at regional offices, at university, ISBN 0-86431-624-0 and in private practice. She has considerable experience in supporting principals and school communities in both the public and private sectors following emergencies and crisis situations. Mardie is currently completing a research doctorate in criminology, investigating cross-cultural 9 780864 316240 issues regarding suicide of young people.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Crisis Management and the School Community offers practical response and recovery procedures for school leaders dealing with emergencies, both within the school and in the larger community. This fully revised second edition covers crisis events such as a death in the family, a school fire, student casualties in car accidents, student suicide, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. This book combines theory and practice to provide guidelines for: • managing response and recovery procedures; • understanding the grieving process; • developing people management and leadership skills; • communicating appropriately; • including staff and students in the recovery process; • coping better with future crises.

M A NAG E M E N T and the school community

EDITED BY MARDIE WHITLA

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CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

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CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Edited by Mardie Whitla

ACER Press

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First published 2003 by ACER Press Australian Council of Educational Research Ltd 19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria, 3124 Copyright © 2003 Australian Council for Educational Research All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers. Edited by Clare Coney Cover and text design by Mason Design Printed by Shannon Books National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: Crisis management and the school community. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 86431 624 0. 1. School management and organization. 2. School crisis management. 3. Emotional problems of children. 4. Educational counseling. I. Whitla, Mardie. II. Australian Council for Educational Research. 371.207 Visit our website: www.acerpress.com.au Parts of this book were originally published by Collins Dove, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, as Coping with Crises in Schools: Preparation, response and recovery

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Foreword ‘What should I do with the desk?’

The question in the title of this foreword, from the class teacher of a 15-year-old suicide, has the power (15 years later!) to bring back all of the confusion, complexity and emotional pain that was the aftermath for the family, students, teachers and support staff in the school, and the community. Having seen the family for sessions of immediate grief-work, ten days after the death three clinicians from child and adolescent mental health services were called in to assist counselling staff and the Year 11 coordinator at the school. We ran a two-hour debrief and grief-work group session for friends and classmates, and afterward collected brief questionnaires on current mental health status. Subsequently we identified, and provided access to counselling for, several young people so stricken that they had considered copying the girl’s act. We ran a similar session for staff and were shocked at the level of trauma, which was at a point where six teachers felt unable to continue work and were in need of ongoing personal support. What I remember, in addition, is the stress of our own process, working through what we might have to offer in the absence of written guidelines. In part, we took on the anxieties of the school community, which had no Education Department guidelines, no readily available literature and no prearranged crisis plan to guide its thinking and practice. We were all seeing through a glass darkly. We all did our best and, on reflection (and reading recent literature), we got it close to right – with open channels of communication being the key. In the process of dealing with the crisis, we forged professional links and a continuum of clinical practice that endured. Two postscripts are worth mentioning. Three months after the death, a young trainee nurse approached me at a social gathering and recalled that he had been 10 feet away from where the student landed after jumping. He had applied emergency care, but after ambulance people took over, he just went on his way to do a regular shift. No one had thought to ask after his welfare. In talking for the first time, he broke down and needed three hours of in-depth counselling. The second event occurred seven years after the death, when I addressed a Rotary Mental Health forum. A rather diffident man approached me, telling me he had been manager of the store from which the jump had

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occurred. He had never been able to discuss his personal grief in the context of remaining a professional with an ongoing job. He, too, cried freely and, with floodgates open, needed brief ongoing support. Lessons are that the ripples from trauma spread much wider than we at first think and, for some, last long after the event if appropriate help is not immediately available. Which is why this book, edited by Mardie Whitla, is such a treasure. Crisis Management and the School Community takes a broad view of crisis, from individual tragedy through natural disasters to acts of terrorism. Crisis and its impact are clearly and thoughtfully explained, and embedded in a whole school approach. Chapters on preparation, planning, coping with personal feelings as a professional, the role of the school psychologist, and supporting the supporters are clear and simple step-by-step guides for action. Many chapters draw on personal experiences to bring the context, problems and possible solutions to life. The inclusion of international chapters on the aftermath of terrorist attack in Israel, earthquakes in Turkey and recent tragedies in the US provide breath-taking examples of possible scenarios for Australian schools. This delightfully easy read is carefully guided by Whitla, an experienced practitioner in the real school world. Most chapters have summary learnings, and the tables, flow diagrams and appendices are crystal clear and relevant. I commend it to you. Be prepared. Professor Graham Martin The University of Queensland

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Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Contributors to this book

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INTRODUCTION Mardie Whitla

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CHAPTER 1 Preparing school leaders for crises and emergencies in schools Mardie Whitla Principals sharing experiences Preparation workshops The value of workshops A scenario Responses Summary learnings References CHAPTER 2 A model for a comprehensive emergency management planning process in schools Trevor McManus Rationale for a comprehensive School Emergency Management Plan Terminology Framework Model Guidelines Implementation of the model Initiating the process Mitigation Response and recovery Conclusion Summary learnings References CHAPTER 3 A child is missing Ron Hobbs Summary learnings CHAPTER 4 Teachers, trauma and crises Mardie Whitla Coping with your own reactions to trauma

Coping with the reactions of others to trauma Monitoring reactions Providing a caring environment Responding to community violence Class activities Following a school fire: one teacher’s project An activity to promote understanding, cohesion and support Issues relating to death The language of death The funeral Multicultural response Memorial services Coping with court appearances Conclusion Summary learnings References

5 6 10 10 11 12 22 22

47 47 48 50 52 53 55 55 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 61

CHAPTER 5 One teacher’s personal and professional experience Margaret Connolly 63 Summary learnings 74

25 25 26 27 27 28 29 30 31 32 36 37 37

39 43

CHAPTER 6 What the school psychologist can do to help in trauma recovery Valerie Gilpin A framework for action: the needs analysis Background to recovery programming Psychological considerations Practical considerations Staff needs Student needs Community needs Conclusion Summary learnings References

75 76 77 77 78 81 83 88 89 90 90

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CHAPTER 7 Suicide and schools Mardie Whitla Suicide attempts Warning signs

93 95 95

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What can teachers and counsellors do if a person is suicidal? After a suicide attempt Student suicide Differing personal responses to a death by suicide The school’s response Communication Grieving Memorial services The media Schools’ contributions to the prevention of suicide Suicide prevention programs Summary learnings References

97 98 99 99 100 100 102 102 103 104 106 107 107

132 132 132 133 134 136 136

CHAPTER 10 Practical suggestions for crisis debriefing in schools Scott Poland Processing questions Summary of the processing suggestions References

139 142 143 144

CHAPTER 11 Responding to a natural disaster: earthquakes in Turkey Nevin Dölek 145 Help arrived 147 Natural disaster and collective trauma 148 Children’s trauma 149 Healing the mental wounds 153 Psychosocial interventions 153 Publications 154 Training for mental health professionals 155 Psychosocial interventions in the school system 156 Lessons learned and suggestions 160 Helping others 161 Helping helpers 163 International cooperation among mental health professionals 164 References 164

CHAPTER 8 Assisting the school system cope with a terror attack Dr Shulamit Niv and Dr Yehuda Shacham 109 The intervention process 111 BASIC Ph 114 Bibliotherapy 116 Psychological debriefing 117 Parents: guidance, talks and written guidelines 117 Conversations with parents 119 Helping the helpers 119 Teachers’ talks before and after the work day 119 Writing a summary of the event 120 An in-service mini-course and some fun 120 References 120 CHAPTER 9 Supporting the supporters: workplace factors Mardie Whitla Factors influencing supporter effectiveness and coping The role of principals, managers and supervisors in the support of supporters The after-effects of school critical incidents Types of support Administrative support Personal support Collegiate support

Professional support Psychological debriefing What is a debriefing? Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Defusing Summary learnings References

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Appendix A Guideline questions and checklist for developing a school emergency management plan Trevor McManus

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Appendix B Additional resources: books and websites

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Appendix C Guidelines for school memorials Mardie Whitla

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Index

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127 128 129 129 130 130

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Acknowledgements

The editor and authors would like to thank the many students who shared their art work and writing. Illustrations and some photographs were provided with the assistance of the Principal, Lareen Walton, teachers Karen Roberts and James Whitla, and students from Sandringham East Primary School. Cover illustrations by Lance, Year 6. Photographs and illustrations Photograph on page 6: High speed accident. Craig Sillitoe/Courtesy of the Age; page 34: CFA firefighters fighting a bushfire. Courtesy of CFA/Photographer: Amber Johnston; photographs on pages 40 and 43 reproduced by permission of Barry Turner; photographs on pages 48 and 79 by permission of Mardie Whitla; photographs on pages 54 and 56 by permission of Murray Payne. Illustration by Georgia Hosking on page 52 reproduced with permission; Figure 8.1 reproduced by permission of the Community Stress Prevention Center in Kiryat Shmona, Israel.

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Contributors to this book Trevor McManus Trevor McManus has been a teacher, Guidance Officer and Senior Guidance Officer in state schools in various parts of Queensland since 1966. While Senior Guidance Officer in Cairns in far north Queensland in 1987 he was part of a team of professional carers who supported a local high school community after eight Year 12 students were killed and many more injured in a bus crash. At that time very little literature was available in Australia about managing crises in a school setting. Trevor developed an interest in helping schools prepare for and manage emergency situations in schools, has presented at a number of national conferences and had several articles published in educational journals. Ron Hobbs Ron Hobbs was the principal of a Victorian primary school when a student was abducted and murdered. Margaret Connolly Margaret Connolly was the teacher of a Year 1 class when one of her students was murdered by his father. Valerie Gilpin Valerie Gilpin has worked as a school psychologist for nearly twenty years, and was instrumental in introducing psychological recovery programs in schools in Victoria during the 1980s. In conjunction with Emergency Services providers, she helped train school personnel in trauma recovery program planning. She has worked at a number of levels within the school system – with children, student groups, individual teachers and parents, welfare staff, school principals and fellow Guidance Officers – looking at the impact of various crises on particular communities, and at each group's potential role in helping to deal with the psychological aftermath. Shulamit Niv Shulamit Niv is a psychologist, educational counsellor and family and couple therapist. Since 1992 she has been a member of the Community Stress Prevention Centre at Kiryat Shmona, Israel. She guides workshops for and supports professionals in the field of trauma – psychologists, social workers and school counsellors. She also treats terror attack victims. She has been a facilitator for UNICEF, Helping the Helpers, in the former Yugoslavia, and trained mental health professionals in Turkey following the 1999 earthquake.

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Yehuda Shacham Yehuda Shacham is a school psychologist, educational counsellor and family therapist. Since 1992 he has been Deputy Director of the Community Stress Prevention Centre in Kiryat Shmona, a town in northern Israel, where he has specialised in preparing communities and education systems for emergencies, treating victims following terror attacks and other traumatic experiences. He also gives support and guidance to professionals working in the field throughout Israel. In 1993 he was a Project Facilitator in the former Yugoslavia for UNICEF, Helping the Helpers. In 1999 he was part of a team who went to Turkey following a major earthquake and trained mental health professionals there in crisis intervention and post-trauma methods and skills. Scott Poland Scott Poland lives in Houston, Texas, where he is the Director of Psychological Services for the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. He is a past Chairman of the National Emergency Assistance Team of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and has been a team leader of crisis response groups sent to assist following school shootings at Columbine High School, Colorado, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Paducah, Kentucky. He also assisted following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. He has given expert testimony to US Congressional Committees on school and youth violence. He is the author of several books, both alone and with co-authors, and has contributed chapters to others, as well as many articles to journals. He has frequently broadcast on national television, on shows such as ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘NBC Nightly News’ and has given many radio and newspaper interviews. Nevin Dölek Nevin Dölek has a BA in Psychology and a MA in Guidance and Counselling from Bosphorus University, as well as a doctorate in Educational Sciences. She worked in a secondary school as a school psychologist for ten years and then for two years as director of education of a foundation that runs ten secondary schools. She is a founder of BAKIS Psychological Counseling and Education Center. She gives workshops, lectures and facilitates groups for teachers, parents and adolescents and has developed preventive programs on effective child rearing for parents, teaching practices for teachers, self development and bullying for children. She also works as a lecturer on a part-time basis at Bosphorus University. She is the International School Psychological Association’s (ISPA) current Colloquium Coordinator and the Chair of the International Crisis Response Network of ISPA. She took part in crisis response programs for refugees of war from Kosovo and earthquake victims in Turkey.

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Introduction Mardie Whitla

Barely a day goes by without an Australian school somewhere experiencing an event that will have a traumatic effect on members of its community. Emergencies and critical incidents in schools are a common occurrence. Significant traumatic events may occur within the school or school grounds, on an excursion, or during the weekend or holidays. Such events may directly or indirectly affect students, teachers, administrators, principals and other members of the school community. How a school responds to the crisis will determine both the medium and longer term psychological impact of the situation on members of the school community, while appropriate management of the response and the grief that results from some incidents prevents serious and prolonged disturbances which might eventually become destructive. Events or circumstances that cause normally stable and healthy people to experience unusually strong emotional or psychological distress, and which have the potential to interfere with their ability to function – either at the time of the event or later – may be termed ‘traumatic incidents’. This term encompasses events that are both extraordinary and beyond our normal ability to cope. 1

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It is important that school leaders and staff understand the types of incidents or situations that may occur. This book will help you to take responsibility for educating yourself so that, should an emergency occur, you will be more able to make decisions and to take action that is appropriate to your role in the school. Imagine what you would so and how you would cope if any of these terrible events occurred in your school: two of your students are murdered by their father; a teacher kills himself by suicide; four students are killed in a car crash; a serious gang fight breaks out; a teacher who has been made redundant threatens the school with a bomb; one of your students is abducted; a student is murdered on the way home from school; a fire burns the school; a student accidentally drowns on camp; a person with a gun takes a teacher and two students hostage; a student is lost in the snow. Each event has occurred in an Australian school: no example is fictional. The pain for the families of those affected by abduction, death or serious injury is often overwhelming. However, the possible trauma for others in the school community also needs to be considered. What the school leaders, teachers, psychologists and other supporters do in responding to critical incidents, and how they do it, is of vital importance in minimising the extent of the immediate and longer term debilitating effects of the shock, grief and trauma. As the global community becomes closer, the effects of school critical incidents in other parts of the world increasingly impact upon our emotions. In 1998, the Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas, was the site of an ambush in which two male students aged 11 and 13 killed five people; in 1999 a siege at Columbine High School, Colorado, involved the killing of 13 people by two male students of the school; in 2002 in Erfurt, Germany, a 19-year-old ex-student murdered 16 people, including 13 teachers, two students and a police officer, in a shooting incident. Fortunately, within Australian schools we have not had to deal with shooting crises on the same scale. Nor have we had to cope with terror attacks in our schools, or earthquakes of the type that recently devastated 2

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Italian and Turkish schools, resulting in students being buried alive in the school rubble. Australia’s natural disasters are more likely to be a result of bushfire or flood. In this country the lead role in response to major disasters such as bushfires, severe floods or terror attacks is the domain of government authorities other than educational authorities. In the chapters that follow, a number of professionals who have responded to emergencies in schools discuss some of the prevention, planning, response and recovery processes relevant to their individual situations. While each chapter has been written as a ‘stand-alone’ topic, designed to provide concise information for those with particular interests and a tight timeframe in which to work, most benefit will come from a thorough reading of the entire book. Chapter 1 is presented by Mardie Whitla as a preparation workshop for school leaders and senior staff. It provides a process to raise awareness of possible emergency situations that might be encountered in schools, and a guide to possible response and recovery practices. Queenslander Trevor McManus describes in Chapter 2 a system he has devised to assist schools in their individual emergency management planning processes, and is linked to a checklist in Appendix A. Ron Hobbs was the principal of Rosebud Primary School in Victoria when one of his students, Sheree Beasley, was abducted and tragically found murdered in nearby countryside three months later. In Chapter 3 he explains what he and his school community did. Chapter 4 focuses on reactions of teachers, children and young people to traumatic incidents and Mardie Whitla outlines activities teachers can and have used to assist students to cope. A professional and personal response to a tragedy is described in Chapter 5: Margaret Connolly discusses how she assisted her students following the murder of one of their classmates and his sister. In Chapter 6 Valerie Gilpin directs her discussion towards ways in which school psychologists and trained counsellors can assist schools in the response and recovery stages following emergencies. Suicide is often considered one of the most difficult events to cope with in schools. In Chapter 7 Mardie Whitla outlines some of current issues surrounding youth suicide and discusses ways in which schools might respond should a suicide of a student occur. Psychologists Shulamit Niv and Yehuda Shacham from Israel contribute one of three international presentations in this book, in Chapter 8, where 3

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they provide a case study of a traumatic event in which two teachers and three students were killed. They explain how they assisted the school in the response and recovery stages. In this chapter they also outline the BASIC Ph coping model. In Chapter 9 Mardie Whitla addresses some of the issues which are often forgotten in crises: that of supporting the supporters. Is everyone suited to emergency work? Who supports workers in the field, to help prevent burnout? Practical suggestions regarding useful crisis debriefing processes follow in Chapter 10. American psychologist Scott Poland describes group debriefing that has been found useful following a tragedy, and includes questions and suggestions to use in small groups or in groups of 30 or more people. Finally, in Chapter 11, Nevin Dolek, a psychologist who works in schools in Turkey, provides a detailed description of response and recovery processes following the earthquakes that hit her country in 1999 in which 178 teachers and 1387 students died. The enormity of the crisis, the range of psychological interventions employed and evaluation of the programs used are discussed. This chapter will be of particular interest to psychologists, but also to any reader who would like to better understand responses to a tragic disaster.

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Chapter

P REPARING SCHOOL LEADERS FOR CRISES AND EMERGENCIES IN SCHOOLS Mardie Whitla

When forced into an emergency situation, most people learn very quickly. Often we gear up a notch, and surprise ourselves how well we ‘coped under pressure’. Yet there is no doubt that a great deal can be done by principals, teachers and school support personnel, such as school psychologists, to prepare for meeting the needs of school communities in times of critical incidents or emergencies. This chapter presents procedures to consider in order to prepare yourself well in advance for handling the emergency once such an event, or series of events, has occurred. Chapter 2 then describes a process whereby schools can undertake an analysis of possible threats or dangers and identify planning procedures that will minimise potential trauma or emergency. 5

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While Chapter 2 focuses on identifying potential physical dangers and issues, this chapter focuses on preparing school leaders to manage the response and recovery procedures – on people management and leadership. It addresses crisis intervention procedures – activities designed to influence the course of a crisis so that a more adaptive outcome will result, including the ability to cope better with future crises. Although this chapter was written with school leaders particularly in mind, similar activities have been successfully employed in preparing teachers and support workers to respond to critical incidents in schools.

Principals sharing experiences

Events do not need to occur within a school for students or teachers to be traumatised. This car, with seven young people inside, split in two when it hit a power pole. One 15-year-old youth was killed.

From experience, research, and observations of how people commonly respond in crises or in times of trauma or death, there is accumulated knowledge upon which to base training or preparation. Some years ago I interviewed principals who had experienced traumatic incidents in their schools. They clearly articulated the problems they faced and the ways they were able to support their schools through the response and recovery stages with the assistance of their own school staff and others outside the school. 6

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Norman Baldwin had been the principal of a large secondary college for only three months when six of his senior students were involved in a car crash which killed three of the boys. He described how he first heard of the accident: Early in the morning, about 6.30 when I was having breakfast and listening to the radio, I caught the tail end of a news flash about a bad crash in the area … When I drove in to school it was with a feeling that there might be something difficult to have to confront, but I was unwilling to acknowledge that that was a certainty so I wasn’t prepared at all at that stage. This was the beginning of a very difficult time for the principal, staff, students and the community. Of course the pain and suffering for the parents and friends of the injured and those who had died was devastating. Many others in the school community were also affected by the horrific accident. The stress and trauma continued for many months. One student, who had been in the car when it crashed, was in a critical condition in hospital for some time. Later, a court case caused additional stress. The principal stated: The process keeps going for a long time. It takes people varying lengths of time to work through things and react to things. Seven months after the event, he described the school situation as ‘close to normal’ but noted that there were still some students receiving counselling. The major lesson to be learned, I believe, is that it doesn’t matter what the crisis, you will cope and you’ll cope for two reasons: 1 I believe you’ll find inner resources to draw on. It’s almost as if you can go into another gear or lift yourself up to another level. 2 You’ll find you have enormous support from all sorts of areas. The principal described the memorial service, organised by Year 12 students, as a very moving ceremony. It gave a focus to the series of events that had occurred and gave the whole school community a chance to get together and express their feelings ‘as one’. He felt that it was a very important time. The principal and the school council together decided to see what could be 7

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retrieved from the terrible situation and turn it into a positive. A memorial fund was instigated to subsidise a program of driver education. Another principal, Bill Rush, described the trauma when the 59-year-old Swan Hill High School was demolished by a fire one Sunday afternoon. He spoke of the grief of students, teachers and many others within the community. He discussed the different reactions of people to the physical and emotional loss and noted that many people apparently did not appreciate that others were grieving. As principal he felt he was required to provide strong yet sensitive leadership, commenting, ‘It’s not easy to balance the two.’ This principal also spoke of formalising community involvement in the grieving and recovery process. The Jaycees, a local community service group, became involved in the ‘Out of the Ashes Appeal’, which gave the community an opportunity to be involved in doing something positive. Bill Rush emphasised three important aspects of the emergency management processes: communication; giving staff and students the opportunity to express their grief and work through it (in the case of students, through the formal curriculum); involving staff in decision-making. Sometimes schools are unfortunate enough to have several major traumatic incidents on top of each other, in a short space of time. An American principal recounted his experiences in dealing with a year of multiple crises (Foley, 1986). In his school’s first tragedy, a 16-year-old ex-student went to the school with a double-barrelled 12-gauge shotgun, took two students hostage in the main building, and was later shot by police when they were convinced that he was going to shoot the two hostages and a teacher. All these events took only 21 minutes. The ex-student died the following day. His school’s second major tragedy had its origins in excitement and euphoria as one of their admired and much-loved teachers, Christa McAuliffe, was selected to be ‘teacher in space’. The entire school was watching the television broadcast in celebration as the space shuttle Challenger suddenly malfunctioned and exploded. The principal described how in both cases he consulted his administration team, guidance directors, several teachers and a psychologist to decide what action should be taken. Decisions were made swiftly 8

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regarding communication. Full staff meetings, general assemblies and press conferences were held. In the case of Christa McAuliffe, a memorial service was also held. The format of the service provided an opportunity for clergymen of the three major religions in the city to lead the school community in prayer, and also – perhaps more importantly – to allow students to participate. Some of the students paid tribute to the teacher as a person and how she had affected them personally; others offered prayers or sang. The principal commented: In 35 years as an educator I have never witnessed a large student body come so close together. I am certain that this service helped us to cope in the weeks and months ahead. After the two crises, guidance staff remained on the alert for students experiencing difficulty in coping and district psychologists came to the school regularly, making themselves available to both students and staff. In his account of the school’s response to the two tragedies, the principal paid special tribute to his teachers for their role in supporting their students. He said: The only advice I feel strongly about giving is to be sure you regularly involve your staff in making decisions about how the school will operate. Principals and teachers sometimes wonder why one student or teacher who has been, apparently, exposed to the same shocking event as others in a group appears to be far more traumatised. People on the periphery of the impact of the event or situation occasionally seem to be more affected than those directly involved. There is no such thing as a psychological ‘near miss’; it is the psychological factor that constitutes the trauma. Responses of another principal can be found in Chapter 3.

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Preparation workshops The value of workshops Educational workshops and training sessions are an effective way of preparing school leaders and staff for coping with an emergency. An important part of such preparation is the need to generate feelings and emotions. One aspect of this is ‘emotional inoculation’, which is designed to orient the participant to events that may occur in the future. It aims to facilitate greater understanding and provide a repertoire of effective coping strategies. These workshops are also designed to encourage participants to see not only that is it acceptable to seek support, but that it is in fact beneficial to consult and seek the support of other professionals. The importance of support is highlighted by Johnson (1989): The effects of a critical incident can be lasting, depending upon the quality of the individual’s experiences during or shortly after the incident. The degree and rate of recovery is determined in part by the extent to which the individual is surrounded by supportive, caring people who help him or her to deal with the after-effects of the experience. One of the most useful group workshop techniques is to set up the scenario of an emergency or critical incident. Participants are asked the following questions: What would you do immediately? What would you do before the end of the first school day? What else would you need to consider doing within the first 48 hours? Over the first week? In the longer term? They are offered 10–15 minutes alone to consider and write down what they should do, and are then asked to share their ideas with their colleagues. In the discussion phase, participants often draw on actions taken when similar events have occurred in nearby schools or their own schools. It is not unusual for groups to recall traumatic situations which occurred ten or 20 years ago, when no action was taken to assist the school community through response and recovery procedures. With hindsight, participants are often able to identify actions that would have been helpful in the recovery phases and add such actions to their repertoires.

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A scenario The scenario presented below is based on real incidents. You may wish to use the scenario as the basis for a group exercise or for your own contemplation. In the latter case, allow yourself five minutes for contemplation, then write down the specific actions you would take in the time frames suggested. Put some pressure on yourself; remember that in real life you would probably have no time at all to ponder your actions. The scenario is as follows:

You are the principal of either a primary or a secondary school and have decided to spend the day visiting 30 students and teachers who are on a one-week school camp. The venue is 200 km from your school. You leave home early and at 9.00 a.m. on Wednesday as you turn off the highway and drive up the dirt road towards the main camp building you see a stationary police car with blue lights flashing. As you stop your car, the teacher in charge meets you, along with a uniformed police officer, and explains the reason for the police presence: eight of the students allege that they have been sexually abused during the night.

Now contemplate the questions below. Consider all the actions you would take, either personally or by delegation. Be specific. For instance, it is useless to write ‘notify all agencies’. You need to state which agencies, how you would find them and who, precisely, you would notify. What will you do immediately (from now to within one hour)? What will you do within 12 hours? What else will you do, within 24 hours? What will you do within the first week? What will you do within 3–4 weeks? What, if anything, will you do in the longer term? Are there any particular issues of which you should be aware? If you are working through this exercise as part of a workshop, this is the time to move into small groups and discuss the actions each of you is planning. While there are likely to be many similarities in planned responses, you will find that there are some responses that one person has

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considered which others have not, and which may be useful to add to your own plan.

Responses There are no absolute right and wrong ways to respond to an emergency or critical incident. Each situation will be different and will impact in a variety of ways upon those directly affected and on others more indirectly affected. Your aim as a school leader should be to offer sensitive yet effective leadership to manage the situation in a way that will minimise the trauma for your school. The dimensions of a crisis are determined by the meaning given to it by those experiencing the stress. Consider not only the event itself, but also cultural implications for family and community.

Your first step is to ascertain who is in charge. What are the responsibilities (and limits of the responsibilities) of the police and of you as principal? Sexual abuse is a criminal matter so be aware of the limitations of your role. You are not responsible for solving the case or cross-examining the students affected. As well as having the responsibilities of a school leader, you also have feelings or thoughts about sexual abuse. They may include revulsion, disbelief, anger and pity. Whatever your thoughts, it will be your responsibility not to allow them to adversely affect your actions or decisions. It is your responsibility to organise and co-ordinate the school’s response and recovery plan, and to liaise with emergency services. (You are not expected to be superman or superwoman.) You can expect support – usually from the central or regional education offices or school psychologists – which should be offered sensitively and in such a way as to ensure that you retain a sense of control in the decision-making process.

Occasionally details of emergencies in schools are ‘leaked’ to the press and other agencies very quickly and you may be inundated with ‘offers of support’. When you are in a state of shock, or when there are a number of

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stressful events occurring, you will certainly not need more stress in the form of intrusive outsiders. You may choose to be guided by your education support personnel on this matter. Outside agencies (apart from emergency services) should not be given blanket access to your students or your school. If you need additional support personnel, that aspect should be initiated as part of your management plan. While professionals who contact the school with offers of help may have the best of intentions, such intervention needs to be well managed and co-ordinated.

At the school camp you are planning your response. You have confirmed which aspects the police are responsible for, and now seek information from a joint meeting of the police and your teacher in charge of the camp. It is important to get accurate and detailed information and to distinguish between the rumours and the known facts. (At this early stage there may be very few known facts.) You should notify your disaster plan officer or whoever your employer has delegated this role to. (In State departments of education in Australia this is usually a senior administrator in the regional office, or in smaller states, in central office.) You should also notify (or ensure the disaster plan officer does so) the previously identified appropriate support or agency. The agency will in turn activate their emergency response plan, and make contact with you.

The importance of communication Throughout any response to an emergency one of the most important aspects to consider is communication. Your school community needs to be kept informed of the facts of the incident and the school’s response. In the early stages after an incident, careful communication is vital.

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At the camp, you will have gained information from the police and the teacher in charge. You will have asked the following questions: • What exactly happened? • When did it occur? • In which building/dormitory? • What are the names of the eight students allegedly abused? • What year or class are they in? • Do they have siblings or close friends on the camp? • Was anyone else at the scene? • Were there any known witnesses? • Do others know about the incident? • What has been done so far: - by the police? - by the teachers? - by the parent helpers at the camp? • What are the names of the staff on camp? • What are the names, ranks and base office of the police officers involved? • Have the parents of the allegedly abused students been notified? Having organised a meeting of the police officer in charge, the teacher in charge and yourself to prepare a preliminary plan, you may then undertake the following course of action: • Speak to the students involved in the incident, offering care and support. (Seek guidance from the police officer in charge first. He or she may not want the evidence ‘contaminated’ by you speaking to the eight students in one group if individual statements have not yet been made.) • Call a meeting of all the teachers at the camp and inform them of the facts. Discuss the sensitivity of the situation, especially to those allegedly abused. Explain what you have done so far. • Call a meeting of all the parent helpers at the camp. Inform them of what has happened and discuss the sensitivity of the situation as you did with the teachers. Do not forget to include this group of people in the information sharing. They may be feeling particularly vulnerable,

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they may feel that they are being considered as suspects, or they may be uncertain about their particular role in the situation. • Call the other students together with the teachers and parent helpers and inform them of what has happened and what has been planned. (The eight may or may not wish to be included.) The students will have many questions. While being as honest as possible you will not want to invade the privacy of those abused, so consider the words you use. You may wish to say ‘an intruder entered the dormitory’ and let them know that investigations are continuing and are being conducted by the police. Students may wish to know if the camp will continue. In most situations it is preferable to continue with normal routines as much as possible to minimise the effect of the critical incident. In this situation, if you were able to ascertain that procedures could be enforced to ensure the students’ safely, it would be reasonable to inform the students that the camp would continue. However, you may consider whether or not to continue the camp for the eight sexually abused students only after you have spoken with the psychologist or social worker and the parents. What decision is made in regard to these children will take place after consultation and will depend, amongst other things, on the type of sexual abuse which occurred, the apparent trauma to each of the students, the wishes of the parents and the wishes of individual students.

Seeking support

By now you would expect that an emergency response team (probably two people, one of whom would be a psychologist) would have arrived at the camp. One of them would probably have been in contact with you by telephone earlier.

