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ELITETEACHERS

TEACHING

COPING WITH

TRAUMA: HOW

CAN TEACHERS

HELP

STUDENTS

AFTER TRAGIC

EVENT?

By Estefanía Blanco

According to the statistics, school teachers are required to help one or more students to deal
with a traumatic event at least once in their career.

Trauma has been defined by the Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders as “a
psychological, emotional response to an event or an experience that is deeply distressing or
disturbing. When loosely applied, this trauma definition can refer to something upsetting,
such as being involved in an accident, having an illness or injury, losing a loved one, or going
through a divorce. However, it can also encompass the far extreme and include experiences
that are severely damaging, such as rape or torture”. No matter what the origin of the trauma
is or what form it takes, after a bad incident students usually trust those who remain next to
them, that is, family and school community.

Aware of the important role they play, school communities know well the plan they have to
follow to accompany those students through their recovery, both mental and physical.
Children usually see the school as an escape valve, a place where they can spend most of
their day feeling safe and not alone. Here, routine should also be taken into consideration, as
it helps children go back to normal. Moreover, educators are seen as supportive, caring and
sensitive individuals who are always willing to help.
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When dealing with traumatic events, schools are not alone. Nowadays, they usually work in
NOVEMBER 2019 | ISSUE 05 and support. High-school teacher Sara Rodriguez says: “When tragedy touches a student,
collaboration with institutions and professionals from the field of psychology who provide
them with guidelines on how to help students in those situations where they need their help

nothing learned in the teaching faculty can be applied. As we are dealing with people, each
students reacts differently. In those cases, we need to forget our lesson plans. We are
educating people; and our students’ well-being is much more important than knowing how to
spell correctly. We need to get closer to them, ask them how they are doing and let them
express everything they need to. Ask them questions so that they can give vent to their
feelings, but do not be too pushy. They will talk whenever they feel ready for it. It is their time
to grieve, remember, forgive, question and recover.”