Classmates Left-Behind: Adolescent Trauma Precipitated by School Violence

Christine Freeman Shaub, PhD

Synopsis

Violence in schools is not a new phenomenon. Sad to say that our society has become desensitized to incidents of violence in schools. In tragedies the occur at schools, the classmates that were left behind need help from administrators, teachers, staff, and parents to help heal from the devastation. Further, teachers need help with supporting classmates left behind after a traumatic event. It is very difficult to offer support and understanding to children that have experienced the loss of their classmate, when you need help yourself. This curriculum unit offers guidance to the teacher and students that have experienced a traumatic loss of a classmate. It identifies key aspects of emotional trauma for elementary, middle and high school students as it relates to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) and grief. The unit also discuss the propensity of school violence for minority boys and girls in urban school settings. There is also a discussion on the Media and traumatic school violence and the added trauma experienced by aggressive media entities is reporting on such tragedies.

Keywords: trauma, traumatic event, traumatic school incident, school violence, PTSD, grief, minority girls and school violence, minority boys and school violence, teacher support, loss student, student dies, child dies, media, adolescent trauma, child trauma, 5 stages of grief, school response to school violence incident