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The emergency response person or team called upon in an emergency will have had training and preparation for dealing with critical incidents in schools, and most will also have had experience in responding to a variety of incidents. They do not come to ‘take over’ from you. Your role is clear: you have the responsibility for managing the response and recovery process. Members of the emergency response team should work with you in such a way as to support you, sensitively and unobtrusively. Usually one response person will work closely with you (the principal) while the other response person will be available to work more with students or teachers, if that is part of the agreed response and recovery plan. Most school leaders I have worked with have been appreciative of the support offered and given during response and recovery stages. One principal I spoke with discussed his perception of the need to wear the ‘mask of the principal’ and remarked how difficult it was to present at all times as being in control and leading the situation. Often school leaders find it useful to have a trusted and reliable support person from outside the school to confide in, to talk through possible actions with, and to gain information from about possible reactions and other issues. If you are considering the scenario as part of a group discussion, it may be useful to know what other principals in similar situations have found to be effective or ineffective. Also, you may wish to know more about the range of actions encompassed by the term ‘sexual abuse’. It may be useful to know, for example, that touching or brushing a person’s vaginal area or penis outside pyjamas is a form of sexual abuse; at the other extreme of abuse is penetration of the vagina or anal passage. In both examples the power of the abuser in the violation of the abused is paramount, although the trauma experienced by the abused child in the different abuses may not be of the same intensity. Nevertheless, the type of abuse alone is not sufficient to gauge the likely level of trauma resulting in the individuals concerned. Very early in a crisis situation you must learn that you will not be able to do everything yourself, so if you are not used to delegating you will need to learn this skill very quickly. Consider the dilemmas you would be facing in the camp scenario:

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Will you ring the parents of the eight students? Probably yes. (Of course the student records are up to date, and the teacher in charge has each child’s emergency information at the camp!) What will you say to the parents: Sexual abuse? Intruder? Police involvement? Will you invite them to the camp or make other arrangements? Will you be prepared for a range of responses from the parents? You may encounter verbal abuse (‘It’s your fault if Jason has been hurt on a school camp’); shock (‘I don’t believe it! What will happen to her?’); indifference (‘Yes, I did encounter that once’); tears (too upset to respond on the telephone) and demands for lots of information. You will need to plan in advance whether you will tell the parents which other students were involved, and how much detail of the abuse you will give over the telephone. You will need to notify your school’s deputy principal, bursar and receptionist. You may be sure that as soon as you have informed people outside the camp of the abuse, word will travel quickly through the school community.

Informing the school community Remember, one of the necessary procedures in an emergency is to inform people accurately, in order to avoid or discount rumours as much as possible. If your school community does not have the correct information you may be sure the rumours about an emergency will be far worse than the reality. One method of accurately informing your school community is to organise a letter to be sent home from school. In the case of the camp scenario, a letter would be sent to the parents of all students in the year level of the students on the camp. It might be useful to call for the assistance of the support person in wording such a letter. The letter explaining the situation at the camp should be written on the school letterhead and should state the facts of the situation, where it happened, that the students are safe, and what the school is planning to do about the incident. A sample letter is provided in Figure 1.1.

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Rockleigh College Station Road Rockleigh vic 3999 Telephone 3999 9999

10 May 2003 Dear Parents At our school camp at Mount Feathers last evening an intruder entered the dormitory in which eight of our Year 7 students were sleeping. The intruder appears to have entered through a fire escape on the second floor. Police are investigating and have taken statements from each of the students. Each of the students from the dormitory, although initially shocked, has decided to remain at the camp for the rest of the week. Their parents support this action. The camp will continue as planned for the 35 students and we have taken additional measures to ensure the safety of all students. We will be monitoring the children closely and have additional support from psychologists and other personnel. The teachers and parent helpers at the camp are all keen to remain until Sunday to ensure the activities arranged can continue. If you have any queries you are welcome to contact Mr John White, Deputy Principal, who has been fully informed of the situation. I will remain at the camp until Sunday. Yours sincerely Ms Karen Silverton Principal

Figure 1.1

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Should the critical incident have been, for example, a death through a car accident, a suicide, a hostage situation, or an abduction, further detail would need to be included in your letter to parents. In such situations many students, even if not directly connected with the person at the centre of the tragedy, often have emotional and psychological reactions. In these situations the media usually cover the event for weeks and the time is further extended if there is a court case, a tragically prolonged abduction or murder. For such situations your letter may include the wording provided in Figure 1.2.

Although your sons or daughters may be affected by the death of Jason it would be preferable for school routines to continue as normally as possible, and students should attend regularly. Reactions of students will vary and may include crying, not wanting to talk or wanting to talk, wanting to be alone, anger, lack of concentration, sleeping or eating problems. If you feel you or your child may need professional help or counselling please contact me and I will be able to advise on procedures. A psychologist, Ms Aileen Holding, has spoken with the Year 7 students today and will be available for you to contact if you wish on 3333 1234.

Figure 1.2

Your school council or managerial body will also have to be informed of the details of any incident.

Getting back to normal The rule of thumb is to continue ‘normal’ routines as much as is appropriate and feasible. While such advice is, in practice, not always easy to follow, continuation of normal activities does have the advantage of normalising the day and giving an alternative focus to that of the trauma. Nevertheless, students directly affected and others who may not immediately appear to be at risk must be monitored for symptoms of post-trauma stress. (Further information on reactions is included in chapters 4 and 6 of this book.) Consult with your school psychologist or guidance counsellor and discuss 19

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any issues of concern you may have regarding any of your students, teachers or parents. You will need to be vigilant for some months for signs of stress or post-trauma reactions; so too will classroom teachers.

If the media hear of the camp intruder and alleged abuse it is likely that you will receive a number of telephone calls, and perhaps photographers, video-camera operators or journalists will visit the camp site or school. It is desirable to have a spokesperson appointed from within your school’s response team as the media contact person. Alternatively, you may consider an experienced external official, such as a local/regional education manager. Clear directions may need to be given to the camp staff, the school receptionist and the bursar as to how to respond assertively to intrusive requests for further information. They need to know what to say and how to say it. Clear, assertive responses will help to encourage accurate reporting that will inform and defuse rumours, and discourage intrusion or pestering. The teaching staff, too, need to be encouraged to respond to members of the media with statements such as ‘I have been requested to direct all questions to Mr Taylor [the appointed spokesperson within the school], or Ms Pappas [the regional manager]’ or ‘We are not able to comment at this stage as the situation is subject to police investigation’.

It is not unusual for some effects of incidents such as sexual abuse to continue for many months. In addition to the unobtrusive care and sensitivity needed for those directly affected by abuse or other critical incidents, there are likely to be other reminders of the incident for some time. Statements will need to be made to the police, sometimes more than once. A court case may follow. This could involve children as witnesses and in the giving of evidence; the teachers or any parent volunteers who were at the scene of the incident may also be involved in the court case.

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Stress reactions or feelings of guilt from teachers at the camp or the teacher in charge may occur. The reactions of teachers may not be immediately obvious and may not be apparent until the students have been reunited with their parents. Provision will need to be made for the care of these members of staff.

In the longer term, you may find that other students from within your school, not necessarily those who attended the particular camp, will be unwilling or not permitted to attend an overnight excursion or camp. You may hear that siblings or friends of the sexually abused students become afraid to sleep alone at night or away from home. Occasionally other students who have been or are being abused in some way – sexually, physically or emotionally – may disclose that abuse to teachers or children, feeling that the time is right to raise their own personal traumas. As a number of principals have stated, the process of recovery from any serious emergency or trauma continues for a long time. To paraphrase one principal, it takes people varying lengths of time, and different people do it in different ways, when working through the process. You as a school leader will be required to provide leadership that is both sensitive and directed. Preparation to perform such a role is vital.

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SUMMARY LEARNINGS • The management of critical incidents in schools is made easier by preparing yourself and your school for handling emergencies. • The immediate and regular communication of accurate information to the whole school community is an important aspect of emergency management.

• Individuals will be affected by trauma in differing ways, not all of which will be predictable. • The principal’s role in emergency management can be demanding and exhausting. Often principals find it useful to talk to or work with a trusted and reliable support person from outside the school. • It is useful to plan for the best ways of working with the media.

References Advice on managing the media after a tragedy. (1998). Practical Strategies for Maintaining Safe Schools: School Violence Alert, 4 (11), 5. Baldwin, B. A. (1978). A paradigm for the classification of emotional crises: Implications for crisis intervention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 538–51. California Association of School Psychologists (CASP) (1998). Schoolyard tragedies: Coping with the aftermath. Resource Paper, 2, 4. Crow, G. A. & Crow, L. I. (1987). Crisis intervention and suicide prevention: Working with children and adolescents. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois. Figley, C. R. (1985). Trauma and its wake, Vol. I, The study and treatment of post traumatic stress disorder. Brunner/Mazel, New York. –– (1986). Trauma and its wake, Vol. II, Traumatic stress: Theory research and intervention. Brunner/Mazel, New York. Foley, C. F. (1986). Dealing with crises: One principal’s experience. NASP Bulletin, December, 46–51. Gifford, R. K. & Tyler, M. P. (1990). Consulting in grief leadership: A practical guide. Disaster Management, 2, 4.

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Gilpin, V., Naughton, L., West, R. & Whitla, M. (1990) Emergency recovery kit. Ministry of Education, Victoria, Southern Metropolitan Region. Johnson, K. (1989). Trauma in the lives of children. Hunter House, Claremont, California. Lester, D. (1990). Current concepts of suicide. Charles Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lieberman, R. (1997). Crisis intervention workshop. National Association of School Psychologists. Anaheim, California. Poland, S. & McCormick, J. S. (1999). Coping with crisis: Lessons learned. Sopris West, Longmont, Colorado. Rynearson, E. K. (1988). The homicide of a child. In Post traumatic therapy and victims of violence, ed. F. M. Ochberg. Brunner/Mazel, New York. Whitla, M. (1991). Child sexual abuse. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 1, 1. Young, K. P. H. (1983). Coping in crisis. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong. Young, M. (1998). Community response team training manual. NOVA, Washington D.C.

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Chapter

A

MODEL FOR A

COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS IN SCHOOLS Trevor McManus

Rationale for a comprehensive School Emergency Management Plan Schools are becoming increasingly aware of the need to provide support to those in the school community who have been exposed to the potentially disturbing experience of a serious accident, an act of violence or other traumatic incident. In their endeavours to develop effective plans to deal with the possible emotional and psychological effects of such experiences,

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administrators and care-givers may tend to focus only on the welfareoriented tasks that need to be addressed after an incident has occurred. It is argued in this chapter that a more comprehensive process for emergency management planning is required. This involves anticipation, prevention and preparation, as well as the writing of action plans. Such comprehensive planning enables schools to respond sensitively and effectively to the operational and welfare demands of a range of emergency situations. Models for developing such a process can be found in the disaster management literature, which investigates the impact of major disaster events on whole communities. Because a school can be considered almost as a self-contained community, many of the principles of community disaster management can be applied to the school setting. This chapter provides: a framework on which to base a comprehensive emergency management planning process in schools; a model to give direction to planning; a sequence of steps to follow in implementing the model. Some specific guidelines to facilitate progress through each step are provided in Appendix A (p. 169).

Terminology The term ‘disaster’ is popularly used to refer to circumstances that are upsetting to individuals or groups of people (Britton, 1986). It has strong emotive connotations. In schools the term ‘disaster’ may be used rather loosely to describe a range of disruptive incidents, from an accident involving multiple deaths and injuries to the intrusion of a nasty virus into the school computer network. The word ‘emergency’ more accurately describes and comprehensively encompasses the many types of disturbances that are likely to have a disruptive effect on a school. These range from the most traumatising event to relatively minor incidents. ‘Emergency’ is therefore the term used in this chapter.

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Framework Tierney (1989) proposed that four sequential phases of a community disaster can be identified: mitigation, preparation, response and recovery. This provides a useful framework for developing an emergency management planning process for schools. The mitigation phase involves anticipating potential emergency situations and preventing or minimising their effects. Preparation includes tasks such as educating and training key personnel, negotiating protocols for intervention by outside agencies, writing action plans and familiarising personnel with and rehearsing these. The response and recovery phases focus on those operational, counselling and support tasks that need to be managed immediately after an emergency occurs and in the longer term.

Model While the above framework is useful for organising issues that may need to be addressed prior to and after a school emergency situation, it is not adequate as a model for a comprehensive school planning process. In planning the emergency management procedures for a school, the preparation phase should be commenced only after a thorough investigation of all the implications for the school of the other phases: mitigation, response and recovery. Hence the framework could be rearranged to provide the model in Figure 2.1 (see p. 29). This model is intended to encourage schools to focus on the ongoing process of planning and not merely on the product, especially not on a product that is simply a list of what should be done and by whom. Hence, emergency planning under this model includes the following: attending to prevention and amelioration strategies; anticipating possible emergency situations; investigating means of dealing with the multitude of welfare and operational issues that may arise during and after various types of emergencies; educating key personnel about matters such as personal and social responses to traumatic experiences; negotiating protocols for intervention by agencies outside the school; training in areas such as counselling, emergency first aid and managing the media; 27

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specifying the roles of key personnel; developing plans for action and ensuring all in the school community are familiar with them; testing their effectiveness through rehearsal. Planning also involves regular review and the updating of planning outcomes. Emergency management is the implementation, in times of emergency, of relevant outcomes of the emergency planning process. It is a part of the ongoing planning process – ongoing because a school’s response to an emergency situation should be evaluated and its planning revised in the light of the experience. The model has the advantage of enabling the school to co-ordinate a number of management initiatives loosely related to school emergency planning. These include initiatives developed in isolation by personnel with responsibilities in areas such as occupational health and safety, disaster planning, welfare, staff development, school security, property and facilities, and legal matters.

Guidelines To help schools to use this model in the development of emergency management procedures, a series of guideline questions has been developed. These questions can be used as a checklist for considering the many issues that need to be addressed in each phase. They are derived from the experiences of the author and others who have supported schools after an emergency, as well as from studies of community disasters. It is by no means an exhaustive list but suggests the many and varied implications for a school of a major emergency situation. The guideline questions are provided in Appendix A (see p. 169).

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Mitigation • hazard analysis • occupational health and safety statutory requirements • school regulations • security provisions

Response

Recovery

(immediate issues)

(long term issues)

• rescue • safety of people • comforting and supporting people • safety of buildings, equipment, site • communications • dealing with authorities • system response (regional office); school support centre • adjusting and maintaining functioning of school • managing the media • managing convergence

• reorganisation • resumption of routine • ongoing support for people • counselling • reconstruction • review and revision of emergency management planning and procedures

Preparation • planning – education – negotiation – training – role definition – action plans • familiarisation • rehearsal

Figure 2.1 Model for School Emergency Management Planning

Implementation of the model The proposed process for emergency management planning outlined in Figure 2.1 is neither brief nor finite. It involves investigation, reflection, debate, preparation, writing, rehearsal, updating, implementation and review. Hence it is suggested that a period of several months (preferably longer) is required to do justice to the processes suggested in the model. 29

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It is also recommended that the sequence of steps below be followed in implementing the model and that the guideline questions in Appendix A be used to stimulate and direct inquiry in Steps 3–12.

Initiating the process STEP 1 Raise awareness of the need for emergency planning It is important that the teaching and administrative staff are aware of the implications for a school of a serious emergency situation and are convinced of the need to develop a comprehensive emergency management plan. One way of achieving this is to devote 20 minutes or so at a staff meeting to the following exercise:

Describe briefly a serious emergency that might affect the school, for example a life-threatening accident or an act of violence involving multiple injuries and/or death. Ask staff members to identify some of the immediate and longer term emotional and operational consequences of the event. Have participants form small groups to discuss how they would deal with these.

This exercise usually generates sufficient interest to provide enough volunteers for a viable working party (Step 2) to undertake the planning process. STEP 2 Form a school-based working party Ideally the whole staff, including ancillary staff, and perhaps student and parent representatives, should be involved in the development of an emergency management plan. Certainly all staff should be very familiar with the outcomes of the planning process. However, most of the developmental work will probably be undertaken by a small, representative group within the school. This should include members of safety committees and staff with welfare responsibilities.

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Mitigation STEP 3 Initiate a safety audit of the school Addressing the issues that arise during the mitigation phase is a good starting point for the planning process, for a number of reasons. Many schools will already have a safety committee and may have undertaken significant planning to do with safety issues, in response to the statutory requirements of disaster management or occupational health and safety acts. In any case, schools have a legal obligation to ensure safety regulations and procedures are complied with. Hence, a thorough review of safety procedures in all areas of the school is an essential part of accident prevention. So too is the careful examination of the safety of electrical equipment and machinery, the storage of chemicals and dangerous goods and the identification of possible danger areas. (See Appendix A (p.169) for guideline questions to facilitate investigation of these issues.) STEP 4 Undertake a hazard analysis Geographical location may make some schools more susceptible than others to cyclone, flood, bushfire or earthquake, while proximity to industrial sites, airport flight paths or major highways increases the risk of ‘technological disasters’ impinging on schools. A careful examination of these and other local circumstances should follow the safety audit. The identification of potential hazard situations that may be unavoidable despite stringent safety precautions should occur early in the planning process. (See Appendix A for guideline questions.) STEP 5 Investigate other mitigation issues Although some emergency situations may not be preventable, the emotional distress and organisational turmoil that may result can be minimised if certain procedures have been established beforehand. Procedures that already exist in schools include fire evacuation procedures and lists of telephone numbers for use in emergencies. Other procedures to be considered include:

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when undertaking excursions, keeping a list, both at school and on each bus, of who is on each bus; clarifying the legal liability of practices such as transporting students to sporting and other school activities in teachers’ or parents’ cars; ascertaining the exact conditions of insurance cover on school equipment and personal property in the event of fire, storm or theft. In government and other systemic schools, there is likely to be a system of support to schools in dealing with major safety issues, as well as support for resolving matters of legal liability and insurance cover. (See Appendix A for guideline questions.)

Response and recovery STEP 6 Consider dilemmas that may arise after an emergency and identify strategies This step may well demand the greatest amount of time in the planning process as the problems to be anticipated and prepared for are myriad. It is important to consider several different types of emergency scenarios and their implications, for example: accidents involving serious injury and/or death occurring at school and during off-campus activities; community incidents not directly related to school activities, such as a siege and mass shooting or a major rail smash; evacuation of the school because of fire or toxic fumes; the sudden death of a student or teacher outside school hours; a major act of terrorism, especially if it occurs in Australia or involves Australian citizens (or the country and citizens in which the emergency plan is being prepared). It would be helpful for planning groups to discuss with colleagues in other schools who have experienced a significant emergency the problems they had to deal with, especially the unexpected or ‘hidden’ problems. Managers of emergency service organisations may also be able to offer useful insights into post-emergency management and support difficulties that can arise. (See Appendix A for guideline questions.)

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STEP 7 Identify preparatory tasks required for the successful implementation of strategies identified in Step 6 Written plans of action will be of little benefit if key personnel in the school do not have the specific knowledge or skills required to carry out the prescribed actions. Unless prior arrangements have been made, it cannot be assumed that support agencies outside the school will be willing or able to respond at short notice to an emergency. Hence, key personnel should be educated or trained in the relevant areas of knowledge and skill and outside agencies should be contacted to establish protocols for intervention and support in time of emergency. (See Appendix A for guideline questions.) STEP 8 Initiate education or training programs and negotiate protocols identified in Step 7 Many emergency services and major employers have the support of mental health professionals, who are specialists in the management of traumatic stress. It may be possible to arrange for such professionals to conduct training programs for support personnel in the school. It should be remembered, however, that counselling and supporting younger children require the use of developmentally appropriate approaches. Consequently, training for such support is best provided by a professional with expertise in dealing with stress in younger children. Local media agencies may be willing to provide training to selected school personnel in giving press statements and in dealing with the demands of the press after a major emergency. In metropolitan and large provincial centres training may be available from police officers with special skills in media management in times of community disaster. (See Appendix A for guideline questions.) STEP 9 Begin the writing of plans Individual schools are free to choose how comprehensive their planning process will be. Some may decide to prepare for only those very major events that could temporarily overwhelm the functioning of the school. Others may use this process to provide guidelines for a range of types and degrees of emergencies. If the latter approach is favoured it might be necessary to 33

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attempt to classify potential emergency situations and to develop a set of response strategies for each category. Disaster sociologists have proposed many disaster classification systems over the last few decades (see, for example, Barton, 1989; Kreps, 1989). However, a basic principle of current disaster theory is that disasters are defined not in terms of the nature or magnitude of the event or the extent of resultant damage, but according to the degree of social disruption caused.

Bushfires cause a high level of social disruption, affecting many families. The 2003 firestorm in Canberra destroyed almost 500 homes and a school; 2000 residents were evacuated in the emergency.

Sociologists also argue that in order to determine the level of social disruption brought on by a disaster, one needs to know something of the normal pre-disaster state of a community (Wenger, 1978; Britton, 1986). According to this contention, the severity of the effect of an emergency on a school will be significantly influenced by the pre-emergency state of the school as well as the nature of the emergency situation. Hence, preparation for emergency management in the school setting should include a review of the pre-emergency social climate of the school and a consideration of the current level of social stability. For instance, is there tension within the staff or between staff and administration? Are there major, ongoing divisive issues

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in the school such as racial conflict or playground violence, or other social issues such as a high incidence of poverty? Research has also shown that previous experience of disaster has a significant influence on the manner in which the community will react to subsequent disaster situations (Wenger, 1978). The format of any emergency management plan is the prerogative of the individual school. It will be determined in part by decisions about the comprehensiveness of the plan and whether one plan or a set of plans for various situations are developed. Local emergency services or counterdisaster organisations may be able to provide model formats. Whatever the preferred format, such local organisations should be consulted about the role of the school in times of major community disasters such as cyclones or floods, if only because in severe emergencies school facilities may be commandeered for use in disaster relief. Community counter-disaster plans should be reflected in the school’s plans for such circumstances. STEP 10 Familiarise the school community with the plans A part of the planning process is to ensure that every new staff member, including ancillary staff, is made aware of relevant sections of the school’s emergency management procedures. All students also need to be familiar with procedures relevant to their safety and welfare. STEP 11 Test the adequacy of planning by rehearsal Experience in emergency services has shown that even the most carefully developed plans can be inadequate when put into practice (Britton, 1984). Rehearsal is essential to test equipment, to evaluate the feasibility of procedural guidelines and to establish the level of communication and the general understanding of the school’s emergency management processes. Rehearsal should involve more than just school evacuation protocols; it should be as near a representation of reality as is feasible and sensible. When undertaking a training exercise, the various participants should be told only as much about what is supposed to have happened as they would know if the situation were real. For instance, a school secretary might be told that a piece of playground equipment has collapsed and several children are badly hurt, and be asked to contact the ambulance service and police. Although these services must know that an exercise is being held, they need 35

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not know the nature of the ‘emergency’ beforehand, in order that their response is determined by the message they receive from the school. Likewise, teachers and students not directly involved in the simulation need not know what the emergency will be. This approach is more likely to evoke responses similar to those that would happen in reality than a more theatrical rehearsal where all the players know the plot. Consequently, deficiencies in planning will be revealed. In any such roleplaying, care should be taken to debrief or ‘derole’ all the players, as even simulation can be quite disturbing to some people. STEP 12 Regularly update, review and revise the planning process Emergency planning is not a static process; regular planned review is essential. Whenever any emergency situation has to be dealt with in the school, a key part of the management of that emergency is the review and revision of the school’s emergency management planning in the light of knowledge gained from the emergency. Moreover, major emergencies in other schools provide opportunities for reflection on the adequacy of the school’s emergency planning.

Conclusion It is not possible to anticipate and plan for every imaginable emergency situation. In fact, it may well be true that it is the unthinkable rather than the expected that will happen. However, the underlying contention of this chapter is that a school’s capacity to manage an emergency situation is enhanced if it has investigated ways to prepare for and respond to these possibilities.

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SUMMARY LEARNINGS Sequential steps in the process of emergency management planning include: • writing plans of action for • anticipating; disaster or emergencies in • preventing; schools. • preparing for; and

References (1998). When disaster strikes: Questions schools should consider when developing a crisis plan. Practical Strategies for Maintaining Safe Schools: School Violence Alert, 4 (4). Barton, A. (1989). Commentaries on ‘taxonomies and disaster’: Taxonomies of disaster and macrosocial theory. In Social structure and disaster, ed. G. A. Kreps. University of Delaware Press, Delaware, 346–58. Britton, N. R. (1984). Australia’s organised responses to natural disaster: The constrained organisation in two wildfires. Disasters, 8, 3, 21–5. –– (1986). Developing an understanding of disaster. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 22, 2, July, 254–71. California Association of School Psychologists (CASP) (1998). Schoolyard tragedies: Coping with the aftermath. Resource Paper, 2, 4. Department of Education, Queensland (1990). Traumatic incidents affecting schools – guidelines for managing the effects on the school community. Department of Education, Queensland. –– (1992). Queensland Department of Education manual: Communications management CM–2 – disaster contacts and reporting procedures. Department of Education, Queensland. Johnson, K. (1989). Trauma in the lives of children. Hunter House, Claremont, California. Kreps, G. A. (1989). Future directions in disaster research: The role of taxonomy. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 7, 3, November, 215–41. Natural Disasters Organisation (1992). Emergency/disaster planning for principals, 2nd ed., Canberra. Pitcher, G. D. & Poland, S. (1992). Crisis intervention in the schools. Guilford, New York. Raphael, B. (1989). When disaster strikes. Basic Books, New York. Tierney, K. J. (1989). The social and community contexts of disaster. In Psychological aspects of disaster, eds R. Gist & B. Lubin. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 11–39.

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Wenger, D. E. (1978). Community response to disaster: Functional and structural alterations. In Disasters: Theory and research, ed. E. L. Quarantelli. Sage Publications, London & California, 18–47.

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Chapter

A

CHILD IS

MISSING Ron Hobbs

Ron Hobbs was the principal of Rosebud Primary School, a fairly large nonmetropolitan school on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. The whole community of this seaside and semi-rural town was in shock when a little girl was abducted. Three months later her body was found in nearby countryside. Two years after the tragedy, the principal remembered how the school community was affected. My first indication that something was wrong came via the ABC news at 10.00 p.m. Saturday. I was driving home from a function at Sorrento when I heard that a little girl was missing from Rosebud. As I drove through 39

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Rosebud I observed a police van (SES personnel) and much activity on the corner of the Nepean Highway and Rosemore Road. I drove past, then decided to return to the van to ascertain whether or not the missing child was one of my pupils. If it were indeed a pupil from my school, I wanted to be informed as early as possible, in order to attempt to be prepared for the inevitable repercussions. The officer in charge at the time turned out to be a parent of pupils at the school. After discussion with this officer, my fears were realised. The missing girl was from the school and there had been no sign of her since the report that she was missing at around 2.30 p.m. that day. Without being too specific, the police were quite concerned for her well-being.

Mounted police participated in the search for a missing student and her abductor: a small community was shattered.

On Sunday I contacted the police again, only to be informed there was still no news of the child. I received a phone call from the assistant general manager of the regional office of the Education Department on Sunday evening. During this call we discussed the likely media scenario the school

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would face the following morning. I received instructions to refer all inquiries to the regional office or directly to the police task force. I was to be extremely grateful for this clear directive. On Monday morning I arrived at school earlier than usual in an attempt to avoid any waiting media – a vain attempt, as it turned out. I was met by several reporters from the Melbourne press firing questions and seeking statements about school programs relating to pupil safety awareness. I made a brief statement along the lines suggested by the regional office and retreated to my office to gather my thoughts. Try as one may, there is no way to prepare oneself for the aggressiveness of the media. By that time my secretary had arrived and she informed me that several television crews were lined up outside at the school crossing and other points around the school. I instructed my secretary that I would not be taking any calls from the media and that she was to refer callers to the police or our regional office. By 8.15 a.m. the phone was ringing incessantly. I’ve had many occasions to admire and appreciate the professionalism of my secretary, Laurien, and again she handled a difficult situation calmly and efficiently. I came in for a lot of flak from the media (particularly local media) for refusing to communicate with them, but the simple consistent policy of referring all queries to the police or the regional office kept the situation manageable and allowed me to concentrate on the areas of real need in the school at that time. Psychologists from the Mornington School Support Centre had arrived and we began the task of planning our response to the situation. The first priority we determined was to try to ensure that the school functioned as normally as possible. This was to remain our priority throughout the months of uncertainty and upheaval until, sadly, little Sheree’s body was found. Staff were made aware of possible reactions from pupils. Many children received counselling from the psychologists, as did staff, some parents and myself. The ongoing presence and support of support centre personnel was invaluable. Long after life went back to normal for the general community we were still dealing with the reality of continuing trauma within our school community. The support centre personnel continued to be available to us throughout this time. All this time police were working at the school interviewing pupils, staff and parents, in the hope that somebody might have some information which 41

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could help them in their task of tracking down Sheree and her abductor. As a result, classes were disrupted. There was a great need to demonstrate sensitivity and care for those involved. I developed a good working relationship with the police, due in part to their professional handling of the case and my ability to recognise the need for me to be flexible. This is not always easy for me. Then came the tragic discovery of Sheree’s body and it all began again. The fear and shock for children at the school and Sheree’s classroom teacher necessitated a new round of counselling. Although Sheree’s teacher, the deputy principal, another staff member and myself attended Sheree’s funeral, we felt there was a great need for us all as a school community to say goodbye to Sheree. We needed to grieve together and to mark the end of a confusing, frightening and tragic time in the life of our school community, and then to move on. I contacted a parent, Reverend Evan Laidlaw, and put to him the proposition that he conduct a simple, non-denominational memorial service at the school. It proved to be a sensitive, fitting goodbye for little Sheree. Kerri Greenhill, Sheree’s mother, accepted our invitation to attend. Prep to Grade 3 students assembled in our school hall. I addressed the children first, explaining that we were together to say goodbye to Sheree. Then Evan sat on the floor with the children and continued that theme, culminating with the lighting of candles for Sheree and her family and a little prayer. The students from grades 4 to 6 then joined us, as did some parents. Evan spoke to the group as a whole and then the Grade 1 children gave Sheree’s parents gifts and cards they had made. Those present moved to the front of the school while our two senior house captains each planted a shrub for Sheree.The press were excluded from the service but were present for the tree planting. More than 12 months later it was difficult for me to remember many of the details of this tragic and demanding experience. My father died suddenly in circumstances that were personally very traumatic only a week after Sheree disappeared. In hindsight, I believe I was to some degree emotionally numb at the time and for some months after. I consider myself to be a fortunate person as I not only had the professional and personal support of the staff at the support centre, but I have a strong, caring, personal support network of friends and loved ones who were willing and able to help me keep life in perspective. 42

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A memorial service, followed by a tree-planting ceremony, was conducted by the school to remember and farewell Sheree. Sheree’s mother also attended.

They encouraged me to keep my life as simple as possible, to take care of my health, to take care of things in priority order and to continue to meet my needs in my personal life. In other words, to ‘knock off’ when I left school and attend to the many other facets of my life. I believe this is primarily how I was able to accept the situation at school without becoming overwhelmed by the ongoing trauma we were faced with week after week.

SUMMARY LEARNINGS • Accept support. • Anticipate exhaustion: look after your own health and needs also.

• Expect the unexpected. • Communication is vital. • Good teamwork pays dividends.

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Chapter

T EACHERS , T RAUMA AND C RISES Mardie Whitla

Emergencies of varying impacts may affect teachers and their students, and teachers may become involved in traumas that affect their students through direct or indirect means. An emergency or traumatic incident does not necessarily involve a death. Your students may be traumatised by an incident that occurs outside the school – on the weekend, during holidays, or after school – or they, and you, may be more directly affected by an incident within school hours such as a hostage experience, a fire, a flood, or a serious accident while on an excursion or camp. Court cases involving school personnel (as witnesses, as victims or through alleged direct involvement in criminal activity) or students (as witnesses, victims or alleged perpetrators) 45

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can also be traumatic for schools. Some traumatic incidents may affect the whole class or even the entire school; others may affect one student directly but many indirectly. In some situations you may be required to offer support where only one of your students is traumatised through an individual incident or loss.

Coping with your own reactions to trauma One of the difficulties from a teacher’s perspective may be the teacher’s own reactions to a shared traumatic event. The way a teacher reacts may make it harder for him or her to respond to the reactions of the students. Equally, sometimes a teacher’s reaction may facilitate better understanding of a child’s behaviour. Individual people have a wide range of responses to trauma and some may be surprised by their own reactions or those of others. An individual’s memories or experiences, and/or the accumulation of traumatic incidents, may increase the likelihood of a particular incident triggering a personal crisis. Effects of trauma may include: physical effects, such as changes in appetite and/or libido, sleep disturbances, increased susceptibility to illness, breathlessness, dry mouth, tremor and fatigue, and increased sensitivity to noise, light and smell; a range of emotional responses which may include anger, irritation, sadness, hostility, aggression, feeling inadequate, and denial; altered thought patterns, such as confusion, disorientation, forgetfulness, difficulty with tasks and normal routines, flashbacks, nightmares, poor judgement, and inability to assess others and oneself realistically. The longer term effects may include burnout or exhaustion, lack of interest in work or life in general, withdrawal from family and friends, escapism and overwork. These responses can affect family, social and work relationships and activities. Many teachers describe how they ‘coped well’, or were pleased with the way in which they assisted their students in their grieving, while in front of their classes, or while they were at school. Often it is not until they leave their posts as teachers that they feel able to express their own shock or horror or

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sadness, or commence their own grieving. Some teachers never give themselves permission to express their emotions about a particular trauma affecting their students and themselves. Frequently for these teachers, who may go directly from being the ‘carer’ at school to being the ‘chief carer’ at home, denial or repression of feelings may lead to a more intense or severe physiological or psychological reaction later. It is therefore important that teachers pay attention to their own mental and physical well-being, and take time to ensure they look after themselves, as well as their students, when trauma strikes.

Coping with the reactions of others to trauma While teachers are not expected to be psychologists or trauma counsellors, it is useful for them to be aware of some likely reactions of children to trauma, loss or death. This chapter provides some examples of actions teachers may take in classrooms that will help their students to cope with, or to come to terms with, traumatic situations.

Monitoring reactions Teachers are in an excellent position to monitor students’ reactions and behaviours, as students spend a large proportion of their waking hours at school and teachers are usually familiar with individual students’ customary behaviour. The behaviour change most noticed by teachers is the unexpected appearance of aggressive behaviour. However, teachers should also be aware of students who change their normal behaviours to that of non-participation or withdrawal. After a very distressing event, students often report somatic complaints, or become ill due to their bodies’ reactions to stress. Individual children and young people may react quite differently to the same traumatic experience, and the intensity of the individual’s reaction may not reflect directly the experience they appeared to have. Some young people may show reactions immediately, or in the first week; others may not experience any major reaction until much later. Previous life experiences and personality affect reactions, and sometimes apparently unaffected

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students harbour deep feelings regarding the incident. A summary of some possible reactions of children and young people is given in Table 4.1.

Providing a caring environment It is usually comforting and reassuring for students to see their teacher behaving in ways with which they are familiar. Generally it is important for the teacher to provide, as far as possible, a stable, caring environment. But it is not necessary for a teacher to show superhuman qualities. It is far more important to ‘be yourself’. Especially in the early, crisis stages of a trauma, listening is more helpful than

Informal situations are often great opportunities for teachers to demonstrate care and concern.

offering comments or advice. It is important to communicate caring and acceptance and show an interest in whatever the student is saying. Do not expect the student’s feelings or fears to necessarily correspond with your own or with those of other students. It may be useful to reassure students that their feelings are normal reactions to an abnormal situation and that their reactions are likely to diminish in time. Time is also an important consideration in relation to responses. Do not 48

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TABLE 4.1 Some possible reactions of students after a traumatic experience Junior primary school Physiological eating more or less vomiting sleep disorders bowel or bladder problems

Regressive thumb-sucking bed-wetting crying fearfulness (e.g. of dark) ‘baby’ language

Emotional/behavioural anxiety when parents depart confusion disobedience aggressive behaviour telling lies irritability exaggeration of or repetitive talking about the incident hyperactivity anxious giggling or laughter

Middle to upper primary school

Adolescents

headaches learning or vision problems overeating or loss of appetite nausea sleep disorders vague aches or pains skin disorders bowel or bladder problems

headaches sleep disorders skin disorders bowel or bladder problems menstruation pain

sibling competition excessive clinging crying unreliability regarding usual responsibilities

change in activity level decrease in interest in peer or social activities decrease in interest in the opposite sex unreliability regarding previous responsibilities

poor concentration disobedience decrease in school performance decrease in interest in peer or social activities aggression irritability sadness hyperactivity attention-seeking behaviour lack of apparent emotion fears or phobias (e.g. school, dark, nightmares) atypical behaviour

poor concentration mood swings sadness memory lapses delinquent acts (e.g. vandalism) feelings of helplessness depression decrease or increase in risk-taking activities atypical behaviour hypochondriasis

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expect too much too quickly; be patient and attempt to understand a student’s account of the incident. The story of the incident may not always be told in a logical sequence, or at a time when it is most convenient for you to listen. At a later opportunity you may be able to assist a student by retracing time sequences and important elements of the trauma. This may help the student to order his or her thoughts and take some internal control of the situation. Bizarre or aggressive comments or games are not unusual reactions to trauma, nor is the use of inappropriate, ‘sick’, or bizarre humour – which often promotes a negative reaction from adults. Younger children sometimes appear to have a macabre fascination with an aspect of a traumatic situation and often incorporate this in their games in the schoolyard or at home. Some adults find this form of play offensive. However, provided the humour or the other behaviour does not cause harm it should be ignored. If it is not overreacted to, it is likely to disappear fairly soon.

Responding to community violence Students react in a variety of ways to community violence and teachers may contribute to the ‘risk-screening’ process. After extreme acts of community violence the following procedures may be considered in monitoring children who may be particularly at risk of severe distress (Pynoos & Nader, 1988). f the vi cinity of the e ve ou t o nt neighbourhoo d of t C e h h t e in ev he event, without di ld en rec of t hi t e t t i e s x n e

d

Child experiences direct exposure to the event (e.g. witnesses the injury or death)

sur

C hil

po

o

C

d h il

Figure 4.1 Risk-screening by exposure (adapted from Pynoos & Nader, 1988) 50

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Risk-screening by exposure to incident Symptoms of stress after a traumatic incident most often correspond to a child’s exposure to the violent event. This is represented in Figure 4.1. Risk-screening by other factors If a child’s response is out of proportion to the degree of exposure, evaluation of additional risk factors should be considered. This is represented in Figure 4.2. Should a student be identified as particularly at risk by consideration of the ‘exposure’ and ‘other factor’ variables, they should be closely monitored and supported, and, if appropriate, referred to a psychologist or other suitable professional for additional support.

Familiarity with victim(s)

Previous trauma or loss (especially in the last year)

Individual psychopathology

Worry about the safety of a family member or significant other

Family response/ psychopathology

Figure 4.2 Risk-screening of students by other factors (Pynoos & Nader, 1988)

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Class activities Some teachers may hesitate to lead their classes in large group discussions on trauma or grief for fear of losing control of the situation or exacerbating group anxiety. My advice is not to attempt any activity with which you would not be comfortable. You may choose to seek the support of a fellow teacher, a school psychologist or other experienced professional in such situations. Alternatively, you may prefer to adopt other strategies with your classes. Remember that it is unwise to force students to express themselves in groups.

Many children and young people find art to be a useful way to express their feelings about traumatic events.

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Many teachers have found various art media useful in allowing expression of feelings. Painting, drawing or clay work can be of particular use. Others have successfully encouraged students to write in their diaries, or to express their thoughts and feelings in other written ways. Some young people prefer to write for themselves; others may desire to have their teacher or a trusted peer as their audience. Students may be encouraged to write letters to the parents or a family friend of a deceased student, possibly recounting a happy or shared memory of the student. Many older students will be more at ease expressing themselves in written rather than oral form.

This piece was written 24 hours after the event by a 12-year-old boy who had seen his friend being hit by a car.

In some situations it is helpful to relate classroom activities to the disaster or incident in order to help students integrate their own experiences or observations, while providing a specific learning experience.

Following a school fire: one teacher’s project After a fire devastated the school community and burnt to the ground almost half the buildings in an old country high school, one teacher planned a project for her students. Tasks included: investigating safety precautions to take if you are caught in a fire in a building or in the bush; designing replacement buildings to take into account the present-day needs of students; 53

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It is appropriate to provide students with a variety of opportunities to convey their distress and grief. Writing can be a powerful medium for some.

describing the fire scene (during or after) on to audio-tape or in writing; researching historical aspects of the buildings and grounds through interviewing older people in the community; responding to proverbs such as ‘Fire is a good servant, but a bad master’ and ‘No smoke without fire’, or creating new ‘proverbs’; comparing other descriptions of fires, for example that of Samuel Pepys describing the Great Fire of London in 1666; exploring the work of emergency workers such as fire officers; painting a mural showing stages of the school throughout its history; investigating scientific aspects of the fire, such as the survival behaviours of animals. When providing this type of activity it is very important to allow students the opportunity and time to discuss feelings that are stimulated by the projects or issues covered.

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An activity to promote understanding, cohesion and support Teachers and psychologists in Turkey adapted an activity (Dossick & Shea, 1988), ‘We’re all in the same boat’, when working in a refugee camp with groups of teenagers from Kosovo. The aims of the activity are: to demonstrate universality through recognition of common problems; to promote group identity and cohesion by bonding together and being supportive of one another. Materials needed are: copies of a drawing of a simple boat; coloured felt-tip pens. The activity proceeds as follows: The group leader asks the group to comments on what is meant by the saying, ‘We’re all in the same boat’. A drawing of a boat is pasted on the wall or placed on a large table. Members of the group are given, or they choose, a value or a topic such as ‘friendship’, ‘tolerance’ or ‘peace’. They are each asked to draw a hole in the boat and name a problem or a behaviour that might sink this boat. Then they are asked to draw a piece of wood that will fit the hole – thus a solution to the stated problem which will save the boat from sinking. Members may also be asked to draw sails that they think will help this boat to go further. Discussion focuses on mutual support and ways in which members can bond together to cope with the common problems.

Issues relating to death The language of death What is the best way of introducing the concept of death and the language to use when discussing it? ‘He’s passed away’, ‘She’s gone to heaven’ and ‘I’ve lost my husband’ are some of the statements that may be used to communicate that a person has died. However, I believe it is more accurate and no less caring to use the term ‘died’. The speaker may choose to modify

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the verb with an adverb such as ‘tragically’ or ‘suddenly’. Often young children are helped in understanding the permanency of death through discussion of the death of a pet or in some cases a nurtured plant. There are a number of excellent books which may assist in helping children understand death, some of which are listed in Appendix B (p. 179).

The funeral Occasionally teachers are asked to make a recommendation to parents as to the advisability of their children attending a funeral. Teachers may have their own views on the subject of the involvement of children at funeral services or memorial services. There can be no advice that is appropriate in relation to children and young people of all ages and dispositions, or in all situations. However, crucial aspects to consider are: Has the child shown interest in attending the funeral? If so, has the child been informed in considerable detail of what to expect at the funeral?

Students react differently, and with varying degrees of understanding, to death and stressful situations.

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Will there be a coffin in the church or room? Will the body be visible? What will the body look like? Will a familiar and sensitive adult be with the child or young person before, during and after the funeral service? How long will the service take? Will the child be prepared for the reactions of others at the funeral? Most children are able to attend a funeral service provided adequate preparation has been carried out prior to the occasion. For many people, both children and adults, a funeral service or memorial service can be an important element in the grieving process. It promotes the healing process, it can help to provide closure to a traumatic experience and it can assist those close to the person who has died to understand the finality of death. Participating in such a ritual provides an opportunity for students to join together: in addition, the bereaved often feel supported by the attendance of friends. Occasionally in incidents where a person of school age has died it is the parents’ wish that their child’s school friends do not attend the funeral. Parents sometimes express the feeling that it would be too painful to see close friends of their son or daughter so soon after the death. In such situations, which are fairly rare, these wishes should be respected. Sometimes schools encourage all students in a class or school to attend the funeral of a fellow student. It is wise to seek the opinion of the family of the student who has died and to have the written agreement of parents of those students who wish to attend. It is preferable that primary school-age children attend with their parents.

Multicultural response In our multicultural society there is a variety of ways in which people mourn their dead and many different burial and funeral procedures. The meaning of death differs among cultures. Be aware of culturally specific communication techniques such as body language, eye contact, hierarchy in conversation initiation, and the significance of food and drink in some cultures. Teachers need to inform themselves of these differences in order to respond sensitively to parents and students. If there is no multicultural consultancy service in your department of

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education to whom to address your queries, an adult member of the appropriate community would usually be very willing to assist you regarding protocols and cultural mores. You may need to obtain the services of an interpreter to make your inquiries. Some useful hints for helping in a crisis involving people from a culture different from your own are provided electronically (Sieckert, 2002) and are summarised here: Dress appropriately. Men should wear suits and women should wear dresses in most cultures. An outside team of crisis responders may convey their respects through respectful clothes. Establish commonality with survivors through access rituals and mutual interests: eat what is offered; drink what is offered. Ask about family, friends, pets, plants and loved ones. Search for linguistic equivalency, even if you do not know the language of the culture. Greet and say good-bye to survivors in their own language. Allow survivors to direct you through cultural protocols and follow their directions. Participate in defined ritual, as allowed or requested. Apologise when you do something wrong. Clearly define your objectives and give references of specific other situations that are similar to this one in which you were helpful. Find out and use appropriate body language. Bring a gift of commemoration. Be aware of spiritual beliefs in the culture. Ensure that written communications are either in the appropriate language or are linguistically and structurally correct, to facilitate translation.

Memorial services In addition to offering a personal and acceptable way of remembering a school friend or colleague, a memorial service at the school can be an important therapeutic part of grieving and trauma recovery. Some of the most moving memorial services have been those organised by the students themselves; this should be encouraged, particularly in secondary schools. In primary school settings too the students should be involved in the service,

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although they will usually benefit from more guidance from concerned adults. For further discussion regarding memorial services see chapters 3 and 5, and Appendix C (p. 182).

Coping with court appearances Occasionally teachers are required to appear in court. Many people find court attendance a worrying experience, and there is no reason to believe it may be less so for teachers. Students too are occasionally required to be involved in court proceedings as witnesses to events, as victims of a crime or as alleged perpetrators. Most Australian courts provide a support service, staffed either by voluntary workers such as the court information and welfare networks, or by public servants in information officer roles. These services can be useful. Children can also receive support regarding court procedures through protective workers or community services personnel where this is appropriate. As in any situation which you know might be difficult or cause anxiety, if you have the time to prepare either yourself or your students before the event the court appearance will be much less worrying. It will help if the person appearing knows: what the court will look like inside; where people will sit; whether or not there will be a jury; whether there will be a judge or a magistrate; what the general court procedures are; whether there will be long delays; whether spectators will be allowed into the court. Making a visit to the appropriate court before the event, allowing sufficient time to sit in and observe proceedings, is often a very useful strategy to allay concerns. Teachers are occasionally subpoenaed to appear in court to give evidence, usually in the Family Court for a custody case or in the Children’s Court, or very occasionally in the Coroner’s Court. In such situations you will be required to give evidence because of your position as a particular student’s

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teacher (you are unlikely to be called as an expert witness). For custody cases the following guidelines may be useful: Be sure of all facts that may be pertinent to the case. Make sure you can relate dates (and times where possible) to observed behaviours. Take your time to answer the questions. Do not allow yourself to be rattled or bullied. As much as possible, direct your answers to the judge or magistrate, not the barrister or solicitor. Answer only what you are asked. Be succinct. Be factual. Comment on observed behaviours, not on your interpretation of them. If you are unsure whether or not you have to answer a ‘confidential’ question you may ask the judge, ‘Is this a question that requires an answer, Your Honour?’ (or refer to the magistrate as ‘Your Worship’). Avoid showing bias for or against either parent. If, however, the judge or magistrate asks your opinion on a specific issue you may answer it – with careful consideration and wording. Take a copy of any reports you have written on the child. (You may be sure one of the barristers will have a copy and you do not want to be shaken by not remembering what you wrote six months ago.) You may also decide to take other notes, for example the class list and roll, or other documentation, to court. If you decide to do this, ask the permission of the judge to use them: ‘Your Honour, may I refer to my notes?’ Be aware that any notes or files taken into the witness box may be taken by the court. Finally, remember that if you are called to give evidence as a child’s teacher, it is not you who is on trial. If you give your evidence accurately and factually, and restrict yourself to observed behaviours rather than hearsay, you will be performing your duty.

Conclusion Many different incidents and situations can have an effect on teachers and their students. Because of their training, experience and understanding of child development and child behaviour, teachers are in a good position to assist children through most worrying situations that occur in the ‘normal’ working day of their classes. This chapter has examined some normal reactions to trauma and described activities that have been successful in 60

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assisting teachers and students to work through the aftermath of an emergency or traumatic incident. However, too often the teachers themselves feel the impact of the same traumatic situation that is affecting their students, and it sometimes becomes an overwhelming task to ensure that you as well as your students are being cared for. It is wise to seek and accept support from peers or your principal, who can be an extremely valuable source of assistance. Chapters 6 and 9 discuss the types of support that may be appropriate, and additional personnel who may best be able to offer it.

SUMMARY LEARNINGS • While there are some ‘normal’ reactions to trauma, individuals may have widely varying reactions to the same incident. • Generally, teachers are able to assist in the recovery process by providing a stable, caring and accepting environment for their students. • The grief process can continue for a long time. Providing avenues for students to explore grief and other feelings

through classroom activities can be therapeutic, but do not force students to participate in particular activities or to talk about the traumatic event. • Teachers need to give themselves permission to express emotion about the critical incident. • Be willing to seek and accept support from colleagues and others.

References Dossick, J. & Shea, E. (1988). Creative therapy: 52 exercises for groups. Professional Resource Exchange, Sarasota, Florida. Gilpin, V., Naunton, L., West, R. & Whitla, M. (1990). Emergency recovery kit. Ministry of Education, Victoria, Southern Metropolitan Region. Guidance and Counselling Services, Department of Education, Queensland (1990). Traumatic incidents affecting schools. Government Printer, Spring Hill, Brisbane. Johnson, K. (1989). Trauma in the lives of children. Hunter House, Claremont, California.

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McManus, T. & Bidwell, K. (1990). Managing the effects of traumatic incidents in schools. Workshop presented at the Conference of the Queensland Guidance and Counselling Association, June. Pynoos, R. S. & Nader, K. (1988). Psychological first aid and treatment approach to children exposed to community violence: Research implications. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1, 4. — (1990). Children’s exposure to violence and traumatic death. Psychiatric Annals, 20, 6. Raphael, B. (1977). The Granville train disaster: Psychological needs and their management. Medical Journal of Australia, 1, 303–5. Sieckert, K. (2002). Cultural perspectives on trauma and crisis response. www.nasponline.org/NEAT/neat_cultural.html Whitla, M. & Reid, R. (1990). Emergencies in schools. Ashwood News, October. Young, M. (1998). Community response team training manual. NOVA, Washington D.C.

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Chapter

O NE

TEACHER’S

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Margaret Connolly

Margaret Connolly was a teacher of a Year 1 class in a Victorian metropolitan school when one of her students died in tragic circumstances. The murder by their father of Paul Atieno and his sister Lisa, and the unfolding aftermath as it affected the teacher and students, is the subject of this chapter. Some of the reactions of the teacher and the children, and the immediate and longer term activities within and outside the classroom, are discussed. Many of the details of what happened in the last days of that school year are now forgotten, but in this edited interview the teacher recounts some particularly stressful and important aspects of the situation, and tells how she coped, using her own internal resources. Margaret Connolly was interviewed by Mardie Whitla. 63

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How did you first hear about the tragedy? I remember very well how I came to hear of the tragedy. It was late one Sunday afternoon in December. I received a phone call from the viceprincipal to tell me that there had been a fire in a house in Aspendale. He believed it was the home of one of our families and that Lisa and Paul Atieno had died in the fire. Earlier, the principal had apparently contacted the vice-principal and had specifically requested that he not ring me or the teacher of the Prep grade that Lisa was in (Paul was in Year 1). It was felt that, for whatever reason, it would be better if we just found out about the tragedy on Monday morning. However, the vice-principal thought that it would be preferable if the other teacher and I had some prior notice of the tragedy, so he telephoned us. Of course, I couldn’t believe it and all that afternoon and evening I kept thinking, ‘Maybe it’s not true’ or ‘Maybe they were taken out of the fire and survived’. At that stage we didn’t have all the details, just that there had been a fire in a house in Aspendale and it was believed to have been the Atienos’ house. Of course, all the details unfolded as the days went on. On Monday morning the principal came to see me before I went into the classroom and verified what had happened. Anne, who was the signing interpreter for Paul at that stage, was to have spent her last day for the year with us. She decided that she would stay with me to help. We were not offered any assistance at all. In fact the principal remarked that we were trained teachers, and could therefore cope ‘with whatever’. I suppose, being shell-shocked to some extent, I didn’t even think about contacting anyone. So I didn’t really contemplate seeking any help although, as the week progressed and parents came and said their children were suffering, I suggested that they contact their local doctor. But I did not consider doing that myself. As the story came to light, it became apparent that it was very gruesome. It was probable that this terrible incident had been planned. The family was actually separated at the time. The father had access to the children at certain times. The mother would meet her husband in a nearby park and give him the children on the Sunday morning and they would be returned to her in the late afternoon. On that particular Sunday, at five o’clock she’d gone to the park to meet Lisa and Paul. She was sitting in the park for some time when she saw two policemen approaching, with her brother. 64

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They were two beautiful children. Paul was deaf, but he was without doubt the most normal of any disabled child that I had had the chance to meet. He was very animated and bright. Paul spoke quite well, and had fantastic facial expressions. He often related incidents such as his father locking him in a cupboard. We tended to, over the year that he was with us, make light of that – you hear so many stories that after a while you don’t really want to believe them. His little sister seemed nervous on many occasions, and she was always very protective towards him, almost like a little mother sometimes. So that day – the Monday – I was very miserable. But I felt very strong. I don’t really think I thought about myself at all at that time. (Some weeks later I reread the stories written by the children in my class that I’d taken copies of at the time, and I felt very sad and miserable, and burned the lot.) But I always felt just for the kids in my class. They were in every kind of mood you can imagine, really. When your Year 1 students came to school that Monday morning, did they know something had happened? Some knew, and some didn’t. I think many parents had tried to explain as best they could, but there was every sort of mood. I suppose tears was the response you would imagine, but some children were simply sitting down quietly, perhaps not wanting to eat lunch or not wanting to go out to play. I only had one knee for them to sit on but they tended to want to clamber over me. So we had little chairs all around. I did have work set for them but I can’t even remember if they did it or not because it didn’t really matter. Did you initiate discussion about the situation? Well, of course, they started it. We talked sometimes as a group, or sometimes individually and whatever they needed I responded to. If it was tears, well it was a tissue, a cuddle or whatever. At appropriate times we tried to talk about the humorous happenings that would make them laugh, because Paul was a funny little boy in so many ways. We would look at the things that would make us laugh. We remembered some of the things he used to pretend to do, some of the faces he used to pull, and the games he loved to play outside. That helped enormously, I felt, because even while the children were crying or upset they

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Students remembered their classmate in various ways and wrote or drew about their particular memories of him.

could see that he was a human being and they could remember those really lovely things. He was always very fussy about his lunch. I can’t remember now whether he liked cheese or didn’t like jam but he’d try to poke the sandwiches in the bin and all those kinds of things! So I suppose most of the time we talked about things that would make them feel happy among the sadness. During the week, I found writing about it was really good. And pictures. I can’t remember whether we made one picture book or whether there were several. There probably were. And, in time, those stories were made into books and given to Paul’s mother. Can you remember what sort of things you were discussing when you were talking about death and dying, what sort of concerns the children had or what they wanted to know about the finality of death? Did they have any idea of what death was, do you think? 66

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Students were encouraged by their teacher to express real memories of their classmate, rather than fictitious or sanitised ‘memories’.

I think the only concept they would have of death would be from grandparents dying, and maybe now and again an uncle or an aunt or family relative or friend. To some degree, it’s always difficult for children to understand the death of other children. But we talked too about pets, how pets sometimes die unexpectedly and before their time is due. We talked about death, that when people die they’re just not there any more. And, of course, the awkward thing was, the children wanted to know how Paul and Lisa died.

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Do you yourself know what happened? I believe that the father made an audio-tape of their last meal together and said to them that he wanted them to have a little rest in the afternoon before taking them to a lovely place. And that lovely place, I presume, was heaven. And I understand he said to them to say goodbye to their mum. An audiotape was left in the letterbox, as I understand it. He did stab them as well. In my mind I sometimes wonder, what would he do first, would he choose Lisa first because Paul wouldn’t be able to hear the screaming? I think Chris (Paul and Lisa’s mother) hoped that the children’s father had given them something to drink and then they wouldn’t have been so affected. He set the house on fire, planning I suppose that he would go with them. Of course when the fire became too hot he ran outside, screaming for help. So I just said to the children in my class that we were uncertain how Paul and Lisa had died but there was a fire. And they seemed to accept that. So, you were caring for them emotionally for the remaining days of term. It would normally have been a very happy time, looking forward to the end of the year, sharing presents and cards and all that sort of thing. We still continued with Christmas because I tried to explain to them that life goes on even if something terrible does happen. It’s hard to believe, but on the Saturday before their death both Lisa and Paul had written Christmas cards to their teachers and friends – one to me and one to Lisa’s teacher, with a little gift which Chris eventually gave to me. So that, to me, showed that things just keep going. Of course, that’ll be a treasure to me forever. From what I can recall, we still kept our end-of-year Christmas celebrations going and the kids sort of used that in a way to help themselves by saying, ‘Well, Lisa and Paul are there too, preparing for Christmas’. Perhaps that was a time that really helped. No, we still went ahead and made cards – as far as I was concerned, with very little enthusiasm. A Christmas photograph of Paul and Lisa with Santa had been taken on the Saturday. Can you remember how many days were left in the school year? Probably only four days. I think I’d have preferred longer, actually. In a way I felt, ‘Oh, that’s the end’. I felt the children, and probably myself too, would 68

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have benefited if we’d had longer to keep going through it. I mean there were probably other activities and discussions we could have had. Before Paul’s death I had decided to take the whole class with me up to Year 2 the following year because our program had been so successful. This decision proved to be successful because now and again the children would talk about the tragedy. It was just the same little group, exactly the same children. They had been together since Prep. When we came to planting the memorial trees and a little ceremony the following year it was the same children with me. Was it your idea to have a memorial ceremony? Yes, and it was carried out with some difficulty. The support was minimal. I actually supplied the bricks from our home to make a little feature close to the front path of the school. I’d designed a brick area with two trees and a plaque in the middle. Paul’s mother provided the plaque, which had the following words:

these trees were planted in memory of our little friends and classmates of aspendale primary school lisa atieno of prep 2 grade and paul atieno of grade 1 ⁄4 who tragically died on 17th dec. 1989

We planted two ‘Silver Princess’ eucalyptus trees which were just beautiful. Are the trees still alive? No, they’re not, sadly, because the ‘Silver Princess’ gum is a Western 69

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The trees planted in memory of Paul and Lisa had special significance.

Australian native that requires dry conditions. Two other trees have been planted to replace them now. Why did you choose those specific trees? To begin, a tree is something that starts off tiny and grows. Lisa was called ‘little princess’, so I decided on those (‘Silver Princess’) trees. At the School 70

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for Deaf Children a camellia called ‘Black Tie’, I think, was planted for Paul who occasionally wore a little black tie. As a special thought had been made for Paul, I thought the ‘Silver Princess’ sounded lovely for Lisa, and I decided to plant one for Paul too. What was the response of other teachers in the school? I can’t remember exactly. I didn’t really have a great deal to do with the other teachers – even Lisa’s teacher, although we were friends. You seem to become very tied up, just in the tiny circle. I’ve very little recollection of that at all. All the teachers were stunned that something would happen so close to home. I mean we all read about horrific things happening to children and you’re sad and sorry, but when it’s close by it’s different. I can just see myself sitting with the little group all the time. When I look back at it I can’t remember playtimes or lunchtimes, or even time. I can just see myself sitting on a little chair with kids around me, either writing or talking. For the days afterwards I planned activities in our normal program, but the children had a choice of what they wanted to do. Sometimes it was work, a Christmas activity or singing. But I made sure they were all at some task, because they were extra sad at that particular time. You started to talk about the different reactions the children had, and certainly on the Monday you noticed that. Did some dwell on the event more than others? Can you remember what sort of reactions the children had over the four days? It’s very difficult to guess what a person feels. It’s the same as in adult life, you can never really guess what a person’s thinking. So while children might be very quiet, or cry or not want to leave their mother at the door, you don’t know to what degree they’re suffering. Knowing the children very well, I could tell. The ones who were very quiet I worried about more because I thought they were not showing any outward signs of how they felt. It’s probably a good thing if you can talk about it or cry or draw a picture rather than just sitting and thinking. One little boy did in the end require a doctor’s visit. He was a boisterous little possum with a cheeky face like an elf and he didn’t cope well. He was a particular friend of Paul’s. Both were mischievous. When Paul died this little boy lost a special friend. 71

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And you went to the funeral? Did I ever, and ended up with a massive migraine afterwards! A few other teachers attended the funeral too, but I can’t remember who. I was in tears. It was very, very sad. Chris did not want the coffin inside the church. She chose one little tiny white one, for both children were to be together. A number of people spoke beautifully about the lives of Paul and Lisa. One incident I recall. Paul was always interested in electricity and anything that was bright, so his teacher from the School for Deaf Children said that he would have heaven all lit up for Christmas which, of course, made people laugh. Did you speak? No, I couldn’t have. Was the funeral during the last four days of the school year? It must have been after school finished, because I think there was lots of testing and things to be carried out before. I can’t remember exactly. [It was actually on the following Saturday.] Soon after there was a great search for any photos that we could possibly give the family. I did have a lovely one that we had taken on an excursion at Braeside Park. The school photographer assisted with extra copies of school photos. And luckily for the mother, on the Saturday before the children died, she’d taken them to get a photo with Father Christmas. The photo was beautiful: Paul with hardly a smile, showing his dimples, and Lisa was gorgeous, too. That was just a magnificent thing to have. Did you have nightmares or other reactions afterwards? I had great difficulty sleeping, but not exactly nightmares. My own children were very upset, and my husband too. We felt it greatly as a family. You obviously still think about it? Often. Actually I could almost say ‘constantly’ because, for example, if I see anything that’s Kenyan [Paul and Lisa’s background] it flashes back. I visit 72

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Chris every few months or so – she needs the contact too. Heaps of things would remind me of it. It’s just something you share with yourself, isn’t it? It’s like many happenings in life, you might remember it forever, but you can’t keep talking about it with other people. Just the other day, for example, we were looking for excursions for Year 3 for this year and of course I instantly think, ‘Now Braeside Park was a lovely place to go!’ So even that tiny little thing brings it back. It’s an unconscious remembrance. The children I teach are not only precious to their families but precious to me too. There must have been a lot of shock attached to the tragedy. Well, I don’t know that I even really thought about shock – it’s just caring for children as you do all the time. And knowing them well in terms of their feelings. In teaching, they’re the attributes that mean as much as the knowledge that you impart or that you share. It’s all the little things that to them are very big. In this case it was a great and tragic happening in the normal day-to-day school atmosphere. But it’s that caring and helping them with whatever feelings they have that’s so important. Did Paul’s mother come up for the tree-planting ceremony? No, she didn’t. But she did come up later, when we shared a morning tea in our class. But of course, she was terribly, terribly upset. One of the sad things for me is that her children will never grow up for her. They will always remain at the time when their lives stopped. It never ceases to amaze me how people cope with such horrendous things happening. Well, what else can you do? You can go downhill, or you can perhaps remain, maybe go downhill a bit, and then look ahead again. Even when sadness is present, you still need to try to look forward to the next day. Looking back on the response and recovery process now, could you imagine, with your knowledge now of what that process was like, anything that could have been done differently or better, after the tragedy?

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Well, I suppose support from your school and beyond, for children and teachers too. It wouldn’t matter if it was just a cup of coffee brought to you in the middle of a school session, or time for a break. That to me would be a very small thing, from a caring point of view. I probably wouldn’t have done anything differently with the children. I hope such a situation never ever happens again. But who knows?

SUMMARY LEARNINGS • A critical incident does not need to occur at school for it to have a profound effect on teachers as well as students. • The grief process can continue for a long time. • While teachers have impressive skills in helping students cope with difficult situations, the teachers themselves should also be offered care and support.

• Knowing individual students well, and taking the cue from the students in regard to their needs at any particular time, is good practice. • Actively plan to care for yourself. There are no guarantees that others will.

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Chapter

W HAT

THE

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST CAN DO TO HELP IN TRAUMA RECOVERY Valerie Gilpin

When trauma strikes a local school, the whole school community can suffer a sense of shock and disbelief. The traumatic event could be a child’s murder, a tragic accident involving students from the school, an abduction, or the sight of the school’s buildings being contorted by fire. For some students, images of war, shootings, or terrorist acts shown in graphic and horrifying images on television may evoke significant anxiety and fear, requiring appropriate reassurance from the adults around them. Many of us feel quite ill-prepared to help. Most of these sorts of incidents catch us unawares, and are often unlike any that we may have previously experienced. Additionally, we cannot assume or predict exactly how particular people will react. We can, however, offer guidelines for a range of sensitive and unobtrusive actions that can assist the school and its students in 75

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regaining a level of effective functioning and a sense of being in control in the aftermath of trauma. This chapter looks at a number of actions that school psychologists have found useful in the days and weeks after a traumatic incident. Not all actions will be appropriate in all circumstances. Rather, a framework by which to assess the school’s needs, and a mental checklist of resource ideas, should assist psychologists in getting the recovery program underway. The planning and the actions are undertaken both with the school and at the school, always aiming to preserve the integrity and hierarchical considerations of the school system. The psychologist’s role is essentially to help the school take charge of its own recovery, and to work with the school principal and other key staff to this end.

A framework for action: the needs analysis The first step for the school psychologist is to sit with school staff and begin a needs analysis that will be the framework guiding the recovery program. This framework can be as straightforward as asking the following three main questions: Who could have been significantly affected by the incident? How, or in what ways, might it have affected them? What sorts of supportive actions are therefore most appropriate? While answers to all these questions may not be immediately obvious, following this course can help ensure that no important players or observers to the tragedy have been overlooked. For example, the horror of a child being hit by a car at a school crossing can affect not only the child and his or her family, but any witnesses, the child’s teacher, the person in charge of the school crossing at the time, the driver of the car, the child’s classmates. Potentially an entire community of people may need to be acknowledged in the sense of their role and varying association with the fact of the accident. The needs of this diverse group will clearly vary with the degree of involvement and distress each person experiences. The challenge for the psychologist and the school team is to determine and articulate these needs, around which the recovery plan can be based. 76

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Background to recovery programming In determining the ‘who, how and what’ of action, there are a number of background considerations to keep in mind.

Psychological considerations The recovery plan will need to be underpinned by our understanding of the psychological determinants of trauma, as applied to a community which often has no history of being in need of such support. Few people will see themselves as ‘victims’ or ‘cases’ needing therapeutic counselling. Many staff and students may only be caught up indirectly through the disruption to their normal routines, some students may be excited by the attention, while some may be confused or uncertain as to what they think and feel. The major aim of intervention is to help mobilise and support everybody’s own coping behaviour, in whatever way is most acceptable and appropriate for them. The psychologist brings to this analysis of the situation an understanding of the nature of critical incident stress and its impact on the vulnerable. Concepts such as cumulative and delayed stress may be pertinent for some people in some situations. The possibility of quite common emotional reactions, such as fear, anxiety, or aggression amongst students, as outlined in other chapters of this book, may need to be anticipated. Teachers’ knowledge of individual students and their backgrounds will help guide an assessment of the likely extent of traumatic impact on them. The psychologist can alert teachers and parents to monitor their students’ behaviours over the following days, and to be sensitive to any lingering problems associated with trauma, such as: uncharacteristic withdrawal from friends; diffuse, generalised anxiety or fearfulness, which may become evident in the students’ writing or drawing; continuing distressing images or obsessions, interfering with the students’ ability to concentrate or sleep. Any persistent and troubling change in behaviour may indicate the need for an individual referral to the school psychologist. This possibility can be built into the recovery planning at the onset, through providing information on what are common reactions to trauma. While reactions of shock, disbelief, anger, sorrow are hallmarks of traumatic stress, people often need time to

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deal with these emotions before seeking formal professional intervention. The school psychologist may need to plan to be on site and available for some time, weeks rather than days, as various new concerns arise about the trauma’s impact and as psychological healing takes its course.

Practical considerations Traumas occurring at school If a violent event occurs at the school, the primary need is to protect those in the vicinity from further harm. This includes shielding the group from unnecessary intrusion, such as that from the media or curious sightseers. It may include creating a welfare or reception area where staff involved can meet, or a central place to check rolls, absentees and family contact information. It is important to provide both students and parents with clear information about the continuation of school routines and any expectations of them. Timely, accurate communication can help prevent damaging speculation and gossip about an event. As time goes on, continuing contact with parents of students closely impacted by the trauma may assist in their reintegration into class. Traumas occurring outside the school One of the first needs of any group of people suddenly confronted with bad news is to accurately confirm the details of what happened. Information about the event does three things: it helps to dispel the initial reaction of disbelief, it helps to counteract the spread of misinformation or rumours, and it helps people feel more in control over the situation into which they are suddenly thrust. As long as the circumstances of the tragedy are not confidential to the family, or subject to possible legal proceedings (as in the case of arson or assault, for example), then factual and objective information about the trauma is the beginning point of the school’s recovery program. Timing As a guiding principle, those most affected by an event should be the first to be informed about it. School staff and students may have already heard reports of the event. It is nevertheless generally desirable to also address the situation directly with staff, students and their parents.

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Country roads, railway crossings and vehicles together constitute a potentially dangerous mix, and have sadly been the scenes of several fatalities affecting the school communities.

An imaginary but quite feasible scenario is provided below. It involves a car accident that has claimed the lives of a mother and her child in country Victoria.

The mother was well known and respected in her local community, and the child attended Year 5 at the local primary school. The town was devastated by the news. The school principal made immediate contact with the family to offer her condolences and support for the funeral arrangements. She then sought to deal with a distressed school group. Her first step was to ensure that the child’s own teacher was coping and knew of the support being offered to the family. She called the staff together before school to tell any who had not heard about the tragedy. By this stage, the school psychologist had come to the school and contributed to a brief discussion on how staff members were affected by the accident. The group then looked at appropriate ways of talking about it with the students. Children were told briefly in their class groups,

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and were given a chance to ask questions. The psychologist accompanied the Year 5 teacher to help in this, as a support for a teacher who was also grieving. The children’s questions, such as ‘Would she have been hurting?’, ‘Who will play with me now?’ and ‘What will we do with her things?’ could have caught anyone unprepared. The children were helped by honest and consistent responses from adults, and it proved useful to have discussed with staff beforehand some standard phraseology and answers, such as ‘Jane is no longer hurting’ or ‘It wasn’t anybody’s fault – just a combination of things that all happened at once and nobody could prevent’. Young children needed reassurance about their own vulnerability, while older ones felt a strong sense of injustice and talked about something to blame, and a way to express their anger. There were two additional tasks undertaken that day. The principal prepared a letter to be sent home with students outlining what had happened and what plans the school had to participate in a commemoration. The letter also provided parents with an avenue to seek further assistance if they were worried about the reactions of their children, and offered the services of the school psychologist in this. The other action initiated by the principal was to call the staff together at the end of day for an informal sharing of teachers’ concerns and to show support for their efforts during such an emotionally difficult day.

Much of the immediate response from the school psychologist may involve offering practical assistance, freeing staff to be with each other at this time while still absorbing news of the trauma. Invaluable aid can be provided, for example, by psychologists being prepared to mingle with students – and parents – in the playground while staff are meeting. This can provide a chance to informally assess the level of distress and speculation evident amongst groups of students. Parents, too, may cluster around, and they can be channelled into a welfare or reception area, so that their immediate concerns can be addressed. Further avenues where practical assistance would help often become evident on the spot. Psychologists can use their professional listening skills,

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for example, to help with a possible influx of telephone calls. They can assist staff with the wording for the meetings or letters to come, and provide immediate brief support for individuals in distress. They can help suggest appropriate phrases to use when describing accidental death, or bad injury; terminology that does not inflame a vulnerable young imagination. Even when there is very little that is known or can be said publicly about the details of a traumatic incident, it may well be appropriate to encourage the school to make a statement to that effect. Rumours tend to flourish in any emotionally charged environment, and rumours can best be contained with the release of appropriate factual information. Once the initial reaction is over, and the school day is underway, there may be a sense of relief, and of finding inner strengths and personal resources never called upon before. Opportunities to acknowledge this should not be overlooked in the planning. The planning team may need to regroup regularly, look at how they’ve coped so far, debrief, and revisit their checklist of things yet to be done.

Staff needs Support for the school leader The school’s leader, the principal, typically has a very strong sense of commitment to the school and a sense of ‘ownership’ of all things happening to the school. He or she will need not only bureaucratic support, but psychological support that is credible and affirms the school’s organisational structure. Recovery programs are most effective when they are based around existing administration and welfare staff, without imposing undue demands on the resources of an organisation already under stress. It is generally advantageous if the school psychologist is resident or well known to the school, and can ensure that the school’s usual modus operandi is not overturned by unrealistic demands on time or resources. Additionally, the trusted psychologist can provide a sounding board for the principal, and is in a position to share any personal concerns or stress that traumatic events can evoke in anybody – not the least those in a position of responsibility. At times of emotional upheaval, it is particularly useful to have some printed reference material on hand. Many school systems in Australia have developed printed checklists, outlining actions for schools to consider at 81

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various points in the recovery program. Actions suggested for school administrators, in Chapters 1 and 2, include: staff briefing; holding a meeting with parents; sending information home; addressing the school council; arranging debriefing sessions for staff groups; providing support for any particularly vulnerable staff members.

Staff group support Traumatic events can trigger memories of previous traumas. Staff members carrying their own history of stress or trauma are vulnerable to experiencing an unexpected and intensely emotional response to a subsequent event that evokes similar emotions. In such instances the school psychologist can provide assurances that this is quite normal and understandable. Special consideration may be needed in working with anyone in that situation. Collegiate group support can be built in to the school timetable for a while, by allowing time for staff to meet regularly, perhaps in small groups, and share their own emotional reactions and concerns. Forums such as these can serve to defuse the emotional intensity generated when people have to continue working normally in abnormal circumstances. They also allow for the establishment of common bonds between those closely affected by an incident. The psychologist’s role may be that of a facilitator, a participant, or a confidante for anyone needing to regain a sense of control over what has happened. The psychologist needs to be aware of the divisions that can occur between groups of people with very different styles of coping, and to encourage cohesion and tolerance across different groups within the school. Teacher support in the classroom A vitally important component of the school psychologist’s task is to be prepared to move into class groups, supporting teachers in talking with various groups of students. Where a teacher has died, for example, it may be necessary to follow that teacher’s daily timetable, and help the replacement teacher with breaking the news to different groups of students. Few of us feel comfortable in facing others’ distress, but the psychologist’s support in finding the right words in this initial period can help convey sympathy to a class of shocked students. It can also set a model for staff in offering compassion and understanding to young people in distress. 82

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Communication The importance of good communication has been addressed previously. Information can sometimes be all that is needed for staff, parents, or students to decide their own comfortable level of involvement in counselling or other recovery activities. It can also make the difference between a feeling of isolation and one of normality and involvement. Communication may involve keeping in contact with injured victims after an accident, or with teachers and students housed on different school sites. For example, the preparation of a regular bulletin about the progress of an injured student, or about rebuilding plans for a burned school building can help keep a concerned school community from fragmenting after a major trauma. All these considerations are aimed not only at supporting teachers, but also in enabling all teachers to provide a secure, and hopefully healing environment for the students in their care. Again, the ideas must be tailored to suit the age, experience and degree of traumatic impact on the students. Bringing order to chaos, through a flexible program of appropriate class and individual activities, should provide a background of comfort and predictability in itself.

Student needs The support the school psychologist gives to students should aim to restore their feelings of coping and having control over their lives. It can help to envisage a psychological ‘triaging’, whereby those closest to the trauma are targeted for immediate and specific assistance, while those less involved can be included in the recovery program according to their own needs. An initial step is to communicate openly that something untoward has happened to the school. This can be done at school assemblies or in class groups or smaller groups, according to what is deemed appropriate for the type of incident. A very public tragedy, such as a large school fire, may well be best discussed in large groups, while a suicide or a sexual assault would be more sensitively handled in smaller groups. In the latter incident, there could also be situations where girls and boys feel more comfortable in separate discussion groups. In any case, these initial meetings set the scene for the informal discussions that will inevitably follow, and the start of the adjustment process. Obviously, the age and developmental level of the students will dictate the sorts of classroom activities that are appropriate. A number of effective 83

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intervention strategies have been outlined elsewhere. The challenge for the psychologist is to be able to adapt them to suit each new context.

Telling the story of the trauma When something dreadful has happened quite unexpectedly, there seems to be an almost universal need to make it real, to integrate this new and raw information into our view of the world. Telling your story – what you were doing at the time, what happened and what your immediate thoughts were – is a beginning point in this psychological ‘work’ of integrating a traumatic experience. The early support for children, therefore, may be to provide a way of helping children explore what happened to them personally, within their own arena. They frequently need to be able to put in sequence the individual recollections of the event, and to describe the concrete details of their own experience. Whether this is by means of group or individual discussion, by drawing, or through using play equipment, will depend on the child’s age, the event and its context.

Some students may wish to discuss their feelings and relive the experience with peers or teachers.

As well as legitimising the child’s idiosyncratic reaction, such activities should help the psychologist in eliciting any fears or concerns that the child may still have about the event. For example, young children do not 84

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After a flood, a student recalled the fear involved when the family had to get onto their roof for safety.

automatically know when an incident such as a shooting, a bushfire, or the abduction of another child is actually over. Fears about their own safety may linger, interfering with sleep, schoolwork and a sense of security in their environment. The psychologist can use the child’s drawing or writing to ensure that the reassurance adults are giving to the students actually addresses the fears they really have.

Class work Schools can use their normal work program to respond to a public disaster such as a fire, accident or a shooting. For example, in English a written assignment could address questions such as: What were you doing when you heard the news? What did you do when you heard about it? What happened next? What rumours did you hear about it? What brave acts were observed? How could we protect ourselves in the future? Such work has the advantage of being adaptable to groups with widely differing exposure to the trauma, allowing for those on the periphery to feel

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part of the group. It can also be of help in easing students back into the security of usual school routines, sometimes in the midst of turmoil.

Peer group discussion At times when tragedy involves a death, suicide, or other horrific personal event, there will be a need for the school psychologist to provide the opportunity for the close friends of the victim to talk about it in a caring and non-judgmental environment. Sensitivity to the needs of participants is important when arranging the venue for, and timetabling of, the discussion. A familiar setting will help to ensure that students can talk freely and share personal aspects of the trauma. Such small groupings may be best held during lunchtime or after school rather than during class time, so students do not feel embarrassed about participating. The aim of such discussions is usually to promote peer support, particularly for teenage students, through utilising their existing networks. Communication skills – naming the pain Moving beyond peer support, individual sessions with students may have a different focus. A fundamental aim in therapeutic activities with young people is to help them identify and express their feelings through finding a ‘name for the pain’, thereby expanding their range of vocabulary available to deal with emotions. This is a part of the psychological first aid of recovery. Getting the words right – beyond ‘sad’ or ‘angry’, for example – helps tease out the complexities and nuances of a variety of emotions. In one instance of this, a primary school class had been held hostage at gunpoint for some hours. The school psychologist, together with the teacher, subsequently assisted the children in listing all the synonyms and phrases describing the horror and anger they felt. The words generated, such as ‘stunned, halfscared/half-angry, like a baby again, outside myself, tearful, rage, lonely, brave, frozen, ambivalent …’ helped these young children to come to grips with the mix of feelings they held – both individually and as a group. Having the emotional vocabulary to describe new feelings adequately helps in gaining understanding from others. Dealing with formalities Students, too, may become involved in formal procedures in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Media attention, police investigations or legal hearings

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can be very stressful for students. The school psychologist can have an important place in relieving such stress through preparing students for what will take place. Being told exactly what to expect in terms of the physical setting and the procedure to be followed will help students greatly. In the case of unwelcome attention from the media, or intrusive questioning from friends, the school psychologist can assist the student with a response that ends the unwelcome attention. And as mentioned elsewhere (see Chapter 4), if students are to attend a funeral, the psychologist can ensure that they are well prepared for every detail of what they will see and what will happen during the ceremony.

Healing rituals After the initial impact of the trauma has receded, rituals and symbols that acknowledge the trauma become an important part of closure to the recovery program. Ceremonies such as memorials and funerals help students, and staff, say goodbye to what used to be. The school psychologist can help students to organise their own way of commemorating a friend’s death. Younger children can create cards or pictures of their special memories and give those to a bereaved family as a memento. Cautions and limitations Some safeguards need to be observed when working with children in situations when emotions are running high. If the group is subject to a rigid timetable, for example, or individuals within the group have little opportunity to opt out, the psychologist needs to ensure that sufficient time will be available to close the session with genuine and meaningful reassurance. Assistance with strategies to deal with overwhelming fears or frightening recollections and images must be part of any intervention. The psychologist must avoid exposing children to any form of secondary traumatisation by being too intrusive or interrogative at that time. Similarly, complex techniques such as desensitisation through rapid eye movements, or formal critical incident stress debriefing should only be undertaken by properly accredited professionals, under controlled conditions that cannot be readily duplicated in the school setting. If such interventions are deemed appropriate, further professional referral may be instigated.

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Community needs Information Parents are another group in the school community likely to be affected by any traumatic event that affects their children. Parents will generally want to know how a tragedy may affect their children and their classmates, and how best to help. The whole school community may be affected by a large school fire, and the provision of up-to-date and objective information can help prevent widespread speculation as to the cause, the competency of those fighting the fire, the ability of the school to continue classes and so on. Occasionally, some parents within the school community react with divisive anger against those they suspect to be perpetrators, leading to damaging scapegoating of particular individuals or groups. Disseminating pertinent information is again the starting point in understanding and in controlling the spread of misinformation. The psychologist should seek to have ready access to printed material on such general areas as delinquency, racism and anger, as well as leaflets on help for individuals under stress. Parents may wish to take home information on what is considered a ‘normal’ reaction to trauma, and when a need for further help is indicated. The school provides an ideal venue for giving help at the level on which the parent is most comfortable – be it via group meetings, through literature, or one on one. Occasionally, a particular event may trigger an adult’s memories of a similar incident in their own history – such as traumatic reminders of sexual abuse, or an accidental death – rekindling stress that needs to be acknowledged before that parent can comfortably provide understanding for his or her child. This sort of general information creates the background context on which the ongoing recovery program is built. Community welfare area Setting aside a private, easily accessible area within the school as a welfare or reception point can facilitate assistance to parents. This area can also serve as a focal point for displaying pertinent written material, such as brochures put out by counselling services, funeral companies, or various health and community departments. The school recovery team may prepare or adapt pamphlets about normal reactions to trauma, examples of which are described elsewhere in this book. The anonymity of this approach allows

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more parents to access information, without the need for a formal counselling approach.

Program co-ordination When an incident impacts on a number of groups within a geographic community – such as a shooting rampage or horrendous road accident in a country town, a bushfire or a flood – the school psychologist can liaise with a range of other community groups in providing a recovery program. This may involve talking with groups of students from different schools, sharing physical and human resources, and ensuring that the support agencies are complementing rather than competing with each other. Policy review Parents and other community members may wish to be involved in commemorative activities or curriculum initiatives that arise out of a local tragedy. One school council decided to fund a driver education program after a death of some of its students in a road accident. Others have set about formulating school bereavement policies, showing the values and beliefs of a caring school community. The psychologist who has been an integral part of the school recovery program will be in a position to provide input into the school curriculum so that something positive and constructive can come out of the tragedy.

Conclusion School recovery programs aim to promote cohesion and peer support at all levels within the community affected. The school psychologist suggests, liaises and facilitates, while acting as a resource to assist the group in managing its own recovery. Sometimes this will mean providing practical assistance, sometimes psychological expertise. At times the work will involve talking with groups and at other times working with individuals. Trauma recovery work for the school psychologist is all consuming and emotionally demanding, and requires professional support from colleagues (see Chapter 9). However, it is also rewarding to be part of a school community that can look back with self-respect, strengthened by pride in the feeling that, in the face of such adversity, they coped.

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SUMMARY LEARNINGS The role of the school psychologist is: • with the school team, to • to assist the school to manage formulate a plan of action that its recovery; will include inclusive • initially and immediately, to communication systems and assist in undertaking a needs information dissemination; analysis (who? how? what?) in • to suggest, liaise, facilitate, and regard to the particular provide practical assistance and incident; psychological expertise.

References Dyregrov, A. & Mitchell, J. (1992). Work with traumatised children – psychological effects and coping strategies. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 5, 1, 5–17. Gifford, R. K. & Tyler, M. P. (1990). Consulting in grief leadership: A practical guide. Disaster Management, 2, 4. Gilpin, V., Naughton, L., West, R. & Whitla, M. (1990). Emergency recovery kit. Ministry of Education, Victoria, Southern Metropolitan Region. Gordon, R. (1989). Children and adolescents’ response to disaster and trauma. Address to Australian Psychological Society Conference. Gordon, R. & Wraith, R. (1989). When children learn about trauma. Brochure published by the Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Victoria. –– (1989). The family and personal crisis. Brochure published by the Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Victoria. Johnson, K. (1989). Trauma in the lives of children, Hunter House, Claremont, California. Lord, J. H. (1988). No time for goodbyes. Millennium Books, Newtown, NSW. –– (1990). Beyond sympathy. Pathfinder, California. Montgomery, B. & Morris, L. (1989). Surviving: Coping with a life crisis. Lothian, Victoria. Muss, D. (1991). The trauma trap. Doubleday, London. Pynoos, R.S. & Nader, K. (1988). Psychological first aid and treatment approach to children exposed to community violence: Research implications. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1, 4, 445–73. –– (1990). Children’s exposure to violence and traumatic death. Psychiatric Annals, 20, 6, 334–44.

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Sutherland Fox, C. (1985). Good grief: Helping groups of children when a friend dies. New England Association for the Education of Young Children, Boston, Massachusetts. Taylor, B. & Silva, P.A. (1990). In a time of crisis. Ministry of Youth Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand. West, R. (1991). When compassion is good management. Education Quarterly, Victorian Ministry of Education, 2, 34–5. Zagdanski, D. (1990). How teenagers cope with grief: Something I’ve never felt before, Hill of Content, Melbourne.

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Chapter

S UICIDE

AND

SCHOOLS Mardie Whitla

‘Many young people who harm themselves do not want to die … they are looking for a way through, not a way out.’ Lifeline Australia, 1998

In Australia death by suicide is a relatively uncommon occurrence: in 1999 1.9 per cent of all deaths, across all age groups, were attributed to suicide. However, youth suicide in particular remains an extremely complex and perplexing problem, and Australia is not alone in its struggle to find solutions to it. Within the 15–24 age group in Australia, at least one young person per day dies as a result of suicide. While the Australian Bureau of 93

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Statistics (1999) data show a recent decline in the reported suicide death rates for 15–24-year-old people (14 per 100 000), the rate for the older group of 25–34-year-olds has increased, to 21 per 100 000. The ratio of males and females who take their own lives remains at about 4:1 and is fairly consistent across all age groups. Methods used to complete suicide differ across countries and cultures. Gunshot is the most frequently used method in the USA – perhaps because of relatively easy access to guns there – but proportionally it is a method used much less often in Australia. By far the most used method of suicide by young Australians is hanging. One recent Australian study (Whitla, 2000) showed methods of suicide chosen by young people: these are presented in Table 7.1 below.

TABLE 7.1 Youth suicide, Victoria, Australia, partial 1998 and 1999 Source: Office of State Coroner Method of suicide used by young people aged 15–24 (all figures in percentage)

Age 15–19

Age 20–24

TOTAL %

female

male

female

male

Hanging

6 (4*)

22 (20*)

4 (3*)

25 (22*)

57

Drug-related

2 (2*)

1 (1*)

4 (3*)

7 (5*)

14

Train

2

3

1

6

12

Carbon monoxide

0

1

0

7

8

Fall/jump

1

1

0

1

3

Gunshot

0

3 (3*)

0

0

3

Fire-related

0

0

2

0

2

Drowning

0

0

1

0

1

TOTAL

11

31

12

46

100

* number in brackets indicates those where suicide occurred at home

As can be seen from the data in the above Table, 55 per cent of females aged 15–19 years and 50 per cent of females aged 20–24 years who suicided took their own life at home. Percentages of home suicides for young males were 94

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higher: 77 per cent of males aged 15–19 years who suicided took their own life at home, as did 59 per cent of males aged 20–24 years. Although the majority of suicides of young people aged 15–19 take place in their home, very occasionally a student will choose to take his own life at school. In addition, serious self-harm or suicide attempts, of varying degrees of lethality, also sometimes occur within the school setting.

Suicide attempts ‘Suicidal behaviour’ spans a continuum from suicide ideation (thoughts about suicide, either fleeting or in depth) to completed suicide. The term ‘suicide attempt’ is used to explain a wide variety of methods of self-harm where death is not the result of the action. Attempts may be relatively minor in medical lethality or so medically serious that emergency intensive care is required. The method used impacts on the medical seriousness of the attempt. Gunshot and hanging, for example, are considered highly lethal, and more often result in completed suicide rather than attempted suicide, whereas an ingestion of a small amount of drugs may provide an opportunity for the young person to be discovered early enough for his or her life to be saved. Young females make suicide attempts much more frequently than do males, although males complete suicide three to four times more than females. Arguably the main issue to remember is that no suicide attempt should be dismissed or treated lightly. Every threat of self-harm must be taken seriously: it may be a cry for attention, it may be a cry for help, or it may be a cry of pain.

Warning signs Given that students spend a large proportion of their time at school, teachers, counsellors and peers are in a good position to notice warning signs for suicide or for suicide attempts. Some warning signs are: A previous suicide attempt (people who have previously tried to kill themselves are 40 times more at risk of completing suicide than those who have not made a previous attempt). 95

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Expressed threats or talk about suicide (for example, ‘Maybe I won’t be around to see that’, ‘You’d be better off without me’, ‘I’m going to kill myself’). Expressions of hopelessness or helplessness (for example, ‘I just can’t see the point in trying any more’, ‘I can’t do anything right’). Unusually daring or risk-taking behaviour. Fatigue or major changes in sleep patterns, including too much or too little sleep, or sleep disturbance. Depression, or depressive symptoms. Unexplained frequent crying. Physical deterioration. Personality changes (for example, increased aggression or outbursts of anger/moodiness/irritability/withdrawal from friends and family). Giving away personal and prized possessions. Increasingly poor school performance and/or increased non-attendance at school. Preoccupation with death and dying expressed through artwork, essays, poetry or music. Increased use of alcohol and other drugs. Exposure to (another) suicide. Recent personal loss or life events causing intolerable stress. Some of these signs and behaviours are also indicators of other forms of distress, but no single factor in isolation is likely to create suicidal behaviour. Usually there is a build up of situations and stressors which, over time, lead to a young person’s crisis situation or ‘flashpoint’. An active, experienced worker and consultant in the area of adolescent suicide (Leiberman, 1997) has identified the main suicide stress factors in a young person’s life as: loss; family dysfunction; violence; poverty; peer pressure (including achievement, drugs, sex, gangs, cults); gay and lesbian issues; cultural issues; depression.

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What can teachers and counsellors do if a person is suicidal? Don’t ignore self-harm behaviours, suicide threats or a suicide attempt, hoping that it will go away. It is important to convey to the person that she or he is not alone, that you care, and that you’d like to help, or get help. Examples of a statement or question that a teacher or friend may use include: ‘I’m worried about you. Would you like to talk?’ ‘I care about you, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself.’ ‘Are you having some problems that you’d like to talk about?’ ‘Who/what do you feel might be able to help you through this?’ Try not to be appalled by the young person’s actions or thoughts, and also try not to preach or punish. As a general guide, the following points may assist: 1 Talk to the person, show your concern, and express that you care and want 2 3 4

5

6

to help. Listen. Listen to both the verbal and non-verbal messages. Never say you will do something which you can’t follow through. Avoid making false promises. Ask direct questions about the young person’s suicidal feelings or behaviour or intent. Many people feel uncomfortable doing this, but if you do not ask the direct question, you will be unaware of whether the person has a plan, and if there is an immediate risk of self-harm. If you do not feel able, or do not wish, to ask these questions, immediately seek the assistance of the school psychologist or counsellor. Generally, the more detailed the suicide plan, the greater the risk that the plan may be carried out. Do not leave the person alone but, unless you are a psychologist or counsellor, it’s probably not a good idea to try to counsel the person. Crisis intervention is not therapy. Get professional help at the earliest possible time, even if the person resists or asks you to keep it a secret.

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After a suicide attempt Although there are often signs of a young person’s intentions before a suicide attempt, this is not always the case, and many suicide attempts appear to be as a result of impulsive behaviour. If a young person seriously harms him- or herself or attempts to take his or her own life, the following actions are recommended: 1 Get immediate medical attention. Depending on the severity of the

attempt the student may be taken to an emergency department of a hospital by ambulance or car, or to a doctor’s surgery. If the attempt involved ingesting illegal drugs or medication, try to establish what, and in what quantities, has been taken. 2 Keep the lines of communication open, and let the troubled person know you’ll listen and not judge. Encourage the person to talk, and acknowledge the person’s concerns. 3 Be available, or ensure the student has a telephone number and person to contact, and is linked into professional support. 4 Make contact with and inform the parents or next of kin of the suicide attempt. In Australia, Lifeline offers a 24-hour telephone counselling and information and referral service through a national telephone number, 131 114. This organisation responds to over 40 calls a day in relation to suicide and issues on which people request support (Lifeline Australia, 1998) include: thoughts of self-harm or suicide in the context of painful life circumstances; a feeling that others have not heard their pain despite repeat self-harm actions; reaching out for help immediately after taking a potential drug overdose; talking through the shock and grief following the suicide of another person; seeking help and support in responding to a person at risk of self-harm or suicide.

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Student suicide Young people who take their own lives often give some clue of their intentions. Self-destructive behaviour of any type is disturbing, however the suicide of a student (or member of staff) will be amongst a school’s most difficult situations to handle. The tragic finality of suicide, together with the oft-held perception of a young life wasted, contributes to an often almost overwhelming feeling in some people. Grief resulting from a young person’s suicide is often filled with shame as well as despair, as many family members and teachers feel that they ‘should have’ done more to help the deceased. As with other traumatic events, suicide will affect different people in different ways. Individuals at the school may wonder ‘Why am I so affected?’ or even perhaps, ‘I’m worried that I don’t feel upset by this death’. Responses are often intense, and sometimes conflicting.

Differing personal responses to a death by suicide To understand a person’s response to a suicide, one must focus on the particular meaning of the suicide for each individual. Many differing factors will influence a person’s reaction. Some factors which may influence an individual’s response include: being a close friend, sibling or other family member of the deceased; being personally acquainted with the deceased; the place in which the suicide took place; the method of suicide used; one’s own (prior) response to the deceased person’s previous suicide attempt, if there was one, or previous suicide threats; confidentiality issues; having a family member of a similar age; prior knowledge of the person’s threat or intention to kill him- or herself; previous knowledge or experience of a (separate) suicide. A school’s response to a student’s suicide is likely to differ depending on whether the suicide took place at the school, or elsewhere. One of the main goals in suicide response and postvention is to prevent further suicides (Poland & McCormick, 2000).

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The school’s response A suicide does not need to occur at the school for the staff, students and school community to be affected. In the aftermath of a suicide teachers and principals often wonder whether they should acknowledge that a student’s death was by suicide or pretend the death was as a result of an accident or from natural causes. While these decisions must be made with the family’s feelings and sensitivities in mind, when a suicide is confirmed, it is of no benefit ignoring the facts or fabricating a story. In any case the grapevine is likely to spread rumours, and frequently rumours provide fuel for a worse situation than the truth. The suicide must be acknowledged and reactions of students and staff will vary widely. Teachers must be informed and briefed before the commencement of the school day. Students then must be informed, not in a large group assembly, but rather in small groups, homegroups or pastoral care groups, in familiar surroundings. Particularly distressed students are able to be better supported if the information regarding the suicide death is provided in a small group situation.

Communication How information is communicated within the school community is extremely important. Neither condemn nor glorify the suicide, and avoid making judgments by what you say, how you say it, and what body language and facial expressions you use. Try to avoid: panicking; preaching; challenging; ignoring; criticising; blaming; punishing; showing anger; dramatising the event; making false promises. In contrast with other deaths of students or other critical incidents, in the case of suicide many have found it useful to understate or underemphasise the cause of death, and refocus instead on the grief. It is most important to avoid glorification of death by suicide. 100

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What is said to the students in relation to the suicide is crucial. Do not provide unnecessary details: for example, provide no further information about the method used than the plainest statement such as ‘she died from strangulation’ rather than explaining the details. Resist moving into group discussion as to why the young person took his or her own life, but emphasise that suicide is avoidable and prevention is possible. Ensure that students are made aware that help is available, and how to access it. Provide access to individual and group counselling. Do not memorialise the student deceased by suicide. After a suicide, the ‘normal’ reactions and stages of response and recovery are similar to those of other traumatic events, although suicide usually involves additional complications in the grief process. Individuals may differ in their responses according to their exposure risk factors and by emotional proximity, as mentioned earlier; nevertheless, it is likely that many people affected will experience the following: shock/disruption; disbelief/denial; emotional impact (this may start about two days after the suicide and last for ten weeks, or more, after the event, and may include depression, anger, mood swings, anxiety, horror, fantasies about the suicide); working it through (this often involves questioning and soul searching); acceptance and resolution (coming to terms with the meaning of the event for oneself and, perhaps, acceptance of the experience as a sad or painful memory). Feelings of numbness, anger, confusion, pain and relief are natural, as are guilt and blame. In some school communities where a student has taken his or her life, the student’s parents will wish to be involved in the school’s response in some way. Many staff members may feel uncomfortable talking or thinking about suicide, but the school should make contact with the parents immediately the suicide is confirmed. It is usually most appropriate for the principal (or in some situations a deputy principal, senior teacher, counsellor or psychologist) to first speak with the parents or family following the suicide of their child, and to offer condolences. Family members and the principal may initially feel discomfort, but forming open and sensitive channels of communication at this early stage will assist both the family and the school in later decisions, and in coming to terms with the death of the student. 101

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Grieving The period of grief and mourning may be predictable, but is nevertheless painful. Grieving is an individual experience and may be a long process. In some situations, unresolved personal grief may also surface during the grieving process. Emotional responses to bereavement may occur for four or five years, or even longer, and they are not confined to the immediate family. Common in bereavement is a particularly bad time at about four months after the death, and difficulties or memories often surface at birthdays, Christmas or other family or religious celebrations, and anniversaries. Martin et al (1997) and Kirk (1993) suggest that some of the reasons for complicated grief following suicide are: the death is unexpected, untimely, and possibly horrifying; suicide is often incomprehensible; some people consider suicide to be morally wrong; there is usually a perceived cause for blame on the bereaved, and therefore less social support for the suicide completer’s family than there would be for a death by natural causes; there may be a background of disturbed family dynamics; families affected may also have other simultaneous disturbing issues to deal with, such as sexual abuse, drug abuse, homosexuality; the death of a child or young person can be harder to accept than the death of an older person who has lived a full life, and results in more severe grieving reactions; family depression may add further complications to the grief process.

Memorial services The sensitive question of a memorial for a student who has died by suicide must be confronted. Most experienced professionals in the field counsel against memorialising the student in any way at the school. This means, for example, no trees planted in memory of the student, no plaques in the lawn, no memorial photograph in the entry hall, no special concerts dedicated to the memory of the student. While this can be a difficult decision to hold to, and sometimes an unpopular one – particularly if the student was well known, well liked, or a school leader – it is recommended that no memorial takes place.

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The importance of this decision is emphasised as cases have been documented where schools have held emotional memorial services for a young person deceased through suicide, and subsequently another vulnerable student has taken his or her own life, perhaps in anticipation of being remembered and memorialised in a similar way. A concern of some workers in the field is the possibility of suicide contagion, or clustering of suicides, where suicide completion or suicide attempts occur within general geographic proximity, or where there is some connection such as friends, friends of friends, relatives or common interests.

The media In Australia most acts of suicide, particularly those of young people, are not reported in the media, except for situations where a celebrity takes his or her own life. The presence of members of the media in and around the school during any crisis can be intrusive at the least and terrifying at worst. But the media have a job to do. It is my belief that it is far preferable to be cooperative, rather than flatly uncooperative or defensive, with the media in any school crisis, and outcomes achieved from working together are likely to result in more responsible reporting. Poland & McCormick (1999) suggest that it is particularly important to convey a cooperative demeanour with the media because: you will be able to positively influence the coverage of the tragedy; the school then is the first place the media will come for information, taking some pressure off the victim’s family; your school will be linked to the tragedy anyway. One recommendation of Poland & McCormick is to encourage the media not to cover the story of the suicide, and to suggest that they return in a few weeks, to work instead on a story about suicide prevention and on school and community support available to troubled young people. Some of the advice provided elsewhere in this chapter, such as being careful not to dramatise or glorify the death, and avoiding providing any confidential information, photographs and detail of the method used by the deceased person, should also apply to any work with the media. An excellent Australian publication, which promotes the responsible reporting and portrayal of suicide in the media, together with 103

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recommendations for a ‘life-promoting’ media strategy, is also useful for school personnel as a guide when dealing with the media, or in composing a letter to the school community (Penrose-Wall et al, 2000).

Schools’ contributions to the prevention of suicide Schools often feel somewhat overwhelmed by what is expected of them by the community. Some teachers resent the fact that they are expected to be educationalists, carers, welfare workers, and also offer guidance to troubled adolescents. Finding a balance between the challenge of helping students to achieve high academic results and the challenge of providing a happy, nurturing environment which minimises life stressors, and in which most students excel, is not always easy. A survey of students in years 6–12 found the number one worry of students was getting good grades, number two was being accepted by peers, and a close third was violence in the schools (Furlong & Smith, 1998). Violence in schools can take many forms, but bullying is perhaps the most common and widespread, and a behaviour that often has profound effects on victims and aggressors for many years. Recently in Australia the Gatehouse Project, which surveyed almost 3000 young Victorians in 1997, found that over 50 per cent of the students reported having been victimised or bullied recently, and 16 per cent reported daily bullying. Nearly a quarter of the young people surveyed reported they felt they had no one to talk to if they were upset. We now know that there is a strong association between victimisation, bullying and symptoms of depression. Schools can play a central role in helping to build young people’s external and internal resources. How can we foster healthy social and emotional development in children and young people, and contribute to the building of community ‘support scaffolding’ around them? We need to work towards ensuring that each student: develops individual coping skills; feels connected to at least one person within the school environment;

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becomes stronger and more resilient; knows where or to whom he or she can go if feeling unsafe or in trouble; develops personal goals; is respected; develops a more optimistic attitude; succeeds; looks forward to coming to school; develops life-long problem-solving skills. Specifically, schools can assist in protecting against suicidal behaviour in six major ways: 1 Ensure school policies and practices are operating to promote each

2 3

4

5

6

student’s feelings of safety and ‘connectedness’ to the school. Optimise chances of students remaining in the school system. Encourage each student to participate in social, school, and community activities. Encourage each student to form a relationship with a ‘significant other’ – perhaps a mentor, a close friend, a teacher or a teacher aide. This may require specific awareness raising and preparation of school staff: increasing a student’s support system is an important factor in reducing the risk of suicidal behaviour. Ensure the curriculum includes specific programs aimed at teaching the students good problem-solving skills and the skills to overcome or cope with difficulties, and to develop resilience and a sense of being in control of their own lives. Programs need to be in-depth and practical. Educate students in ways to assist a fellow student who may be feeling low or suicidal: to listen; not to agree to keep threats a secret; to get help from a counsellor or other trusted adult. All staff should be trained to recognise warning signs for suicidal behaviour, and to be aware of school procedures. In addition, educational opportunities should be provided for selected, appropriate members of staff in suicide crisis intervention and ‘suicide first aid’. Martin et al (1997) suggest that this suicide first aid can be compared to first aid required for a physical wound – a skilled attempt to stop emotional bleeding.

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Suicide prevention programs There are a huge number of so-called ‘prevention programs’ on the market today that have been designed for use with young people. Primary prevention programs differ widely in content and aims; they have been grouped into ten categories by Berman and Jobes (1995): Depression management skills training, which uses behavioural approaches to control depression and teach skills. Anger and aggression management skills, targeting anger control and emotional regulation. Loneliness prevention, recognising early childhood loneliness as a precursor to later drug use and suicidal behaviour. Interpersonal problem-solving skills, whereby the training challenges impulsivity by teaching thinking and problem-solving skills. Competency enhancement skills, teaching decision-making, self-directed behaviour change, anxiety management and social skills. Critical viewing skills, which recognise violence potential and teach ways to resolve conflict productively. Help-seeking skills, which use youth as peer advocates and teach how to access community resources. School dropout prevention/school enhancement programs, which work to minimise failure experiences. Surrogate role-model programs, which focus on mentor programs with nurturing and supportive role models. Suicide awareness programs, for heath care and education providers. However, schools need to be very selective and cautious in introducing a ‘suicide prevention program’. Many programs have not been evaluated, or evaluated only superficially. Not all programs targeting suicide prevention which are offered by outside groups or organisations are likely to have the desired effect, and some may in fact increase symptoms of anxiety and depression, doing more harm than good. Paradoxically, raising awareness of suicide may, in those already vulnerable, increase suicidal behaviour. Although there may be occasions when it is necessary to have discussions directly on the subject of suicide, generally the more effective approach in schools is to consider a broader program targeting the promotion of good mental health, resilience and connectedness, and problem-solving skills.

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SUMMARY LEARNINGS • Do not memorialise a student who has taken his or her own life. • Suicide prevention programs must only be introduced selectively and with great care, with ongoing professional supervision. A school approach which targets the promotion of good mental health, resilience, connectedness and problemsolving skills is desirable.

• Most people who are contemplating suicide give some warning signs of their suicidal behaviour. • School staff may be educated to become aware of indicators of students at risk. • A school’s response to the suicide of a student or staff member should be similar to its response to other critical incidents. Underemphasising the cause of death and refocusing on the grief is helpful in managing the crisis.

References Berman, A. L. & Jobes, D. A. (1995). Suicide prevention in adolescents. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour, 25, 1. Clark, S. (1995). After suicide: Help for the bereaved. Hill of Content, Melbourne. Commonwealth of Australia (2000). Life: Living is for everyone: A framework for prevention of suicide and self harm in Australia. Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra. Kirk, W. G. (1993). Adolescent suicide: A school-based approach to assessment and intervention. Research Press, Champaign, Illinois. Furlong, M. & Smith, D. C. (eds) (1998). Addressing anger and aggression in school settings. Psychology in the Schools, 35, 3. Leiberman, R. (1997). Youth suicide: Prevention and intervention. Workshop presentation at National Association for School Psychologists conference, April. NASP, Anaheim, California. Lifeline Australia (1998). Youth suicide prevention project: Suicide attempts: Suicide can be prevented. Lifeline Australia, Parramatta, New South Wales. Martin, G. (1996). Youth suicide. In The reporting of suicide, ed. J. R. Herman. The

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Australian Press Council, Sydney. Martin, G., Clark, S., Beckinsale, P., Stacey, K. & Skene, C. (1997). Keep yourself alive: Prevention of suicide in young people: A manual for health professionals. Foundations Studios, Adelaide. Mental Health Branch, Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health (1995). Youth suicide in Australia: a background monograph. AGPS, Canberra. Mitchell, J. T. & Everly, G. S. (2000). Critical incident stress management and critical incident stress debriefings: Evolutions, effects and outcomes. In Psychological debriefing: Theory, practice and evidence eds B. Raphael & J. P. Wilson. Cambridge University Press, New York. Olweus, D. (1993) Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Blackwell, Oxford. Penrose-Wall, J., Baume, P. & Martin, G. (2000). Achieving the balance: A resource kit for Australian media professionals for the reporting and portrayal of suicide and mental illnesses. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. Poland, S. & McCormick, J. S. (1999). Coping with crisis: Lessons learned: A resource for schools, parents and community. Sopris West, Longmont, Colorado. Ramsay, R. F., Tanney, B. L., Tierney, R. J. & Lang,W. A. (1994) Suicide intervention handbook. Living Works Education, Calgary. Raphael, B. (2001). The population health approach to suicide prevention. Keynote address at Suicide Prevention Australia’s conference, April. Sydney. Rigby, K. (1996). Bullying in schools and what to do about it. Jessica Kingsley, London. Slaby, A. E. & Garfinkel, L. F. (1994). No one saw my pain: Why teens kill themselves. W. W. Norton, New York. Whitla, M. (1999). Constructing the scaffolding: Building effective frameworks for student support. Keynote address at Supporting Students: Working Together conference, March. Victorian Department of Education, Melbourne. Whitla, M. (2000). Suicide: Youth suicide and drug use. Workshop presentation at International School Psychology Association conference, July. ISPA, New Hampshire. Zagdanski, D. (1990). How teenagers cope with grief: Something I’ve never felt before. Hill of Content, Melbourne.

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Chapter

A SSISTING

THE

SCHOOL SYSTEM COPE WITH A TERROR ATTACK Dr Shulamit Niv and Dr Yehuda Shacham

It was one of those beautiful days when the world seemed to be smiling at everyone. The blow came at noon. The news broke the feeling of tranquillity. The speaker reported a terror act in a small town in Israel. A suicide terrorist had driven his booby-trapped car near a bus stop where passengers – children and adults – were boarding a bus. Since it was around noon, the bus stop held students who had just finished their school day and teachers who had also finished work and were about to take the bus home. Four adults, including two teachers, and three students were killed. Two of the students were in the ninth grade of high school and one in the seventh grade of a nearby junior high school. Eight students were injured. 109

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As members of the Community Stress Prevention Centre in the region we were called to help. The junior high school that lost a girl in the terror act had suffered from a previous trauma a few months before when another seventh grade student had jumped from the fourth floor of a building adjacent to the school and been killed. The junior high students and staff had been in shock from the first death and many of them had guilt feelings. Psychologists from our centre worked both with the students and the teachers after the bus stop trauma. Following the routine of many former events, the emergency team gathered the school teachers together immediately after the attack. It is important that all staff members attend such meetings, even if they are not planned in advance, for two reasons. First, it is important for the emergency team to hear the teachers in open conversation at this time; although the teaching staff will need to ventilate their feelings, the discussion ought to focus on coping resources. Second, it is also important for the staff to engage in task-oriented discussion, that is, to concentrate on the activities for the following day. At this stage we suggest the following guidelines: It is important to make sure that most students (and teachers, of course) come to school the morning after a tragic event. A student who does not show up might feel an outsider. We suggest that if certain students do not show up to school, a significant person should call them and invite them to come (unless they are sick or homebound). It is also important to explain to the parents how essential it is that their child should gain a sense of belonging, by participating in the school activities (Salmon, 1919; Solomon, 1993, 1995; Solomon et al, 1986, 1988; Klingman, 1991). It is important that the activities meet the needs of all students according to the ‘BASIC Ph’ principles (Lahad 1984, 1991, 1993), which will be presented later in this chapter. An open discussion of the event should be held in every class. Naturally the discussion led the students to the topic of their wounded friends, and to the likelihood that they were now in pain and might end up handicapped or dead. Burial procedures had to be discussed as well. Teachers had to find out which of the students had experience in that respect, what they knew about burial customs and bereavement and then add relevant information (Ayalon & Lahad, 1995).

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The team from the crisis centre and the school staff recommended that every student attend the funeral with his or her parents, and the school would also hire a bus to drive them to the cemetery, provided that students had their parents’ consent in writing. Teachers and counsellors would join the students on the bus. Parents who asked for our opinions regarding their children’s participation in a funeral at such an early age were told that it was a good idea, provided the students received proper explanation and escort. We emphasised that students could leave the cemetery if they felt it was too emotionally difficult for them. The students were advised not to stand too close to the open graves. The following days included more activities and structured conversations.

The intervention process The school had an emergency team which included the principal, class coordinators, counsellors and security coordinators. The school psychologist, employed by the local authority, joined the staff as soon as he heard of the event. The team’s first task was to map and assess the situation. This assessment would serve as the basis for setting intervention priorities. The key tools for mapping and assessment are vulnerability circles and support circles (Klingman, 1991; Niv et al, 2000). The emergency team was instructed to map the students and staff according to three criteria: geographical proximity, psychosocial (emotional and social) proximity and population at risk. In addition to mapping vulnerability circles, the team was required to map the support circles, in other words, all the potential supporters that could be used to help those in need. The basic idea was to start the momentum of help and support in the first stage by preferring supporters coming from the students’ initial psychological circle rather than depend on strangers. These first circles start with family members and relatives, through friends, peers and teachers. A community support system could be successfully activated as well: youth leaders, sports coaches and elementary school teachers, mainly those who had taught the students in the past.

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CIRCLES OF VULNERABILITY Mapping by three dimensions 1 Geographical proximity

2 Psychosocial proximity

3 Population at risk

1 Physical proximity to the disaster area.

2 Emotional and social proximity.

According to this criterion, those who stood closer to the bus stop and were acutely exposed to the sights, the sounds and the physical sensation of the explosion were probably at a higher emotional risk. Those students had to be identified first and given support and help prior to other students who were lower on the physical proximity scale.

We instructed the emergency team to map the students according to their emotional and social proximity to the victims. According to this criterion, students who are related or close to the victims have to be regarded as students at high risk, more so than students who do not know the victims personally.

3 Populations at risk. The third categorising criterion required the emergency team to identify students and teachers whose coping resources might be exhausted due to personal circumstances. For instance, those who had witnessed a similar disaster recently or those who had experienced some trauma, not necessarily of the same kind. The margins of this circle included those whose life circumstances were especially difficult, and for whom exposure to the tragedy, even though they were not physically or emotionally close to the victims, might create a mental load, such as ‘the last straw’.

Figure 8.1 Circles of vulnerability and support

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Supporters were briefed either by a counsellor or the school psychologists and were sent to meet the students, usually in small groups but on occasion individually. The briefing included an explanation of natural supporting behaviour, and that supporters should show empathy to the students’ current suffering and emphasise the belief that in time their coping would improve and the pain would be more bearable. Supporters were asked to identify those individuals that seemed to be reacting severely and refer them to further professional help. We soon discovered that supporters had warm, direct relations with the students, and although they had not been formally trained, they could calm the students down, activate and support them. Supporters were also efficient in identifying individuals at risk as they had criteria for comparing students’ current behaviour with their regular behaviour. The school emergency team met every hour to compare reports, update and assess the situation. Among other things, attempts were made to predict expected phenomena in the community and to find solutions to the problems and needs arising from the developments. One of the most familiar phenomena is the fact that many parents, relatives and curious people come to the site and to the hospital. Hence it was decided to set up a telephone information centre through which people could receive information which would help them find their loved ones. At the same time, a walk-in information centre was set up in the school’s gym, and the people who came to the school were referred to the centre by older students and by teachers. At the centre, parents were given information about where they could find their children and in addition a teacher, a counsellor and a social worker were present to provide individual or group support. One of the vice-principals was sent to the local hospital as a liaison between the school, the medical staff and anxious parents and relatives who came to the hospital. Later, a counsellor and a social worker were sent to the central hospital in the nearby district city where those who had been critically injured were taken. For two months a centre operated by school representatives and social workers employed by the local authority accompanied the victims and their relatives in the long and demanding rehabilitation process. Another way to reach out to the worried parents and relatives was to operate via the electronic and written media. It was decided to publish a press release to the media, in which all the hotline telephone numbers in the school and the municipality were detailed. The release also stated in a few 113

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sentences that the school, with the help of experts from the emergency centre, was engaging in psycho-educational activities to support those who had been exposed to the event, as well as anyone else in need of support.

BASIC Ph One of the main guidelines for our work with the affected community was the integrative coping model, BASIC Ph. Lahad’s BASIC Ph model focuses on how people ‘make it’ rather than on how they fail. The model was developed through ongoing work with a population living in the shadow of constant threat on their lives. Through observing and interviewing people under stress it can be seen clearly that every individual has his or her own special combination of coping resources (Lahad, 1993, 1984; Niv, 1996; Shacham, 1996). The model relates to the six major characteristics or dimensions that in combination are believed to be at the core of an individual’s coping style: Beliefs and values (B); Affect and emotion (A); Social (S); Imagination and creativity (I); Cognition and thought (C); and Physiological and activities (Ph). Every person has the potential to cope in each of the six modalities from the dawn of our childhood throughout our lives. It is important to note that we all have preferred modes of coping at different times in life, and these modes are refined and developed as we grow and our characters form. We also have modes of coping that have not been developed due to our lives’ circumstances. There are people who will rely on Beliefs and values to guide them through times of stress or crisis. Not only religious beliefs are meant here, but also political positions, feeling of hope and psycho-philosophy (meaning), or feelings of a destination or mission, such as the need for self-fulfilment and strong ‘self’ expression. Others will demonstrate an emotional or Affective coping mode and will use expressions of emotion: crying, laughter or talking to someone about

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their experiences; or through non-verbal methods such as drawing, reading or writing. A third type of person will opt for a Social mode of coping, and receive support from belonging to a group, having a task, taking a role and being part of an organisation. A fourth will use Imagination to mask the brutal facts, by day dreaming pleasant thoughts, diverting their attention by using guided imagery; or trying to imagine additional solutions to the problem that go beyond the facts – improvisation and humour. There are people whose preferred mode of coping is Cognitive–behavioural. The cognitive strategies include information gathering, problem solving, self-navigation, internal conversation or lists of activities or preferences. Ph-type people mainly react and cope by using Physical expressions together with body movement. Their methods for coping with stress are relaxation, desensitisation, meditation, physical exercise and activity. Expending energy is an important component in many modes of coping. Basic needs come in here too: food, sleep, sex and so on.

Table 8.1 The multi-modal model Self-Value

Emotions

Role: Others, Organisation

Intuition, Humour

Reality, Knowledge

Action, Practical

B BELIEF (Frankl, Maslow)

A AFFECT (Freud, Rogers)

S SOCIAL (Erikson, Adler)

I IMAGINATION (Jung, De Bono)

C COGNITION (Lazurus, Ellis)

Ph PHYSICAL (Pavlov, Watson)

Attitudes Beliefs Life-span Value clarification Meaning

Listening skills Emotions Ventilation Acceptance Expression

Social role Structure skills Assertiveness groups Role-play

Creativity Play Psychodrama 'As-if' Symbols Self-talk

Information Order of preference Exercise Problem solving Self-navigation Work

Activities Games Relaxation Eating

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On an individual level, staff members were encouraged to approach every individual via his or her unique profile of coping modalities. At the class level, however, teachers were to offer a variety of activities covering the whole spectrum of the BASIC Ph, so that every student was able to find activities that suited his or her coping style.

Bibliotherapy Since we are aware of the fact that work in education systems ought to follow an approach that enables students to express themselves, receive support and enhance resilience, we know that mere conversations are insufficient to resolve a traumatic event, and sometimes leave participants with a feeling of ‘more of the same’. We recommended that the school system adopt the bibliotherapy method (Kubovi, 1970), which is both a long and a short way to reach the goal. It is long, because it works in devious, indirect methods, via metaphors and stories that are distant in terms of time and place. It is short, because it is different from the regular way in which people cope with severe events and it bypasses resistance and defences. A good story attracts the reader and carries him or her to distant times and places, while distancing the reader from him- or herself. Stories or tales are metaphors that use symbols, helping students (and adults) to reach new interpretations of reality, and a way out of the state of feeling stranded, helpless and out of control. They take the students to a state of flexibility and a feeling of having some control over the situation. We suggested that the school emergency team choose a selection of stories and poems written in other times, yet that touched upon events and feelings relevant to the present state of the students: pain, anger, anxiety, frustration and mourning. The teachers picked up works which they thought would suit their classes, photocopied them and worked with the students.

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Psychological debriefing Psychological debriefing (Mitchell, 1986, 1995; Hodgkinson 1991, 1994; Mitchell & Bray, 1990; Mitchell & Dyregrov, 1993) is another supporting tool. We used the Critical Incident Processing and Recovery model – CIPR – developed by Lahad of Israel and Galliano of Great Britain (Lahad & Galliano, 2002). The CIPR procedure is a structured group discussion conducted as part of an intervention process following a disaster. In many cases these discussions help to decrease feelings of suffering and pain connected to the exposure to the disaster and also decrease the chance of natural responses turning into post-traumatic syndromes. The goal of the conversation is to organise and anchor the participants in reality, to aid the feeling of togetherness and normality, while ventilating emotions. The discussion is also an opportunity to provide information about the event, to identify those who need additional help and to remind participants of their coping resources. It is important for participants to be involved in-group activities, especially with people who shared the same experience. A group would be made up of 10–15 participants of similar circles of vulnerability. For instance, one group could consist of students who were the victims’ best friends while another could include those who witnessed the event. The CIPR procedure is intended to be used for small groups in close vulnerability circles and does not replace class discussions; it differs from them in its goals and procedures.

Parents: guidance, talks and written guidelines The school emergency team distributed information leaflets to all students. We were aware of the necessity to involve the parents by providing information about the event, about their children’s possible responses and about ways in which they could get in touch with professionals who would help them if and when the need arose (Garbarino, 1992, 1996; Figley, 1993; Terr, 1992; Cohen et al, 2000). The sheet read:

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You have probably heard about yesterday’s terror attack in which a number of people were killed and others were injured. Students from our school were among the victims and many other students witnessed the event. All the students were exposed to realistic, detailed accounts of the event. An experience like this can elicit reactions that might appear odd and even bizarre, yet it is important for you to know that almost all responses to such an event can be regarded as normal reactions to an abnormal incident. What kinds of feelings are we to expect? Anger, helplessness, anxiety, fear, frustration, hate and guilt. Some physiological responses should be expected as well, such as fatigue, inability to fall asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, breathing difficulties, chest pains, strained muscles, diarrhoea or constipation. Children’s ability to concentrate as well as their ability to make decisions might be hindered. Your child might change his or her normal behaviour and become aggressive. These phenomena will probably fade away with time. On the other hand, if you notice that the phenomena do not fade away in the course of the next few days, if they are enhanced, or if your child seems different and does not seem to be making progress, you should consult the school counsellor or some other professional from the list below. It is important that you listen to your child and talk to him or her about feelings, thoughts and reactions to the disaster. It is OK if he or she wishes to spend some more time with friends. Adolescents sometimes feel that it is easier for them to grieve within their peer group. Sources of support: (A list was provided of support sources in the school and outside it).

Figure 8.2

On the actual day of the event it is important to have professionals on call all day long, and have someone on call during the night as well.

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Conversations with parents We suggested that the school invite parents to meetings. One meeting was held with parents from each of the focus classes (the dead student’s class and the classes of those injured). The school principal, a home-room teacher, a counsellor and a psychologist attended these meetings. Parents were given explanations about their children’s possible reactions and were provided with tools for distinguishing normal reactions from pathological ones. Obviously such a meeting is a good time to answer parents’ questions regarding their children and to enable them to discuss their own ways of coping with the event as well. A separate meeting was held for parents whose children were in non-focus classes, the same professionals attended. Only one meeting was necessary for this category, as just a few parents from each class attended.

Helping the helpers Teachers’ talks before and after the work day Psychological debriefing sessions were conducted with the teachers. In those conversations teachers talked about their feelings, thoughts, difficulties and coping modalities – all the issues which are part of psychological debriefing that they are meant to hold with their students. It is essential for the teachers to participate in such talks, to decrease the likelihood that they might load students with their own feelings rather than listen to them. It also helps to minimise conflicts that might develop in the teachers’ families, as relatives get tired of listening to the trauma being revisited after a while. Holding such talks is far from a simple matter. Teachers do not always wish to participate. They may avoid the talks for technical or scheduling difficulties or because they feel intimidated by the topic and prefer not to talk about their own reactions to the traumatic event. There are a number of ways in which we can help ourselves. This is particularly true for people who are deeply involved in helping others and work extremely hard after a traumatic event (Ayalon & Shacham, 2000). We reminded the staff that despite the terrible tragedy, teachers have to take care of themselves; they must also recognise when to leave the event behind and return to routine.

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Routine is one of the most important things that help us cope with a traumatic event. On the other hand, any person who takes part in the aftermath of a disastrous event knows how the activities that follow are magnetising and produce adrenaline. Hence, at a school teachers and students are often reluctant to go back to routine. The emergency personnel have to be sensitive yet gradually channel the school back into routine.

Writing a summary of the event We recommended that the leading team see to it that each teacher would summarise his or her part in the coping process in writing, and a committee would publish a booklet of these summaries. It was found that, like students, some teachers felt relieved when they were able to structure the narrative and write something about the event (a summary, a story, a poem).

An in-service mini-course and some fun When the event was over, a mini in-service course was held, to strengthen the teachers and provide them with new energy. The course had two functions: to give teachers important information on issues relevant to the event, as well as gathering them together in a pleasant place where they could have some fun: A performance, a good meal and alternative – holistic – treatments helped to recharge the staff batteries and stressed the school management’s acknowledgement of the teachers’ efforts.

References Ayalon, A. & Shacham, Y. (1996). Who will support the supporters? Teaching the salutogenic approach to psychologists – colleagues who are coping with the trauma of the war in Yugoslavia 1993–1996. (In Hebrew.) –– (2000). Helping the helpers: Teaching the salutogenic approach to colleagues coping with war trauma. In Klingman, A., Raviv, A. & Stein, B., (eds), Children under emergency and stress: Characteristics and psychological interventions. Ministry of Education, Service for Psychology and Counseling, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) Ayalon, O. (1977). Preparing the educational system for an emergency. Readings in Education, 15. (In Hebrew.) –– (1979a). Community Oriented Preparation for Emergency: C.O.P.E. Journal of Death

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Education, 3, 4–10. –– (1979b) Emergency case – help! Gestelit, Haifa. (In Hebrew.) –– (1996). Psychological trauma: The Sarajevo experience. (Unpublished.) Ayalon, O. & Lahad, M. (1990). Life on the edge: Stress and coping in high risk situations. Nord, Israel. (In Hebrew.) –– (1992). Looking ahead: Suicide prevention. Nord, Israel. –– (1995). On life and death. Nord, Israel. Cohen E. (2000a). Problems of consulting with parents during emergencies and following traumatization of their children. In Children under emergency and stress: Characteristics and psychological interventions eds A. Klingman, A. Raviv & B. Stein. Ministry of Education, Service for Psychology and Counseling, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) –– (2000b). Talking with parents whose children’s friends were victims of terror. In Children under emergency and stress: Characteristics and psychological interventions eds A. Klingman, A. Raviv & B. Stein. Ministry of Education, Service for Psychology and Counseling, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) Figley C. (1993). Compassion fatigue. In Children under emergency and stress: Characteristics and psychological interventions eds A. Klingman, A. Raviv & B. Stein. Ministry of Education, Service for Psychology and Counseling, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) Galliano, S. & Lahad, M. (2000). Manual for practice of CIPR. ICAS [Independent Counselling and Advisory Services], London. Garbarino, J. (1992). Children in danger: Coping with the consequences of community violence. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, California. Garbarino, J. &. Kostelny, K. (1996). The effects of political violence on Palestinian children’s behaviour problems. Child Development, 67, 33–45. Hodgkinson, P. & Shepherd, M. (1994). The impact of disaster support work. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 7 (4). Hodgkinson, P. & Stewart, M. (1991). Coping with catastrophes. Routledge, London. Klingman, A. (1991). Psychological and educational intervention in disaster. Ministry of Education, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) Kubovi, D. (1970), Therapeutic teaching. Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Kubovi, D. (1994) Tailoring therapeutic teaching to the specific needs of the moment. Iyyunim Bechinuch 2, 166–74. (In Hebrew.) Lahad, M. & Cohen, A. (1993). Community stress prevention, vols 1 & 2. Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Lahad, M., Sela, M., Shacham, Y. & Shacham, M. (2000). Community organisation for prolonged emergency situations and population evacuation. In Children under emergency and stress: Characteristics and psychological interventions eds A. Klingman, A.

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Raviv & B. Stein. Ministry of Education, Service for Psychology and Counseling, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) Lahad, S. (1981) Preparation of children and teachers to cope with stress: A multi-modal approach. MA thesis. Hebrew University, Jerusalem. –– (1984) Evaluation of a multimodal programme to strengthen the coping of children and teachers under stress of shelling. PhD dissertation. Columbia Pacific University, Novato, California. –– (1993). Tracing coping resources through a story in six parts: The ‘BASIC Ph’ model. In Psychology at school and the community during peaceful and emergency times. LevinsonHadar, Tel-Aviv. (In Hebrew.) Mitchell, J. (1983). When disaster strikes: The critical incident stress debriefing process. Journal of Emergency Medical Services, 1, 36–9. Mitchell, J. & Bray, G. (1990). Emergency services stress. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Mitchell, J. & Dyregrov, A. (1993). Traumatic stress in disaster workers and emergency personnel. In The international handbook of traumatic stress syndromes, eds J. Wilson & B. Raphael. Plenum Press, New York. Mitchell, J. T. & Connecticut CISD Network (1986). Common signs and symptoms of a stress reaction. Emergency Care Quarterly, May, 12–17. Niv, S. (1996). The influence of a psychoeducational preventive program on children’s coping with recurrent traumatic events. PhD dissertation. Newport. Niv, S., Lahad, M. & Farhi, M. (2000). Preventive intervention following recurrent traumatic events. In Children under emergency and stress: Characteristics and psychological interventions eds A. Klingman, A. Raviv & B. Stein. Ministry of Education, Service for Psychology and Counseling, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew.) Salmon, T.W. (1919). The war neuroses and their lessons. New York Journal of Medicine, p. 109. Shacham, J. (1996). Stress reactions and activating coping resources. PhD dissertation. Newport. Solomon, Z. (1993). Combat stress reaction: The enduring toll of war. Plenum Press, New York. Solomon, Z. (1995). From denial to recognition: Attitudes towards Holocaust survivors from World War II to the present. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 229–42. Solomon, Z., Benbenisti, R. & Mikulincer, M. (1988). A follow-up of Israeli casualties of combat stress reactions (battle shock) in the 1982 Lebanon war. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27 (2), 125–35. Solomon, Z., Benbenisti, R. & Spiro, S., (1986). Evaluation of the effectiveness of forward treatment in combat stress reactions in the Lebanon war. Israel Defense Forces, Medical Corps, Mental Health Dept, Research & Evaluation Branch. (In Hebrew.) Terr, L. (1992). Too scared to cry: Psychic trauma in childhood. Basic Books, New York.

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Chapter

S UPPORTING THE SUPPORTERS : WORKPLACE FACTORS Mardie Whitla

Any thorough, well-organised emergency management and recovery plan will include planned support for the supporters: the emergency service workers, psychologists or other support staff. This chapter will address some ways in which people and workplaces can, and should, support the supporters. In their study of critical incident stress in Victorian State Emergency Service volunteers, Werner et al. (1992) identified six factors associated with a critical incident that increased the difficulty for workers of coping: the involvement of children or young people; the worker’s first experience with death or multiple deaths; 123

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the goriness or enormity of the incident; being unprepared for the incident; the presence of multiple deaths or injuries; an existing association with the victim or their family. Critical incidents in schools usually involve some of these factors found to be important in influencing how well support workers cope. Incidents involving death, serious illness and abduction within the school population are likely to be particularly stressful both for the school and for the professionals supporting individuals and groups within the school. The majority of Australian states now have training or preparation programs for those professionals most likely to have a key part to play in supporting schools in handling emergencies or critical incidents. In State departments of education these people will include school psychologists, school social workers and senior management personnel. While preparing these support people for their work in schools has been a priority, far too little has been done in planning and implementing procedures to support such helpers during and after their work in crisis response and recovery. Not all psychologists are suited to crisis response work. Those who are involved in responding to crises seldom confront a situation such as the one experienced crisis responder and American school psychologist Frank Zenere was invited to participate in. Nearly three months after the disaster of September 2001, Frank worked for eight days at the Family Assistance Center (FAC) in New Jersey. He wrote: The people, experiences and memories associated with time spent at the New Jersey FAC will remain eternally etched upon my soul. Opportunities to defuse and debrief survivors’ traumatic memories were plentiful and intense. Horrific accounts of terror and death were the order of each and every day. I attentively listened as survivors told of the dozens of people they witnessed making the agonising choice to leap to their death, rather than burn to death in their offices. They spoke of hysterically fleeing an ‘evil fireball and consuming cloud of death and destruction’ that chased them down the streets of Manhattan. They cringed when describing how it felt to be running for your life, while human remains rained down upon them. An elderly couple cried when remembering their son who was a passenger on United Airlines flight #195, who left behind a five-year-old

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daughter and a wife eight months pregnant. They attempted to reconcile the haunting images of faces with embedded shards of metal protruding outward; running among ashes that were calf deep; and gazing into eyes clouded by terror and desperation. Auditory remembrances, such as the deafening sounds of jet engines screaming overhead, jolting explosions, and the unforgettable shrill of screams, were etched upon their sensorial landscape.

Factors influencing supporter effectiveness and coping How well any individual will cope with being a supporter and how useful each supporter is to a school will depend on the interaction between a wide range of variables. Some of these are shown in Figure 9.1, overleaf. Both the supporter and the person/persons supporting the supporter should take into account the effect of these variables on each individual. This chapter concentrates on factors relating to the workplace over which managers, supervisors and colleagues have some control. However, there are some actions caregivers themselves can take to assist in coping during or immediately after the crisis (Poland & McCormick, 1999). These include: ask your family or partner to support your crisis response work; take care of yourself physically (eating, walking, resting, relaxing); relieve tension with humour; recognise your own feelings and reactions, and acknowledge them; talk with someone about the crisis and trauma in which you are/were involved; try to avoid becoming too involved: set yourself limits; don’t attempt any major life changes; do something you enjoy. Managers and principals who are not well prepared or experienced in emergency management can underestimate the importance of planned support for the supporters. The impact of serious incidents on supporters is greatly influenced by the way in which they are managed.

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Workplace

Personal style and skills

• collegiate support and demands • managerial/ supervisory support and demands • workload • work setting • relevant policy and guidelines in regard to critical incidents

• life experience • level of health and fitness • motivation • independence • coping style • problem-solving abilities • emotional detachment • idealism/realism • temperament/ personality

Family support and demands • • • •

partner/spouse children parents financial commitments

How effective a person will be and how they will cope in the role of a professional support person will depend on many variables interacting at that time

Social and community networks: support and demands • social/sporting clubs • association memberships • hobbies/recreations/ activity orientation

The school setting and the critical incident

Professional skills and competence

• type and severity of the critical incident – extent of trauma (e.g. multiple deaths/ abduction/known or unknown aggressor) – duration of emergency and recovery process – controllability of incident – personal experience with similar situation – own history of trauma and loss • knowledge of school, school personnel and existing relationships • leadership style of key school personnel

• preparation for response to critical incidents • experience in crisis response • own opinion of professional competence • self-awareness • professional orientation • coping style • problem-solving abilities • emotional detachment • idealism/realism

Figure 9.1 Variables influencing supporter effectiveness and coping in school critical incidents

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The role of principals, managers and supervisors in the support of supporters It is necessary that the role of the manager or supervisor in support of staff during and after a school emergency is integral to the policy of the workplace. The manager needs to commit the time and learn the skills to be able to provide such support to staff. There should be a formal understanding to this effect: an understanding by the worker that support should be sought, and an understanding by the manager that it should be routinely provided. If the manager is unable to provide the high level of support necessary after a critical incident, it must be provided instead by a suitable professional from outside the workplace. This professional may be an external psychologist employed specifically in a ‘supporting the supporters’ role. It is the manager’s role to facilitate the support and to ensure that the provision of support is part of the normal routine of emergency management. Supervisors are encouraged to offer the following advice to school psychologists or counsellors working in crisis situations in the support of schools: Order your priorities and respect your limitations. Where possible, remove distractions and other stressors. Put off what is not absolutely urgent. Avoid impulsive actions. If possible, think through the possibilities and possible benefits or repercussions of the event before seeing the affected people in the crisis. Act quickly, but also take time to plan. Delegate authority. To minimise duplication of effort and to provide for the likelihood that the professionals involved will be tackling the tasks they do best, take time to identify roles to be assigned to different personnel involved in the critical incident. Model calmness in a way consistent with your personality, the crisis situation, and your work style. Make sure you are prepared. Have as much information as possible before intervening or offering support. Listen actively, assess the resources, and concentrate your thinking on possible ways of solving or alleviating the problem. Remember, you are there to assist and support, not ‘take over’ from the principal.

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In assessing the crisis, consider the following: – What is the exact nature of the problem? – Do I understand the site implications of the incident? – Are there time limitations? – Who are the victims and/or the potential victims? – Are there particular environmental factors of importance? Support staff selected for emergency support work should be professionally competent and personally mature. Staff should not be pressured into volunteering for this area of work, as it does not suit all professionals (Baldwin, 1978).

The after-effects of school critical incidents The effects on supporters of exposure to a disaster experience or emergency are varied and range widely in intensity. Gordon and Wraith (1987) group these effects as follows: physical effects such as fatigue, lassitude and increased susceptibility to illness; emotional effects such as depression, anxiety, impatience, irritability, aggression and anger; personal or professional disorientation, confusion or uncertainty which can lead to interpersonal tensions, rivalry and difficulties in team functioning; over-enthusiasm, over-commitment to the experience, inability to set limits on oneself, ambitiousness and unrealistic evaluation of self and others; loss of professional and personal skills and competence; inappropriate humour, denial of painful realities and withdrawal from the support of colleagues; longer term effects such as burnout or exhaustion, stress accumulating from one disaster to another and loss of interest or motivation (sometimes a year or more after the disaster), leading to resignation or changing jobs; family problems, including reactions of spouse and a variety of behavioural or emotional responses in children.

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Helping staff to recover Leaders or managers of organisations often have questions about how they can best facilitate the psychological recovery of their staff. Often managers or principals have two broad areas of concern: taking care of the emotional needs of the members of the group, and restoring the group’s level of functioning. Typically, these will be regarded as separate tasks to be completed sequentially. However, the process of grieving and returning to work are not separate events. Gordon (1992) defines support as ‘a sense of identification that allows enough depersonalization to feel the trauma is not carried alone’. Support involves a sense of belonging, understanding, empathy and acceptance. Poor management and poor support will result in more need for debriefing and longer post-trauma stress. Supporters need to know that their contribution is recognised. They often feel or know they are doing a good job, but speculate on what others think. They wonder whether their efforts are being recognised by management, their colleagues, their clients and the organisation and system itself.

Types of support Administrative support A range of management strategies must be developed to provide for the supporter. This person must be adequately backed up by the organisation in order to concentrate on the essential professional service that she or he is providing. The role of the manager is crucial in facilitating this support. Communication It is essential that technological communication is provided. Telephones and radios are sometimes not available in times of emergency (for example, in the case of school fires, incidents away from the school and incidents involving vehicles). The provision of mobile phones and other means of communication may be essential to ensure continual contact with the ‘base’, to allow accurate site reports, to call for support and to allow the supporter to be briefed on other events happening away from the site.

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Backup for workload When the supporter is involved in the management of a crisis, it is crucial that someone else is available to provide backup support on other work in which the supporter may normally be involved. This will enable the supporter to concentrate fully on the task at hand. Resources The manager should ensure that time, a vehicle (or travel allowances), leave (if appropriate) and food are provided for. Resumption of normal duties Administrative support must be provided following the crisis to allow the supporter to resume normal activities as soon as possible.

Personal support The personal needs of the supporter can be identified and provided for in a variety of ways. During the actual involvement in a crisis situation, the supporter may be taken away from normal duties and normal contact with family and friends. Planning to provide personal support may include: communication with the worker’s family; recognition of the worker’s commitments; communication with the worker’s colleagues; provision of relief workers when exhaustion sets in; contact from ‘home base’ (to identify needs, to provide information about other events); evaluation of the need to provide the supporter with debriefing; evaluation of the need for long-term recovery and support.

Collegiate support The importance of collegiality in the workplace cannot be underestimated. Collegial interaction provides the following psychological benefits: Emotional support A sympathetic ear provides a great deal of emotional support. The result may be a cathartic experience that reduces emotional tension and helps the supporter to gain a better perspective and level of understanding.

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Evaluation Feedback on performance is important. Information and advice Colleagues can provide technical information where appropriate and practical advice. Allies The moral support of colleagues will help the supporter to resolve personal conflicts. Colleagues can also provide moral support when there is organisational conflict or negotiation with administrators. Stimulation and encouragement Having respected colleagues who care about one’s work helps to make work more interesting and stimulating. However, in many organisations there are also barriers to supportive interactions among professional colleagues. These include: Individual and group conflict This may involve friction, jealousy, competition and differences in status and loyalty. Role structure Hierarchical management structures and inflexibility of roles or isolation of role structure may be a barrier to collegiality. Exclusions due to interpersonal norms and social interaction People may be excluded by the use of ‘in’ jokes and by superficial interactions not related to work. They may also be excluded because of gender. Heavy workloads Professional orientation and philosophy Interpersonal mistrust and conflict related to differences in profession may create a barrier to collegiality (Cherniss, 1980).

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It has been suggested that human service professionals could be less susceptible to severe distress if they are involved in a support group where they are able to vent any feelings of frustration, anger and anxiety. However, it is important to distinguish between positive and negative support groups. Consideration needs to be given to guard against degeneration into unpleasant and personally destructive ‘group therapy’ which could increase alienation, stress and frustration (Maslach, 1976).

Professional support The emergency management and recovery plan must include well-defined professional support for the supporter. Such plans should include oftenoverlooked strategies such as: ensuring that the supporter works as part of a team rather than alone; offering links with other professionals with appropriate expertise; identifying the supporter as being the delegated worker from a centre or unit rather than as an isolated professional. The support plan must clearly include and define the role of ‘defusing’ and ‘debriefing’.

Psychological debriefing Many versions of ‘debriefing’ now exist. All debriefings should be led by trained and experienced professionals. In this chapter, a structural ‘Critical Incident Stress Debriefing’, developed by Jeffrey Mitchell (1983b), will be outlined, together with a shorter ‘defusing’ process. In the following chapter, Scott Poland will describe other variations which have proved useful with both secondary school students and with adults.

What is a debriefing? A psychological debriefing is a structured group meeting to review the impressions and reactions that survivors, the bereaved or helpers experience during or following critical incidents, accidents and disasters. The meeting aims at reducing unnecessary psychological after-effects.

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Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) was developed by Jeffrey Mitchell to meet the requirements of both disaster and general emergency service workers for assistance with emotional and psychological aspects of their support work. Mitchell found that stress in emergency response workers can be greatly reduced by using the CISD process. The CISD process is undertaken in several stages and it is best done 48–72 hours after the disaster or emergency intervention (Mitchell & Everly, 1990). The debriefing meeting of the emergency workers will also include a mental health professional who acts as the leader and three peers who were not involved in the emergency. Dyregrov (1989) details seven phases. The ‘introduction’ phase clarifies that the meeting will not be an operational critique of the emergency intervention, nor a therapy session. Rather it is designed to build the whole picture and make the worker feel ‘healthier’. The team is introduced, and the ‘rules’ are set: no one will be forced to say anything; confidentiality will be observed; no notes are to be taken. The ‘fact’ phase involves the emergency workers explaining what their job was during the incident, and what exactly happened. In the ‘thought’ phase, the leader asks participants to take turns around the circle to respond to questions such as: ‘What was the first thought you had on entering the scene of the incident?’, ‘What did you do?’, ‘Why did you do that?’. During the ‘worst thing’ phase individuals in the group explain what each felt was the worst thing for them personally during the event, and which part they would most like to ‘get rid of’ psychologically. Sensory impressions are important to detail as they form the basis of intrusive images and thoughts in the periods following the event. What the participants saw, heard, smelled, touched or tasted is specified. Participants may be encouraged to work through this painful stage by understanding that their bodies will react to stress and if they do not confront it now it is likely to return. The ‘transition’ phase focuses on cognition and the symptoms experienced. Group members are asked what their symptoms were at the scene of the emergency, and if anything happened or any symptoms occurred after they returned home. In the ‘teaching’ phase, the leader takes a more active part. This phase takes 20–30 minutes or even longer if required, and is designed to assist with

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coping and individual future planning. The group is taught about the effects of the use and overuse of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. Normal stressreduction activities, such as watching one’s diet, taking exercise and providing time to sleep and time to socialise, can be discussed in this phase. The final stage is the ‘re-entry’ phase, or disengagement. During this time, participants are invited to make comments or raise issues that have not been discussed but that are nevertheless important. Information on how and where to seek additional help is given. Participants should be encouraged to seek help if: their symptoms increase over time; they are unable to function adequately in work or family life; they experience marked personality changes (or if this is commented upon by others); their symptoms do not decrease after 4–6 weeks (longer if a loved one died). After the formal debriefing process has been completed, it can be useful to serve light refreshments to encourage more informal exchanges and it is also useful for the teams to make themselves available for an hour or so after the debriefing.

Defusing A ‘defusing’ is a group discussion of a traumatic event which is clinicianguided but peer-driven. It is a short version of debriefing and usually takes 20–45 minutes. Defusing takes place immediately (within eight hours of the event). If good defusings occur, it is likely that fewer debriefings will be needed. Defusings focus on the core working group or the operational team and include three phases, similar to some phases in the CISD process. In the ‘introductory’ phase the emphasis is on motivating people to participate, setting the rules and introducing the team. The ‘fact’ phase of defusing aims at finding out exactly what happened in the emergency situation, and what individual workers did in response. The last stage, the ‘information’ phase, is designed to give useful information regarding post-traumatic stress to the staff involved. Staff may be reminded to take care to watch their intake of caffeine and alcohol when under stress. Some possible stress reactions will be discussed. (This may 134

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include advice such as ‘When you go home tonight you might not feel too sexual or too sociable’, or ‘If you are a very action-orientated person you may feel particularly angry’.) You may wish to suggest some positive actions workers can take to help lessen the effects of the trauma (for example, ‘You might go for a 40-minute walk to relax gradually after you get home’, or ‘It may help to talk about your experience with your partner if he or she is a willing listener’). Never assume, however, that the traumatised person will be returning to a supportive spouse or family. According to Dyregrov (1989) the process of psychological debriefing (PD) can be adapted for different groups: The structured process of going through the facts, individuals’ thoughts, then detailed impressions and their resulting reactions, before giving information pertaining to reactions and coping measures, is also a very useful method when employed in crisis intervention on the individual level. Those conducting PDs should be familiar with group processes, with normal reactions to extreme events, with post-traumatic stress disorders, and with coping measures which help to integrate and process such events. If done by sensitive and knowledgeable personnel there is a low potential for doing harm. By providing survivors, bereaved and helpers in disasters with rapid help, and by building on the internal strengths of the affected groups, we may prevent much of the unnecessary pain and agony experienced by these groups. Psychological debriefing provides support, not therapy, and should be a normal part of emergency work. A traumatic experience may continue to adversely affect a person’s life for a long time. It is often only after some months or years have elapsed, or another experience reactivates previous trauma or triggers unresolved grief, that the effects of trauma become evident. There is no time limit to the effects of trauma. Consequently, effective psychological debriefing can become an important preventative health measure, and can accelerate the recovery of normal people experiencing normal reactions to abnormal events. In the following chapter an example of a group debriefing process used in schools is outlined.

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SUMMARY LEARNINGS • Systems procedures to provide support to support staff need to be planned, agreed to, and become workplace policy prior to the intervention of support staff in schools. • Provision of support to support staff during and following critical incidents should be provided. • Managers need to commit the time, learn the skills and budget for professional services, to provide effective

support to staff in times of crisis or stress. This should include: – administrative support; – personal support; – collegiate support; – professional support. • Structured defusing or debriefing meetings coordinated by appropriately trained professionals should be policy and a normal part of critical incident management or trauma work.

References Baldwin, B. A. (1978). A paradigm for the classification of emotional crises: Implications for crisis intervention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 538–5l. Cherniss, C. (1980). Professional burnout in human service organisations. Praeger, New York. Dyregrov, A. (1989). Caring for helpers in disaster situations: Psychological debriefing. Disaster Management, 2, 1. Everly, G. (1989). The treatment of the human stress response. Plenum, New York. Gifford, R. K. & Tyler, M. P. (1990). Consulting grief leadership: A practical guide. Disaster Management, 2, 4. Gordon, R. (1988). Beyond debriefing: Developing a supportive environment for high stress human services. In Dealing with stress and trauma in emergency services: An international conference. Social Biology Resources Centre, Melbourne. –– (1992). Trauma management. Address to School Support Centre staff, 5 November, Melbourne. Gordon, R. & Wraith, R. (1987). Psychological debriefing in disaster work. Australian Emergency Response, Melbourne.

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Johnson, K. & Figley, C. (2002). Trauma in the lives of children: Crisis and stress management techniques for counselors, teachers and other professionals. Hunter House, Claremont, California. Maslach, C. (1976). Burned out. Human Behaviour, 5, 9, 16–22. Mitchell, J. T. (1983a). Emergency medical stress. APCO Bulletin, February, 14–16. –– (1983b). When disaster strikes: The critical incident stress debriefing process. Journal of Emergency Medical Services, 8. Mitchell, J. T. & Everly, G. S. (1990). Managing stress and trauma in emergency services: Pre-conference workshop: Training in critical incident stress and post-trauma syndromes. 27 November, Melbourne. Poland, S. & McCormick, J. S. (1999). Coping with crisis: Lessons learned. Sopris West, Longmont, Colorado. Werner, H. R., Bates, G. W., Bell, R. C., Murdoch, P. & Robinson, R. (1992). Critical incident stress in Victorian State Emergency Service volunteers: Characteristics of critical incidents, common stress responses, and coping methods. Australian Psychologist, 27, 3, 159–65. Zenere, F. J. (2002). Tell them what happened here. Personal communication.

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Chapter

P RACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR CRISIS DEBRIEFING IN SCHOOLS Scott Poland

The tragic attack on the World Trade Center in New York has highlighted the need for group processing in schools after a tragedy. It is well documented in the literature that those persons who have experienced a crisis need to have an opportunity to talk about it (Poland & McCormick, 1999). Processing reduces the likelihood of survivors having symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and feelings of isolation, and helps to restore equilibrium. A review of the crisis processing models finds several that have been utilised in the schools with success but also with limitations. I have dealt with many school crises in my position with a school system in Houston, have led or served on national crisis teams in communities that 139

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have experienced school shootings, such as Paducah in Kentucky, Jonesboro in Arkansas, Littleton in Colorado, and Santee and El Cajon in California, and I assisted in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. School administrators sometimes underestimate the emotional impact of the tragedy and the need for staff and students to have the opportunity to process the tragedy. Higher rates of PTSD in particular have been found with exposure to violence versus national disasters (Brock, Sandoval & Lewis, 2001). School support personnel such as school counsellors, psychologists, social workers and nurses are aware of the need for processing sessions but are sometimes uncertain how to proceed. Outlined below are suggestions from several models but especially a processing model developed by Nancy Sanford, a psychiatric nurse in Los Angeles (Wong, 1999). The Sanford model, which is based on pioneer work from firefighter Jeffrey Mitchell (Mitchell & Everly, 1998) is especially useful with large groups of high school students and adults. There are three specific advantages to the procedures: everyone gets the opportunity to talk; large numbers of people impacted by the trauma can be assisted at one time; the model is time limited (this is very important due to the length of a classroom period and the reality that a staff meeting must be over in less than an hour in most situations). The author recently used this model with approximately 250 staff members at a school where a tragic shooting had occurred. The setting was a large room with chairs. The session began with the leader expressing sorrow about the tragedy and explaining the importance of everyone having an opportunity to talk and that everyone has a story to tell regardless of where they were when the shooting occurred. Then the participants were divided into small groups and required to answer in turn processing questions (see p. 142). The leader stressed that this session was only the starting point of the healing process, and then he explained that he would be monitoring the groups to see how the session was progressing and to be able to summarise at the end. The following basic ground rules were stressed for the large group processing session:

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Group members need to both begin and end the session together. Everything said would be confidential. Everyone would be divided into small, equal-sized groups of five (recommended size is 4–6, with the larger groups requiring a longer processing session). It is essential that all groups be the same size or one person smaller so those groups can stay together through the guided intervention: a group with one fewer member than the others can sit or talk quietly and then move to the next question but a group with an additional member would always have one person who did not get to answer each question. One person from each group is selected to go first with each question, and there is a specific allotted time for each question. Each person is invited to take a turn to speak, and rotation is in clockwise order. Each group member is asked to listen attentively. If someone does not use all their allotted time, group members are encouraged to sit in silence to process what their group member said. Time limit recommendation of either 60 or 90 seconds per question for each person. My experience has been that this length of time is sufficient and that when there is no time limit the session does not proceed well and cannot be completed. One mental health professional leads the session while a second serves as a timekeeper. A third serves as a caregiver, who makes certain that tissues and water are available to group members. The caregiver would also offer assistance to anyone who left his or her group. Several caregivers are recommended for a processing session for a large number of participants and a microphone would then be needed for the facilitator so that participants can hear all directions and questions. No written notes are taken of what is said during the session, since each group of 4–6 people is only talking to each other and not to the larger group. These procedures are recommended when there are time constraints and when the group size is 30 or more.

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Processing questions 1 Please introduce yourself to the group and tell them where you were

2 3 4 5

when you first became aware of the tragedy and, specifically, what were your initial sensory perceptions? What did you see, hear, taste, touch or smell? What thoughts or reactions have you been having since the tragedy? What is your biggest concern or worry about the immediate future? What would help you feel safer right now? What has helped you cope when you have had to deal with difficult things or losses in your life before? What can you do to help yourself cope now?

The leader states each question and also displays it on an overhead screen. At the designated time interval the leader states in a calm and soothing voice, ‘Stop, please go to the next person in your group. Thank you.’ After the final question the leader summarises for the entire group. A brief summary of responses to each question is given, with emphasis being placed on the commonality of what everyone has experienced and that no one is alone. It is also emphasised that this session is only a starting point and that those who would like more assistance are invited to stay for additional individual or small group assistance. It is also desirable to have a handout available with mental health information about coping. A classroom intervention with secondary students would utilise the exact same questions and format. A key recommendation is to process the staff first if at all possible after a crisis. If staff members have already processed, then they will support processing in the classroom. An accompanying activity that is extremely productive is to have students write a letter to the principal in which they answer the processing questions. These letters provide the principal with an important overview of what the students have gone through and allow him or her to plan additional support for the entire student body as well as those who need individual help. These processing suggestions are extremely effective and recommended for use in crisis events besides violence, such as when students are killed in a car wreck. A well-planned mental health intervention is very comforting to school staff and students and helps the school return to normalcy (Poland & McCormick, 2000).

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The processing questions can be very beneficial with a small group and would utilise many of the recommendations from the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). Having been trained on the NOVA model and having led two of NOVAs national crisis teams, the author can attest to the fact that their training is highly effective and recommended. The format would change only in that there would be no time limits and the mental health group leader would give individual feedback to each person after they answered a question. This feedback should include statements such as: ‘I can’t imagine what that might have been like.’ ‘It is not uncommon after a tragedy to …’ ‘Others have reported …’ ‘You are not alone with those thoughts.’ The NOVA model also utilises a scribe, who takes notes on the session. The leader should close his or her comments with each participant in a small group by asking if there is anything else that they wish to say and by stating, ‘I am so sorry this happened to you.’

Summary of the processing suggestions Group of 30 or more

Group of 29 or less

Questions

Same 5 questions as above

Same 5 questions as above

Rules

Follow large group procedures with equal size groups and time limit.

Leader personally asks questions to small group seated in a circle. Scribe keeps notes of key points made by participants and group decides what to do with notes taken of the session.

Advantages

Large group processes in a short amount of time and everyone has an opportunity to talk.

Each participant who chooses to talk gets personal attention from leader.

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Disadvantages

Participants only have mental health leader summary, not individual feedback.

Some participants may dominate the session and it may be quite lengthy.

Recommended for

Staff, other adults, and high school students

All age students and any adult group.

References Brock, S., Sandoval, J. & Lewis, S. (2001). Preparing for crisis in the schools. Wiley & Sons, New York. Mitchell, J. & Everly, G. (1998). Critical incident stress management: The basic course workbook (2nd ed.). International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Ellicot City, Maryland. Poland, S. & McCormick, J. S. (1999). Coping with crisis: Lessons learned. Sopris West, Longmont, Colorado. –– (2000). Coping with crisis: A quick reference guide. Sopris West, Longmont, Colorado. Wong, M. (2000). Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. School Safety Update, April, 5–6. Young, M.A. (1997). Community crisis response team manual (2nd ed.) National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA), Washington, DC.

Additional resource Brock, S., Lazarus, P. & Jimerson, S. (in press). Best practises in school crisis prevention and intervention. National Association of School Psychologists, Bethesda, Maryland.

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Chapter

R ESPONDING TO A NATURAL DISASTER : EARTHQUAKES IN

T URKEY

Nevin Dölek

At 3 a.m. on 17 August, 1999 within 45 seconds the Turkish people became the victims of a tragic event. An earthquake hit the Marmara region of western Turkey, weighing in at 7.8 on the Richter scale, a level that placed it in the neighbourhood of the big (7.9 magnitude) San Francisco quake of 1906. The destructive power was almost equal to 400 nuclear bombs the size of the one dropped on Hiroshima. The earthquake was a nightmare for the people living in affected areas. Most were in deep sleep. Because of power failure, cities were plunged into complete darkness immediately after the shock. Many buildings collapsed in residential parts of Istanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Bolu, Yalova and Bursa 145

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provinces and many victims were trapped under the debris. People started to rescue their relatives and neighbours from the ruins with bare hands in the darkness. Survivors felt intense helplessness because they could hear people who were trapped calling for help but they were unable to reach them in the rubble. Coordination of any general rescue attempts was hindered. Telephone lines and mobile phones had gone dead immediately after the quake. The Istanbul–Ankara Expressway was damaged in several places and traffic was halted for two days between Kocaeli and Ankara, delaying rescue teams on their way to the earthquake-hit areas. The earliest volunteer rescue teams arrived in the disaster area on the afternoon of 17 August but in some places the rescue operation only began the next day. However, the damage was so huge that the rescue teams, tools and machines were insufficient. Bulldozers finally moved in to clear the rubble and many bodies were buried in mass graves; families did not know where their relatives were buried while often bodies were not found. People were very angry because they felt that buildings had been constructed poorly. They were also enraged that the government had not made plans for coping with such a disaster and had not undertaken proper relief measures in time. Tent villages were set up by local crisis centre authorities for suffering citizens, but most preferred to remain near their own houses. Persistent rain began to fall and life continued to be difficult in the area. From 17 August to December 1999, 1391 aftershocks occurred, ranging between 2.4 and 5.4 on the Richter scale – an average of 12 daily aftershocks over 119 days (T. C. Bas¸bakanlık Kriz Yönetim Merkezi). Since the Marmara region is one of the most urbanised and industrialised areas of Turkey, the population was high and so was the rate of death (Sag˘lamer et al, 1999). According to the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, a total of 18 373 lives were lost, while 48 901 people were injured and 800 000 left homeless by the widespread destruction. An estimated 400 000 buildings either collapsed or were badly damaged (Is¸te Depremin Bilançosu, 2000). The Social Services and Child Protection Organization reported that 1400 children lost one or both parents (Deprem, 1400 Çocug˘u Yetim ve Öksüz Bıraktı, 2000). Less than three months later, in the early evening of 12 November 1999, another massive earthquake rating 7.2 on Richter scale hit Duzce and Bolu,

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just east of the first disaster area. Although the impact of this earthquake was more limited then the first one, it left another 100 000 homeless, 8845 dead and 4948 wounded (T. C. Bas¸bakanlık Kriz Yönetim Merkezi). The psychological impact of the second disaster was immense, as Turkey was still struggling to cope with the first one. The impact of the earthquakes on schools was also great: 178 teachers and 1387 students died; 1605 schools were damaged and 102 schools collapsed completely. The earthquakes hit during school vacation, so loss of life was much less than would have resulted in term time (T. C. Bas¸bakanlık Kriz Yönetim Merkezi; Is¸te Depremin Bilançosu, 2000).

Help arrived International and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) quickly arrived with emergency supplies and relief materials – more than 60 rescue and medical teams from 26 countries rushed to Turkey. The Turkish government initiated a massive relief program following the disaster. More than 130 tent cities were set up and 100 000 tents were erected (T. C. Bas¸bakanlık Kriz Yönetim Merkezi). The tents, however, proved inadequate and families were forced to move in with relatives or relocate to other regions of Turkey, creating further strain on already compromised services. The government started a construction campaign to quickly produce standard prefabricated houses with the support of private companies. Over three years later the government and private agencies were continuing reconstruction, building permanent homes and revitalising community infrastructure. Within a few weeks of the earthquake more than a hundred ‘play tents’ for children had been erected by NGOs and local officials. The Turkish Ministry of Education concentrated on construction of prefabricated schools and within several months, 61 prefabricated schools and 649 tent schools (‘balloon schools’, as children called them) were set up. On the teaching side, 4360 teachers asked to be relocated to other cities and new teachers were appointed to replace them, while 42 224 students moved to boarding schools in other cities to continue their education (T. C. Bas¸bakanlık Kriz Yönetim Merkezi).

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Natural disaster and collective trauma Natural or manmade disasters have always been an inevitable part of human life. Each year people all over the world must face minor or major disasters – earthquakes, floods, landslides, storms, typhoons, hurricanes, droughts, bushfires, volcanic eruptions, oil spills, chemical accidents and epidemics such as SARS. Disaster is public, shared by many, and psychologically it is traumatic enough to induce distress in almost everyone. What makes disasters devastating is observed in their aftermath. Each disaster has unique characteristics due to varied cultural, socioeconomic, geographical, historical, political and even meteorological factors (Saylor, 1993; Stein, 1997). A disaster not only has devastating physical impact – injury, loss of life or damage to possessions – but also affects people sociologically and psychologically as it alters the environment, disrupts social functioning and depletes humans’ resources and the community’s ability to cope (Baum, Fleming & Davidson, 1983; Belter & Shannon, 1993). All disasters leave victims in their wakes. Earthquakes occur suddenly, without prior warning, and no one can predict the exact time and place of the next earthquake. People are caught unprepared. Earthquakes last for less than a minute, leaving no time for evacuation to safety, and the intensity of destruction is usually high (Belter & Shannon, 1993; Stein, 1997). This suddenness affects people’s shock reactions greatly. And once an earthquake has happened, there is always a feeling that it may happen again. The aftershocks following the main quake keep the fear awake, and cause victims to persistently relive the original trauma. In natural disasters victims may have difficulty in understanding the reason or rationale why it occurred. Some people ask why it happened to them, while others may try to explain it by fate or God. Where there is no one to blame directly, victims may turn their emotions and start to blame themselves (Belter & Shannon, 1993; Stein, 1997). With a natural disaster on the scale of the Marmara earthquake, there was a sense of hopelessness, of being totally overwhelmed by the force of nature. A study of the Turkish population conducted in 1993 following the Erzincan earthquake that killed 541 persons reported high rates of ‘phobic anxiety’ amongst all those interviewed. The earthquake emotionally affected nearly all the survivors. Fear and panic were the most common effects. The

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majority of survivors stated that these emotional problems still distressed them 16 months later (Karanci & Rustemli, 1995). The 1999 earthquakes in Turkey were traumatic in many dimensions. The survivors directly experienced life-threatening danger or physical harm, and were exposed to gruesome injuries, or dead and maimed bodies. They lost homes, valued possessions and their neighbourhoods, as well as loss of communication with or support from close relatives. They had to go through intense emotional demands (such as searching for possibly dying survivors, or interacting with bereaved family members), extreme fatigue, exposure to weather, hunger, sleep deprivation. Persistent or recurring disruptions from the earthquake substantially contributed to continued mental health problems. All these put the survivors at risk from severe stress symptoms and lasting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The trauma had its effects in every house in Turkey whether the people had experienced the earthquakes or not. In Kocaeli alone it was reported that around 20 000 people were receiving psychological treatment. Nine months after the Kocaeli earthquake post-traumatic disorder was frequently diagnosed in many victims. Furthermore, Sakarya Pharmaceutical Chamber reported an increase in use of antidepressants (Felaketi unutamıyorlar, date not specified, cited in Kublay, 2001). Research among 21 000 people living in the Avcilar/Istanbul area found widespread PTSD symptoms, such as the re-experiencing of events, feelings of guilt, irrational behaviour and an increase in religious fervour. Around 60 per cent showed signs of the disaster seriously disrupting their lives. Newspapers reported many cases of people jumping from windows in panic when further tremors occurred (Sparrow, 2001).

Children’s trauma Children who live through a disaster experience: 1 The trauma of the disaster event itself; 2 The changes and disruptions in day-to-day living caused by the disaster.

Destruction of homes, property and personal possessions; being personally injured or faced with physical danger; or witnessing the death, injury or pain of others contribute to the ‘trauma of the event’. Life might not return to 149

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normal quickly following a disaster. Disruptions in relationships, roles and routines can make life unfamiliar or unpredictable, which can be unsettling or sometimes frightening for children. Changes that can cause difficulty include having to be relocated when a home is damaged; crowding and tensions; being separated from family members; financial pressures from unemployment or loss of family business. The changes that can have the biggest effect on children are parental adjustment problems or strains in family relationships that may linger after the disaster. Parents are often busy cleaning up or are preoccupied, distracted or distressed by disaster-related difficulties. This results in decreased physical and emotional availability of parents for their children. Some children might be expected to take on more adult roles, such as watching siblings, helping with clean-up efforts, listening to parents’ concerns and so on. Symptoms of PTSD can be different in children and adults. It has been suggested that if children were affected by a traumatic event, their difficulties would be short-lived and it has been argued that there is no need for a diagnostic PTSD for children since amnesia, psychic numbing and intrusive flashbacks had not been reported in child survivors of disasters (Garmezy & Rutter, 1985, cited in Udwin, 1993). This view has been revised as a result of publications of more systematic studies (McFarlane, 1987; Pynoos et al, 1987; Yule, Udwin & Mardoch, 1990). It is now accepted that school-aged children can suffer post-traumatic stress reactions which are similar to those seen in adults and which can persist for many months, even years (Frederick, 1982, cited in Terr, 1991). Disaster-related PTSD symptoms in children consist of intrusive memories, hopelessness about the future and expectation of early death, avoiding reminders of traumatic experiences, fear of reliving the trauma, repetitive plays or re-enactments, diminished interest in significant activities, emotional numbness, physical symptoms (stomach aches, headaches), hypervigilance or hyperarousal, feeling constantly on guard, having exaggerated startle responses, developmental regressions, deliberate avoidance and irritability (Terr, 1991). A sense of severely limited future, lack of feelings of security, and protection and generalised feelings of vulnerability about events that might occur in the future, along with changed attitudes about people and life – such as lack of trust in others – appear to be important in trauma and cause extreme stress in childhood (Miller, Kraus, Tatevosyan & Kamenchenko, 150

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1993). Television is an important traumatic reminder, children becoming visibly upset when death is shown. Kramer, Schoen and Kinney (1984, cited in Pynoos & Nader, 1988) suggested that disturbing traumatic dreams could continually reinforce the disorder’s persistence. Fear of dream recurrence could cause children to be afraid to sleep alone and cause chronic need to sleep with a parent or sibling continuously. In general, children who are most likely to be affected by disasters are those who directly experienced or had the greatest exposure to the disaster; who experienced major disruptions in relationships (especially within the family), roles and routines that resulted in long-term changes and strains; and those who had psychological or academic difficulties prior to the disaster (Barton, 1969). An initial assessment established that the psychological impact of the Marmara earthquake on children was also very strong. A pilot study of 150 children carried out through UNICEF in two schools from the disaster region several months after the earthquake revealed that many children had been eye-witnesses to potentially very traumatising events and losses, and a significant proportion showed strong post-traumatic, grief and depressive reactions. Approximately 40 per cent of the children reported levels of depressive reactions in the moderate and severe range, warranting further evaluation, while about 7 per cent reported severe levels of depressive reactions. Approximately 30 per cent of the children reported posttraumatic stress reactions in the severe to very severe range, while 33 per cent reported levels in the moderate range. These results – despite being from a very small sample in two randomly chosen locations – exemplify how the earthquake has considerable impact on children (Assisting earthquake victims in Turkey, 1999). The results of a study done by Yucel (2001) on 200 children aged 9–11 at the disaster area that used the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Index (CPTS-RI) suggested that the children at the epicentre of the earthquake demonstrated higher levels of PTSD than those on the periphery. These levels were even higher when associated with significant grief and loss and these children showed higher aggression and hostility. Another study found that children who lived in an area that was more exposed to the earthquake had significantly higher scores of depression, while they had significantly lower hopelessness scores (Kublay, 2001). During our psychosocial intervention programs at the Marmara 151

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earthquake area, we observed in children many of the indications of PTSD mentioned above. Some children continued to wake at night for several months and check to see if their parent or sibling was still alive and safe. They also complained of sleep problems, in terms of settling to sleep, frequent night waking, nightmares and fear of dark. Some therefore were often tired, and had trouble memorising information. They were restless, unable to sit still, and moved about in an aimless fashion, continually searching for something to do, which made it difficult for us to carry out an activity. These children became extremely alert when hearing sudden, unexpected sounds: an unusual noise in the tent city was enough to make them cry – even faint. Some children did not let their mothers leave their side, even for a short time. Some were not interested in play activities. In their imagination the children thought of ways in which they could have acted to prevent the disaster. A few of them acted as police officials or soldiers, to protect the camp site from dangers. They were very sensitive to any form of failure, and were inclined to accept all kinds of blame or punishment, and even to look for them. Some children behaved like much younger children and their drawings seemed to indicate a younger age. Their mothers reported that they had started to wet their beds at night again. The repetition of the traumatic themes in childhood games showed that children were re-experiencing trauma. Results of many studies indicate that a child can be affected by its parents’ attitudes towards the event in addition to the trauma caused by the disaster (Compas & Epping, 1993; McFarlane, 1987; Keppel-Benson & Ollendick, 1993). Thus, how parents deal with their emotional distress may particularly affect young children’s methods of coping. A study by Kublay (2001) of 2140 mothers and children who had been exposed to the Marmara earthquake investigated the relationship between the psychological well-being of the children and the stress levels and coping styles of their mothers. Results indicated that the earthquake had an impact both on the children’s psychological well-being and the mothers’ stress independently. On the other hand, children’s hopelessness scores were correlated with their mothers’ self-confident and optimistic coping styles.

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Healing the mental wounds The psychological impact of the 1999 earthquakes in Turkey was immense and the complexity of the situation needed urgent and continuing attention. Beside much needed support for housing, repair of infrastructure and basic health and nutritional needs, hundreds of mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors and social workers) focused from the very beginning on the need for psychosocial support to the children and their parents. These professionals worked in the earthquake areas on a volunteer basis for many months. Initially their activities were rather disorganised, yet very valuable, since they provided psychological first aid to many survivors. The main aim was to provide psychosocial services to as many people as possible and priority was given to helping children. However, the need to empower professionals with effective crisis response tools was soon felt and for this reason efforts were concentrated to organise immediate training programs for mental health professionals.

Psychosocial interventions A few days after the earthquake, psychosocial support activities initiated by NGOs, universities and later supported by UNICEF and the Turkish Ministry of Education (MoNE) were already taking place in ‘Children’s Centres’, usually in a big tent set up in the tent cities established to house displaced people. The commonly understood aim of these activities was to bring back light to children’s lives. The Children’s Centres provided opportunities for children to spend time with friends and other children and they were encouraged to participate in games, therapeutic activities, fairs and community service projects. Crisis intervention efforts with children as well as adults focused on three important areas of an effective coping behaviour: how to neutralise stress; how to achieve emotional release; how to maintain hope.

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Helping victims to neutralise stress consisted of helping them to make concessions and allow toleration as a deliberate way to cope with stress. Our message to them was that the ability to compromise and to shift attitudes to deal with the situation was not the indication of weak personality, rather it might indicate resourcefulness, flexibility and insight. Through individual or group counselling sessions survivors were encouraged to share their experiences and reactions, to cry and to laugh. Painting, drawing and drama were the most effective ways of self-expression and emotional release. For some victims writing journals was also an effective way of emotional release and coping with difficult emotions. Techniques such as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, Relaxation, Scribble Therapy, Movement Therapy, and Bibliotherapy were especially found helpful in stress management. Because of the very large number of victims, more staff were needed. Nonprofessionals such as university students and local volunteers provided the necessary back up to help as many children as possible. Workshops organised for these volunteer helpers gave practical guidance on appropriate recreational activities for traumatised children. Professionals experienced at the sites gave information, feedback and suggestions to the volunteers about problems. Teams of teachers and children were also trained to share responsibilities and assignments when a future disaster occurred, thereby improving their recovery from the shock, and helping their peers and family members.

Publications The Turkish Psychology Association (TPA) prepared a booklet within a few days on psychological reactions to earthquake and on coping with stress, part of which was published in great detail in every daily newspaper. Members started giving information to radio and television stations and newspapers on psychological reactions to an earthquake and tried to inform the public that most of the symptoms they would experience were normal reactions. Further booklets were prepared by the TPA and other institutions, such as Earthquake and Friendships, Marital Relationships, Helping Children After Disaster, Helping the Helpers, How Can We Help Our Students? A Guide to Teachers and Grief Management. Attention was given to producing books for children with a lot of drawings about the earthquake and coping skills.

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Training for mental health professionals Within several months many of our professionals acquired the basic skills in intervening at the early phases of trauma. Most of the training opportunities were given by experts coming from different countries. It should be mentioned that this training has also been helpful in emotional relief for mental health providers who had themselves been personally exposed to the traumatic effects of the earthquakes. An important training program for mental health professionals occurred in Istanbul, through a project called HANDS (Helpers Assisting Survivors of Natural Disaster) as an initiative of the Community Stress Prevention Center (CSPC) of Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Team training and supervision by five trainers from CSPC began eight days after the earthquake, with some 140 participants. Later on 20 of the participants were trained as ‘trainers’ for 200 hours within a year-long program, on crisis intervention and post trauma methods and skills. Each ‘trainer’ was expected to train at least 12 more trainers who would in their own time help other people. Follow-up evaluation showed that most trainees were able to follow the model and had developed their own groups of trainees and treatment groups of survivors of the trauma. Thus using the cascade model a small team of 20 local helpers was able to reach more than 2500 beneficiaries (Lahad, 2000). Another extensive training program was organised by the TPA on the Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing approach (EMDR). EMDR is known to work relatively fast with trauma-related problems and can also be learned by mental health professionals in a shorter time compared to other approaches. Sixteen EMDR trainers worked with 70 mental health professionals for ten days; two trainers arrived one week earlier and recorded sessions with earthquake victims that were used in training. Twelve trainers remained in Istanbul after the training to supervise the trainees while seeing patients at the sites. Throughout 2000, EMDR Level 1 Training and Level 2 Advanced Training were carried out in Istanbul and Ankara with 100 psychologists. Again, a cascade model was used and each participant trained one other therapist. The International School Psychology Association (ISPA) and the National Emergency Assistance Team (NEAT) members of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) in the USA provided a series of training on crisis intervention for school counsellors, school psychologists and school principals sponsored by YÖRET Foundation (a non-profit organisation that

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aims to develop psychological services in schools). As a result, YÖRET Foundation, in cooperation with the Department of Education, developed a project in the province of Istanbul to assist schools become ready for crisis situations. The project aimed: 1 To establish Crisis Intervention Units at Guidance and Research Centres

(RAMs) in various provinces of Istanbul. 2 To form Inter-school Crisis Support Groups, with the participation of the principals from 15 schools in the same provinces. 3 To set up a School Crisis Response Team in each school, strengthening the school’s intervention in and response to crisis events and assisting the teams to begin working effectively. The first achievement of this project was to train 180 principals, 50 psychologists or counsellors working at RAMs and 15 psychological counsellors of YÖRET as trainers on crisis preparation, crisis management and crisis response in schools.

Psychosocial interventions in the school system The aim of the Turkish Ministry of Education was to ensure that all children in the earthquake area were returned as quickly as possible to a normal school environment. When the disaster struck the schools were closed for the summer holiday and it took some time before they re-opened. The priority expressed by the school authorities was psychological support for the teachers themselves. Despite the loss of family members, homes and possessions, many teachers opted to remain in the earthquake area. Tents and prefabricated units were converted into classrooms and small shed-like houses became home to teachers working in the earthquake area. The teachers have been instrumental in helping children cope with their present circumstances as well as perceiving the future with renewed confidence. Initially, the crisis intervention programs with children in the schools placed strong emphasis on planning and executing practical activities for immediate psychological relief, but plans were also developed to carry out a more systematic intervention program in the schools. The Ministry of Education (MoNE) in collaboration with UNICEF and the Turkish Psychological Association produced a comprehensive Psychosocial School Project for assistance to schools in the disaster areas. Its 156

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strategy was for complementary types of activities to take place in the school system, aimed at re-establishing a sense of control and reducing the psychological impact of the disaster on children as well as adults. The first set of activities would be directed towards teachers, organising support groups to help them and thereby indirectly reaching the children. Secondly, classroom and group interventions would be implemented to help children directly. The third part of the program had a strong psycho-educational component, disseminating information about normal reactions after a disaster to teachers, parents and children (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). To implement such a large-scale project, a strong infrastructure was developed. MoNE in Ankara appointed a project team from within the Ministry and a professional National Expert Team (NET) representing some of the key resource institutions in Turkey. Furthermore, UNICEF established a four-person project team for the sole purpose of supporting the psychological projects. The activities were implemented by project teams in eight affected provinces. The first intervention within the project was creating teacher debriefing groups. The 62 members of the NET – consisting of counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists – attended a two-day seminar before they went to the disaster areas. Once in the earthquake-hit areas they organised debriefing and training seminars for 289 school counsellors who in turn organised psychological debriefing sessions for a total of 8235 teachers by the end of 1999 (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). Parallel to these efforts three intervention programs for children were developed. The first of these programs was called Classroom Based Interventions (CBI). It was specifically designed for implementation in classrooms as part of the regular weekly curriculum in order to: maximise access to the youth survivors; decrease any potential stigmatisation of survivors who participated in the CBI; allow for carefully structured, phase-oriented, repetitive interventions that targeted the reinstatement of safety, stabilisation and normalisation of traumatic stress responses. By February 2000, the program was being carried out with 13 000 children by 320 counsellors (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). The second intervention for children was a group format treatment called Group Counselling Program (GC), consisting of 4–5 sessions. It was 157

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implemented in groups of 6–8 moderately to severely affected children who had been identified as ‘at risk’ through the CBI and psycho-educational activities. The first session dealt with intrusive thoughts and feelings: distressing memories, nightmares and flashbacks. The second session dealt with children’s physiological arousal: difficulties in relaxing, concentrating and sleeping. The third session dealt with avoidance and difficulties in facing up to reminders of the disaster. Each session started with a summary of the principles and ideas behind the technique and then proceeded with a set of practical instructions and activities to be carried out within the group. By June 2000, 150 children had participated in the group counselling program (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). The third intervention, the Psycho-education Program (PE), was developed to help normalise traumatic reactions in a large number of children, parents and teachers. Evaluation of the impact of project interventions was carried out by Ankara University Psychology Department: The Teacher Debriefing program was evaluated through a retrospective satisfaction survey conducted on 223 of the 8200 teachers who had participated in the program. Results showed that these teachers had experienced a wide range of traumatic events and losses during the earthquakes. For example, 44 per cent had lost a loved one; 22 per cent had witnessed people dying and 26 per cent thought they would die during the earthquake. Most teachers attended only one debriefing group. Most (75 per cent) reported that the sessions were needed sooner after the earthquake and 83 per cent wanted more group meetings. Twothirds of the respondents were satisfied with the way group leaders conducted the sessions. Half said that they remembered the information obtained in the sessions and applied this knowledge in their daily lives. Satisfaction with the sessions appeared to be related to the participants’ level of distress. Teachers who reported no benefit from the sessions had higher post-traumatic stress reactions than those who reported the sessions as beneficial. The Classroom Based Interventions program was evaluated via pre- and post-intervention assessment of post-traumatic reactions with two groups of children; 644 above 12 years of age and 789 children below 12 years of age. Students over 12 completed the symptom measures themselves while symptom measures were collected from the parents of younger children (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). 158

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Results from both groups revealed a wide range of traumatic experiences and losses during the earthquake. For example, in the adolescent group 28 per cent reported the loss of a close family member, 21 per cent had seen a dead body, 10 per cent a dismembered body or body parts and 6 per cent had witnessed someone dying. More than half (58 per cent) thought that they might die themselves during the earthquakes (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). The study revealed that children of all ages, in both the CBI and comparison groups, had fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and fewer perceived problems in the school at the end of evaluation. For both younger and older children, the CBI did not appear to have a specific effect on PTSD symptoms. However, for adolescents the CSI program did appear to be more helpful than non treatment in reducing other indices of distress (such as generalised anxiety, depression and negative self image.) In this regard, the evaluations suggested that separate treatments are necessary to specifically address PTSD in both younger and older children (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). The Group Counselling program was evaluated via comparison to a wait-listed control group and pre-and post-intervention measures. Again, self-reporting data were collected from those above 12 years of age and from parents of younger children. The counselling groups for younger children were only helpful in reducing somatic symptoms but for adolescents the counselling group proved to have a significant impact across all measures of PTSD and other indices of stress. Thus the program was most helpful to adolescents who needed most help. By way of contrast, the evaluation study suggested that untreated children, who were in greatest need of help, tended to get worse across most of the symptom measures during the period of evaluation. Overall, the results suggested that the counselling groups were most helpful to older children who were suffering from high levels of PTSD (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). The satisfaction survey completed by children revealed that they found the expressive or play like activities most helpful. It appeared that the greater the number and variety of activities incorporated into seminars, the greater was the benefit reported by children. Observable changes in the behaviour of children were attained. Children who had suffered serious trauma became less fearful, more active, appeared 159

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less withdrawn and participated much more in both play and regular school activities. Another observation was that children became more motivated to do their regular schoolwork, they started to read more and were motivated to work hard. The counsellors reported increased academic success among children who participated in the program. Through participation in the program the children also improved their capacities to accept rules, to work together, to work in teams, to feel empathy for others, and to feel part of a community. As children experienced the adults helping them, they also did more help to their peers, and did so out of a sense of solidarity or shared experience. The project has offered not only children and teachers but also the families more information about the impact of disaster, and has supported a more open communication style between children, parents and schools. This resulted in an increased tolerance from parents about normal child behaviour/reactions, increased a sense of competence as parents, and thereby resulted in increased self-esteem among parents (MoNE/UNICEF, 2001). The project also contributed to an increased acceptance and recognition of the importance of counselling services within MoNE, as well as in the school system.

Lessons learned and suggestions Turkish mental health professionals gained huge experience from an unfortunate event and now have a better working plan for disasters. There is growing awareness in Turkey of the need for crisis plans and school safety programs and there is more appreciation of the work done by mental health providers both in the schools and outside them. Here are some of the lessons we learned and some suggestions we can give to our colleagues in other lands: All counsellors and school psychologists should be trained in psychological debriefing techniques and psycho-educational interventions as part of their basic training. We hope that the universal value of the curriculum for training professionals to provide emergency intervention for helping recovery after shocks will be recognised by universities, NGOs and governments around the world.

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Referral systems need to be developed and strengthened through increased cooperation and coordination between health and educational services. Culturally sensitive disaster intervention manuals should be developed describing strategies, activities and resources to be utilised in case of a large-scale disaster. In a disaster not only individuals but the whole community is hit. All children have a part in a kind of collective trauma: the shock is felt by the whole of their social surrounding. This means that when we develop psychosocial interventions, we have to keep in mind that we will not be working only on the level of individual trauma, but also – and maybe even more – on the level of the collective trauma.

Helping others By definition, crisis intervention is time-limited, provided for as long as the crisis exists. Intervention is based on the assumption that any dysfunctional phenomena that manifest themselves during the crisis are not pathological or irreversible and, therefore, assistance need not deal with deep psychological issues but rather it should focus on the ‘here and now’. In disaster situations psychological help provided by mental health professionals comes way down the list of priorities. Providing practical help in dealing with the disaster might be a good start. Helping disaster survivors – children, teachers and family members – requires preparation, sensitivity, assertiveness, flexibility and common sense. The first priority is to be a team player by respecting and working through the chain of command. We learned that there is no ‘cookbook’ approach to helping people who are struggling with loss. Perhaps the most important variable is ‘being there’ for the person. A squeeze of the hand, a gentle pat on the back or a warm embrace can show you are there and that you truly care. One of the best ways you can help is to just listen. Expression of thoughts and feelings should be encouraged without insistence. People have their own pace for processing trauma. It is important to convey to a traumatised person that they should listen to and honour their own inner pace.

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People should be encouraged to use natural, available supports and to talk with friends, family, and co-workers – at their own pace. They should follow their natural inclinations with regard to how much and with whom they talk. When a parent’s psychological state is much worse than that of the children – because for them the crisis is still going on – teachers or professionals such as psychologists as well as volunteers must help the children become key figures in controlling and creating their own environment. Collaboration with educators and other paraprofessionals regarding traumatised children involves permanent education and sensitivity for the children’s traumatic experiences. Children are the most vulnerable part of the population in any collective trauma such as war or natural disaster. On the other hand, although many children might have been through terrible events during and after a disaster, not all of them are traumatised to the same extent. The process that grieving children are in is a very natural one that has to take its course. The loss of family members can also be a big shock but it does not have to be traumatic. As helpers we might easily project our adult expectations on these children and then we may be inclined to see trauma in every child. For children, some events do not yet have the same meaning as for adults. In reality, the child may not be shocked by the actual event, but can rather be shocked by the reactions of the adults, their fear and anxiety, as they show them to the child. Children can be trusted to actively try to recover – heal themselves – if the right possibilities are created. We believe that the best cure for children is playing with other children. Children involved in a disaster lose their safety and they need to regain security. Usually they need a structure. So activities that require regularity, rhythm in life, daily routines and some ceremonies might be helpful in creating some security for them. A catastrophe such as an earthquake is frightening to children and adults alike. It is important to acknowledge the frightening parts of the disaster when talking with a child about it. Falsely minimising the danger might not end a child’s concerns.

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Helping helpers No one who sees a disaster is untouched by it. Mental health professionals are not superhuman. In a large-scale disaster such as the Marmara earthquake, it is possible that psychological problems related to the event are experienced by psychologists themselves. And it is difficult to give support to others while you are suffering individually. We have to be realistic about our own capacities. In order to protect others from adverse effects of a collective trauma, we have to take means to protect ourselves first. We have to keep sane and healthy ourselves. The stories of traumatised children can easily disturb us or even numb us without us noticing it. Therefore we need to seek counselling for ourselves, to have regular talks with each other about our feelings and about our emotions during the work. If we do not do this, we will suffer from burnout. We have to realise that helping by definition is an unequal power relation, and we must never take advantage of that. A dangerous side effect of the helper syndrome is that the helper might come to believe that everything he or she does or thinks is superior to what the helped person does or thinks. Eventually we might begin to think that we know better about how they feel than they do themselves, and then we might start to treat them as ‘cases’. There are many people around who want to help and will help. They just need to know what to do. It is important to use the capacities and responsibilities of ‘non-professionals’, especially high school or university students and other volunteer adults, in helping the community heal its scars. It is especially valuable to get help from survivors. This will not only make the relationship more equal, but it will also provide opportunities to empower survivors. It is important to find a way to evaluate the effectiveness of our work, either by supervision or by regular talks with each other. It is no shame if our work does not show immediate ‘good’ results. On the other hand, we should not be satisfied with our work too early. We must be prepared to see our work as ‘work in progress’, which means that we have to develop it day by day.

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International cooperation among mental health professionals It is also necessary for the world’s community of psychologists and counsellors to increase their cooperation and solidarity by: developing programs for continuous advancement of professionals by upgrading their education and training with novel tools and modalities in crisis intervention; forming an international crisis response team, which can organise and mobilise resources for areas of mass disasters and help the local teams of school psychologists and counsellors to manage post-disaster needs in their schools; creating means for ‘helping-the-helpers’ among mental health professionals around the world, thereby avoiding burnout and compassion fatigue; building a framework for international periodic conferences of knowledge sharing on issues of crisis intervention and management; creating an Internet knowledge base, and basic training platform in various local languages, thereby elevating and improving professional proficiency in the international arena. Involving the international community will further affect the ‘global family’ as a frame of reference when children, teachers and their families are connecting to their strengthening parts and providing comfort for their weak parts, in their struggle to recover from disaster.

References (30 December 1999). Assisting earthquake victims in Turkey. Center for Crisis Psychology – International Projects. Retrieved 11 December 2002 from the Web http://www.crisispsych.com/artikler/Turkey-Dec.htm (21 January 2000). Deprem, 1400 çocug˘u yetim ve öksüz bıraktı (The earthquake left 1400 children orphaned). TRT Haber. Retrieved 15 June 2000 from the Web, http://www.trt.net.tr.herevamsonuc.asp?haberno=10986 (17 August 2000). Iste depremin bilancosu (Here is the cost of earthquake). Hurriyet, 20. Armsworth, M. W. & Holaday, M. (1993). The effects of psychological trauma on children and adolescents. Journal of Counseling and Development, 72, 49–56.

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Barton, A. H. (1969). Communities in disaster: A sociological analysis of collective stress situations. Doubleday, New York. Baum, A., Fleming, R. & Davidson, L. M. (1983). Natural disaster and technological catastrope. Environment and Behavior, 15 (3), 333–54. Belter, R. W. & Shannon, P. M. (1993). Impact of natural disasters on children and families. In C. F. Saylor (ed.), Children and disasters. Plenum Press, New York. Compas, B. E. & Epping, J. E. (1993). Stress and coping in children and families: Implications for children coping with disaster. In C. F. Saylor (ed.), Children and disaster. Plenum Press, New York. Galante, R. & Foa, D. (1986). An epidemiological study of psychic trauma and treatment effectiveness for children after a natural disaster. Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25 (3), 357–63. Heinberg, R. (1999). Catastrophe, collective trauma, and the origin of civilisation. New Dawn 55, July–August. Karanci, N.A. & Rustemli, A. (1995). Psychological consequences of the 1992 Erzincan (Turkey) earthquake. Disasters, 19 (1), 8–18. Keppel-Benson, J. M. & Ollendick, T. H. (1993). Posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. In C. F. Saylor (ed.), Children and disaster. Plenum Press, New York. Kublay, A. E. (2001). Children’s psychological well-being and mother’s stress and coping styles in earthquake situation. Bogaziçi University, Institute of Social Sciences. Unpublished Masters thesis in Educational Sciences. Lahad, M. (22 August 2000). HANDS Project Intermediate Summary Report. Retrieved 10 August 2002 from the Web. Lahad, M. & Cohen, A. (eds) (1997). Community stress prevention vols 1 & 2. Community Stress Prevention Centre, Kiryat Shmona, Israel. –– (1989). BASIC-Ph: The Study of Coping Resources. In M. Lahad (ed.) Community stress prevention, vol. 2. Community Stress Prevention Centre, Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Marmar, C., Weiss, D., Metzler, T., Delucchi, K., Best, S. & Wentworth, K. (1999). Longitudinal course and predictors of continuing distress following critical incident exposure in emergency services personnel. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 187, 15–22. McFarlane, A. C. (1987). Posttraumatic phenomena in a longitudinal study of children following a natural disaster. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescence Psychiatry, 26 (5), 764–9. Miller, T. W., Kraus, R. F., Tatevosyan, A. S. & Kamenchenko, P. (1993). Post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents of the Armenian earthquake. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 24 (2), 115–23.

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MoNE/UNICEF (2001). Turkish Ministry of Education (MoNE)–UNICEF Psychosocial School Project: Assessment and Evaluation: Psychosocial School Project; Turkey. September 1999–June 2001. Nikelly, A. G. (1977). Achieving competence and fulfillment. Brooks/Cole Publishing. Monterey, California. Pynoos, R. S. & Nader, K. (1988). Psychological first aid and treatment approach to children exposed to community violence: Research implications. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1 (4), 445–73. Pynoos, R. S., Nader, K., Frederick, C., Gonda, L. & Stuber, M. (1987). Grief reactions in school age children following a sniper attack at school. Israel Journal of Psychiatry Related Science 24 (1), 53–63. Saglamer, G., Barka, A., Saglamer, A., Boduroglu, H., Karadog˘an, F., Ansal, A., Eren, I., Celep, Z., Giritoglu, C., Unugar, M., Dikbas, A., Tuysuz, O., Akyuz, O., Akyuz, S., Altunel, E. & Sunal, G. (1999). 17 Agustos 1999 Kocaeli Depremi: Istanbul Teknik Universitesi On Degerlendirme Raporu (17 August 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake: Istanbul Technical University Preliminary Evaluation Report). Retrieved from Web: http://www.basbakanlik.gov.tr/krizyönetim merkezi/kocaelideprem.htm Saylor, C. F. (1993). Children and disasters. Plenum Press, New York. Sparrow, J. (April 2001). Turkey: Living with earthquakes. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Retrieved 15 October 2002 from Web: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/news/01/040603 Stein, B. (1997). Community reaction to disaster: An emerging role for school psychologists. School Psychology International,18, 99–118. T. C. Bas¸bakanlık Kriz Yönetim Merkezi (2000). Depremler 1999. 17 Ag˘ustos ve 12 Kasım Depremlerinden sonra Bakanlıklar ve Kamu Kurulus¸larınca Yapılan Çalıs¸malar. Ag˘ustos 2000. Terr, L. C. (1991). Childhood trauma: An outline and overview. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148 (1), 10–20. The Earthquake Research Department – Ankara (10 October 1999). The August 17 Kocaeli Earthquake. Retrieved 15 July 2002 from the Web: http://www.deprem.gov.tr/kocaeli/info-izmit-1.htm Türk Psikoloji Derneg˘i (Turkish Psychology Association) (1999). Türk Psikoloji Bulteni (Turkish Bulletin of Psychology), Cilt 5, Sayi 14, Eylul 1999. Turkish Psychological Association’s Activities (12 October 1999). Retrieved 10 August 2002 from the Web. Udwin, O. (1993). Annotation: Children’s reactions to traumatic events. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 115–27.

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Yucel, D. (2001). The reactions of school-age children to disaster: Effects of the 1999 Izmit earthquake assessed by self-rating, parental ratings and projective techniques. Bogazici University, Institute of Social Sciences. Unpublished Masters of Arts in Psychology thesis. Yule, W. & Williams, R. M. (1989). Post-traumatic stress reactions in children. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3 (2), 279–95.

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Appendix A G UIDELINE

QUESTIONS AND CHECKLIST FOR DEVELOPING A SCHOOL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN Trevor McManus

The following issues should be considered when drawing up a school emergency management plan. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it gives some indication of the broad range of matters that need to be addressed if a truly comprehensive planning process is to be attempted.

Mitigation Hazard analysis How might the geographical location of your school increase the risk of certain emergency situations?

Natural hazards severe storms, cyclones, floods, bushfire, earthquake, landslip. Technological hazards proximity to airport – plane crash in or near school grounds, falling objects; proximity to industrial area – explosion, leakage of toxic fumes, toxic wastes; proximity to major transport corridor – explosions, leakage of toxic fumes, accidents involving motorists, cyclists and pedestrians; mine cave-in. 169

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Human hazards proximity to locations with potential for violent incidents (for example, jails); murder or violent attack on student or teacher at school; abduction of child from school; abduction or murder of child on way to or from school; entry to the school grounds by persons intending to use violence against staff or students; acts of terrorism, especially if in Australia or involving Australian citizens (or the particular country in which the hazard analysis is being conducted). Accident potential traffic accidents – death or serious injury to motor vehicle or bus passengers, cyclists or pedestrians; serious playground accidents; serious accidents during off-campus school activities, for example boating or climbing accidents; serious workshop or laboratory accidents.

Occupational health and safety statutory requirements What specific obligations do schools have under occupational health and safety acts? Are there requirements for schools under State or local government counter-disaster regulations? What departmental/systemic requirements must be complied with? What procedures are needed in the school to ensure safety registers are maintained and regularly reviewed? Is it mandatory for the school to have a safety committee? What is the role of the safety committee in the school? What regional/district office support is available to assist the school to comply with statutory and departmental safety requirements?

School regulations How adequate are your school’s safety regulations? How frequently are they reviewed and revised? 170

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What specific rules and procedural requirements are essential for: – students’ safety at school and in off-campus activities? – playground safety? – workshop and laboratory safety? – building evacuation? – access to students by non-custodial parent and other adults? – traffic safety – boarding buses, safe bicycle and pedestrian practices?

Insurance In the event of damage to or loss of property or personal belongings through fire, flood, storm damage or vandalism, what insurance cover is provided for: – the school? – teachers? – students? – ancillary staff? – voluntary workers? – the tuckshop/canteen? – clothing shop and other similar school enterprises? What property is not covered in the above circumstances? Is there a need for additional insurance cover to be taken out for certain items or certain circumstances? What procedures can be instituted before the event to facilitate the submitting of accurate claims after one of the above events (for example, up-to-date inventories)?

Legal liability What is the legal liability for the school regarding: – students travelling in overcrowded buses? – students travelling in parents’ or teachers’ cars to off-campus school activities? – unsafe playground equipment or unsafe buildings? – inexperienced or unqualified teachers conducting off-campus activities such as bushwalking, boating or climbing?

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Response Notification Staff When and how should staff be informed? Who should inform staff? How can staff be given adequate recovery time before they face students? Students Who notifies students? Which students are notified? How? Class groups? Home room groups? (Announcements about major incidents in large assemblies can exacerbate the impact of the event.) When? Regional/district office Who is the appropriate officer to report an emergency situation to? What are his or her responsibilities? Parents Who notifies parents of: – injury? – hospitalisation? – death? How are they notified? How can records of addresses and next of kin of students and staff be kept up to date?

Accounting for students after an accident How can all students be accounted for after an accident during a school activity outside the school grounds (for example, bus accidents or accidents during an excursion)? How can all students be accounted for after an accident or incident occurring in the school grounds or buildings? Should the principal or a member of the administration team go to the scene of an accident occurring outside the school grounds?

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If the death of a student or teacher has occurred, the principal may be required to identify the deceased. Should a member of staff accompany the principal in such circumstances?

Welfare issues What support facilities are available? – where can counselling and support take place? – what provisions can be made for students or staff in severe shock (emotional and/or physiological)? – what facilities can be used as a time-out room for students or staff? – what support personnel are required in this room? – what activity materials need to be made available (for example, for making condolence cards)? Can school support resources cope? Is help from outside agencies likely to be needed? Who is responsible for engaging outside support? Is there an established, negotiated protocol for engaging different agencies for different circumstances? Who screens offers of support from outside agencies? To whom do outside support or counselling personnel report? That is, what is the ‘chain of command’? (It is not uncommon in community disaster situations for conflict to arise among various support agencies about which agency is or should be the lead agency.) Convergence – a flood of persons and inquiries to the site of an accident or incident – is a common phenomenon that has to be dealt with after an emergency situation. Who screens offers of help (to separate the competent from the well-meaning, the ‘ambulance chasers’, the mercenary and the mischievous)? How can students or teachers who have been asked to give statements to police, departmental officers and other authorities be supported? What legal or other obligations do distressed students or teachers have to co-operate in this way? Who looks after the welfare of care-givers? (See chapter 9 for further discussion on this topic.)

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Support team roles and responsibilities Who would be involved in an emergency support team in the school? School personnel only? Outside agencies as well? What training would this team have? How is this team activated? Does each member undertake a specific responsibility? Who is responsible for welfare provision? Should there be a member of the administration team on the support team to sanction all action plans of the team? Should all or key team members have a ‘stand-in’ in case they are primary victims of a critical incident?

Communication What phone numbers need to be readily accessible at all times for all emergencies, for example, for information about snakebite, toxic fumes or substances, or bomb threats? How can immediate contactability be guaranteed at all times with emergency services such as: – ambulance? – police? – fire? – poisons information? – toxic substances/fumes information? Who deals with inquiries from: – police? – regional office? – parents? – the public? – the media? Can at least one phone line (for example, the fax line) or mobile phone be reserved for emergency calls only? How?

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Media Who is the school spokesperson? How can media access to staff and students be controlled? What is departmental policy on media access to staff and students? What legal access do the media have to school grounds and buildings? (For example, what happens if they claim that schools are public property?) What training can be provided for school media spokespersons? What are the legal implications of making comment to the media about an incident?

Safety of buildings, equipment, sites What procedures can be used to: – isolate students and staff from an accident or death scene in the school buildings or grounds? – isolate or protect students and staff from dangerous areas or damaged buildings?

Recovery Reorganisation – timetable, rooms, supervising personnel What strategies can be used to: – reallocate classes to alternative rooms? – cover for teachers injured or traumatised? – cover for teachers attending to student or staff welfare needs?

Longer term decisions How can teachers be helped to support distressed students in the days and weeks after the incident? What handout materials can be made available? What in-service preparation can be given to teachers? How can the emergency support team ensure that injured students receive appropriate support and counselling while in hospital or at home? 175

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(This may include liaison with hospital social workers and group sessions with other able survivors in the hospital or at the injured student’s home.) How can the progress of ill or injured students be monitored by the support team to ensure a supported return to school? (The sudden appearance, after a period of absence, of injured students or teachers at school can be quite disturbing for other students and staff.) How can students and staff be supported during inquests and other legal proceedings and on anniversaries? How can the long-term emotional responses of students and staff be monitored and supported?

Preparation After thorough consideration of issues that might arise in the mitigation, response and recovery phases of an emergency, the following questions need to be addressed:

Education and training What educational programs need to be conducted (for example, how people respond to trauma and what constitutes normal reactions)? Who should be involved in these? Who are appropriate persons or agencies to conduct these? What training programs need to be conducted (for example, counselling after a traumatic event, managing the media)? Who should be involved in these?

Negotiations What negotiations with outside agencies are essential: – protocols for intervention? – procedures for mobilising an outside agency? – reporting relationships of outside agency personnel while in the school?

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Pre-emergency status of school How can the effect of a major emergency on the school community be accurately gauged, both in the period immediately after the impact and in the longer term? What is the usual social climate of the school?

Staff/administration relationships What is the leadership style? What is the level of collaboration and co-operation? Relationships among staff Is there harmony? Is there rivalry? Are there cliques? Staff/student relationships Is there general mutual respect? Is there a genuine caring atmosphere? Student relationships Are there significant issues such as violence, bullying, racial tension, sexual harassment, truancy? Community support What is the level of support for the school from parents and the wider community? To what extent are parents involved in the decision-making in the school? What kind of a reputation does the school have in the community? Socio-cultural background What is the range of backgrounds of staff and students? Are there significant numbers of students or staff from non-Englishspeaking or other cultural backgrounds? Are there cultural beliefs that may influence the way in which various groups respond to a major emergency? What previous experiences have the school and the local community had of major emergency situations?

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Format and content What format should an action plan have? Can potential emergency situations that are similar in some way be grouped in separate categories and a separate set of responses be prepared for each category? (Categories may include natural disasters, major property or facilities damage, multiple deaths and/or injury, and on-campus or off-campus incidents.) What might be the content of an action plan? (For example, a plan may include role and task specification, prescriptions for action, lists of contact phone numbers and addresses, and checklists.)

Review and rehearsal What procedures will ensure that any plan is regularly reviewed and updated? What procedures will ensure that all staff, including new staff members and all office and ancillary staff, are familiar at all times with emergency management procedures? How can plans be rehearsed to test practicability? Are local emergency services and other relevant agencies willing to participate in rehearsals? Rehearsals (for example, evacuation and lock-down procedures) can be upsetting for younger children. What procedures can be implemented to minimise the impact of rehearsals and to support those who become confused or upset? What special considerations are needed for students with a disability?

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Appendix B A DDITIONAL

RESOURCES :

B OOKS

AND WEBSITES

This list offers a selection from the many available books and websites which the reader may find useful on the topics of death, dying and grieving.

For children and young people Berenstain, S. & Berenstain, J. (1998). The Berenstain bear scouts and the really big disaster. Little Apple, St Albans, Vermont. Bode, J. (1995). Death is hard to live with: Teenagers talk about how they cope with loss. Laureleaf, New York. Carrick, C. (1976). The accident. Clarion Books, New York. Chick, S. (1989). I never told her I loved her. Women’s Press, London. Clardy, A. F. (1984). Dusty was my friend. Human Sciences Press, New York. Holmes, M., Mudlaff, S. J. & Pillo, C. (2000). A terrible thing happened: A story for children who have witnessed violence or trauma. Magination Press, Washington, D.C. Juneau, B. F. (1988). Sad but OK. My daddy died today. Blue Dolphin, Grass Valley, California. Le Shan, F. (1988). Learning to say goodbye: When a parent dies. Avon Books, New York. MacGregor, M. (1989). The sky goes on forever. Dawn Horse Press, London. Macklin, J. (1993). Remembering and going on: Helping children cope with death. Le Pine Funeral Services, Melbourne. Paterson, K. (1977). Bridge to Terabithia. Puffin Books, London. Saunders, P. (1990). Let’s talk about death and dying. Gloucester Press, London. Simon, N. (1986). The saddest time. Albert Whitman & Co., Illinois. Thomas, J. R. (1988). Saying good-bye to Grandma. Clarion Books, New York. Wells, R. (1988). Helping children cope with grief. Sheldon Press, London. Zagdanski, D. (1990). Something I’ve never felt before. Hill of Content, Melbourne.

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For parents and teachers Allen, J. (2001). Using literature to help troubled teenagers cope with end-of-life issues. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut. Clark, S. (1995). After suicide: Help for the bereaved. Hill of Content, Melbourne. Donnelley, N. H. (1987). I never know what to say. Ballantine, New York. Fine, C. (1999) No time to say goodbye: Surviving the suicide of a loved one. Broadway Books/Doubleday, New York. Fitzgerald, H. (1992). The grieving child. Simon & Schuster, New York. Jamison, K.R. (2000). Night falls fast: Understanding suicide. Vintage Books, New York. Johnson, J. & Johnson, M. (1998). Children grieve too: Helping children cope with grief. Centering Corporation, USA. Johnson, K. & Figley, C. (2002). Trauma in the lives of children: Crisis and stress management techniques for counselors, teachers, and other professionals. Hunter House, Claremont, California. Mehren, E. & Kushner, H. (1997). After the darkest hour the sun will shine again: A parent’s guide to coping with the loss of a child. Fireside/Simon & Schuster, New York. Parkes, C., Laungani, P. & Young, B. (eds) (1996). Death and bereavement across cultures. Routledge, London. Rubel, B. (2000). But I didn’t say goodbye: For parents and professionals helping child suicide survivors. Griefwork Center, Kendall Park, New Jersey. Silverman, J. (1999). Help me say goodbye: Activities for helping kids cope when a special person dies. Fairview Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Teakle, H. (1992). My daddy died. Collins Dove, Melbourne. Trozzi, M. & Massimini, K. (1999). Talking with children about loss: Words, strategies and wisdom to help children cope with death, divorce, and other difficult times. Perigee, New York. Turley, A. Adolescents growing through loss. City Mission Hospice, Melbourne. Wolfelt, A. (1983). Helping children cope with grief. Accelerated Development Inc.

Websites The following websites may be of interest, particularly to parents and professionals. www.nasponline.org The site of the National Association of School Psychologists (USA). Excellent site, includes tips for parents and teachers.

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www.ispaweb.org International School Psychology Association site. Provides an international perspective and good links. www.psychsociety.com.au Australian Psychological Society site: more relevant to practising psychologists than parents and teachers. www.rch.unimelb.edu.au/gatehouseproject Gatehouse Project, Melbourne. Promotes emotional well-being in young people. www.mentalhealth.gov.au/resources/nysps National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy resource guide on education and training. Contains information about Australian packages. http://auseinet.flinders.edu.au/suiprev/index.php Mental health promotion and suicide prevention. Good links. http://online.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatters/ Australian mental health promotion program for secondary school students. www.gu.edu.au/school/psy/rap Resourceful Adolescent Program developed at Griffith University. Developed for the prevention of depression, teaching problem-solving skills. Also of interest to parents. www.fema.gov Federal Emergency Management Agency (USA). Includes hazard safety program for schools. www.afsp.org American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Includes good links and advice. www.lifeline.org.au Lifeline Australia. Good information and links. The organisation has been operating for 40 years in Australia. www.siec.ca Suicide Information and Education Centre. A Canadian site. Not a crisis centre, but good library and resources. www.reachout.asn.au Reachout. A creatively presented interactive site, attractive to young people. www.grieflink.asn.au Grieflink. National Association for Loss and Grief. A South Australian resource on death and related grief, providing useful strategies. www.clockhealth.com.au A general young people’s health service in Geelong, Victoria. www.beyondblue.org.au Beyond Blue. Australian national depression initiative.

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Appendix C G UIDELINES

FOR SCHOOL MEMORIALS

Mardie Whitla

1. School memorial services Memorial services in schools can be an important part of the healing process following the death of a student or teacher, or following multiple deaths, but they must be planned with great sensitivity and care. In the case of a death by suicide (see Chapter 7) it is advised NOT to conduct a memorial service. Some guidelines for a memorial service are: Plan for the service to take place within a week of the event if possible. Religious references or rituals should be included only after cautious consideration, especially in state schools. It is important to involve students as well as staff members in the planning of the event and, where appropriate, students should be included also among the speakers or performers. While it is often difficult to omit persons who want to contribute to the service, it is generally advised to keep the service relatively short: no more than 20 minutes for primary school students, and up to 40 minutes in secondary schools. Family members should be notified and invited to attend the service. However it is often too difficult or painful for families to attend; other families may want to attend even though it is likely to be very emotional for them. Encourage all students to attend, but do not make attendance mandatory. Music can be very emotional for people: consider carefully not only the meaning of chosen music for the deceased, but also the possible effect on persons attending the service. If soothing music is played as people are

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entering the school hall, a calmer atmosphere is more likely to be achieved. Keep in mind that memorial services are designed to fulfil a number of purposes: to remember the deceased person; to pay tribute to his or her life; to honour him or her; to acknowledge the sadness and grief being experienced by many; and to help bring some closure to a period of grieving, which will encourage people to start to move on with their lives. Services should not be designed to hype the emotions of the gathered members of the school community. Also remember the occasion is a memorial service, not a funeral. Rehearse the formal parts of the service, including the format, where people will sit, and the order of presentations, particularly with the students and teachers who will be contributing to the service. Ensure any audio-visual equipment has been checked and is in good working order. If any documentation is being provided (e.g. Outline of Service, photos, songs, poems) ensure more than sufficient copies are available. Class teachers or home-group teachers should prepare students for the service prior to the event. Consider using symbols of life, peace and hope, such as candles, during the service. Memory books of the deceased may also be included. Provide for the return of students to their classrooms or home-groups, with appropriate care available to those who may be particularly distressed, before dismissal.

2. Permanent memorials The permanent memorial, if one is decided upon, need not be part of the initial memorial service, and can be determined at a later time, and perhaps involving a small group of people. Many schools consider planting trees in remembrance of those who have died. While this is a common practice, consideration should be given to the possibility of the tree also dying. Plaques, seats in a quiet part of the garden, art works and memorial funds are among the possible alternatives to consider as permanent memorials. The location of the placement of any permanent memorial must also be taken into consideration. It has been advised not to place the memorial at the main entrance to the school, so as not to confront students on entry.

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References NASP (2003). Memorials/activities/rituals following traumatic events: suggestions for schools. National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/memorials.html Paine, C. (1999). Memorials: Guidelines for educators and communities. NASP Communique, Special Edition: Spring 1999. Poland, S. & McCormick, J. S. (1999). Coping with crisis: Lessons learned: A resource for schools, parents and community. Sopris West, Longmont, Colorado.

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INDEX

Index A Anger Anxiety Art to express feelings Attempted suicide After a suicide attempt

Debriefing 117, 132– 4, 139, 157, 160 Delegation 11, 127 Discussions, decisions 9, 10, 65, 86

146 148 52–3, 66 –7, 84 –5 95 98

E Effectiveness of support persons Emergency management plan Accounting for students Checklist Communication Guidelines Hazards Implementation of plan Insurance Legal liability Occupational health & safety Professional support Terminology Welfare issues Exhaustion

B BASIC Ph (integrative coping model)

Bibliotherapy method Burnout

114 116 128

C Caring Caring environment 48, 73 Caring for self 21, 43, 125, 163 –4 Class activities 52–5, 85 Communication 9, 13 –15, 17–18, 80, 83, 86, 88, 100, 113, 117, 118, 129, 174 Community Care 88 Information 17–19, 40 Screening 50 Welfare 88 Conflict 131 Coordination 13, 42, 89, 100, 146 Coping 71 Court appearances 59–60 Crisis events Car crash 7 Earthquake 145 Kidnap and murder 39 Multiple crises 8 Murder 64 School fire 8, 53 Suicide 99 Terror attack 113 Cultural beliefs 177 D Death Children’s understanding of death Funerals Language of death Multicultural responses

F Facts, establishment of Family Flexibility Funerals G Grief, grieving Group counselling Group processing H Hazard analysis Health Helping the helpers Honesty

125–6 172 169 174 28, 169 169 29 171 171 170 132 26 173 20, 128

68 182 42 56–7, 72, 87

100, 102 159 159

31 43, 163 119–20, 163 66 –7, 162

I Ignoring suicide threats (don’t) 97 Individual responses to trauma 115–16 Informal caring environment 48 International experiences 8, 109, 139, 146

66 –7 56 –7 55 57– 8

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L Leadership in crisis Listening M Media Memorials Permanent memorials School services Multicultural responses

S Screening offers of outside help 13 Secondary trauma 87 Student needs 83 Suicide Avoid glorification of death 100 Communication 100 –1 Memorial services 102 Methods of suicide 94 Prevention of suicide 104 Prevention programs 106 Warning signs 95–6 Supervision for professionals 163 Support circles 111 Support for teachers see Teacher support Supporting the supporters 127

2 141, 161

20, 33, 41, 103 8, 69, 183 42–3, 58, 69, 87, 102, 182 57– 8

N Natural disasters Needs analysis Normal reactions to trauma Normality

148 76, 111 60, 101 68

T Teacher support 64, 74, 82 Terrorism 32, 109 Trauma Coping 47 Effects 46 Psychological considerations 77 Reactions, students 47, 49, 71, 149, 151 Reactions, teachers 46, 72 Tree planting 43, 69 –70, 182

P Pain 36 Parents 117–18 Planning process 27 Policy 89 Prevention of suicide 104 Principals Hearing about the incident 7, 8, 11, 40–1 Seeking support 10, 16 Support for 16, 81 Prioritising and limitations 43, 127 Processing questions 142–3 Psychologists 75, 77, 124 R Reactions of students Recovery process, length of time Referrals Rehearsal of emergency plans Response to emergency Communication Media Principals Seeking support Suicide Risk screening Rituals Rumours

V Vulnerability, circles of

112

W ‘We’re all in the same boat’ activity 55 Workshops Decisions 11 Preparation for principals 10 Preparation for psychologists 79 Writing to express feelings 50, 53, 54, 66, 67, 120

71 21 87, 161 35 13, 17, 18 20 12 15 99 –100 50 –1 87 13, 78

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