Helping Children Cope With Violence

From CharacterCounts.org

In the wake of Friday’s tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, we want to pass along some links to articles and websites that provide helpful tips on talking to children about violence.

Right now, kids might have questions about their own safety at school, or about how and why these types of horrific incidents occur. There are no easy answers, of course, but there are ways to make them feel safe, loved and supported.

• See our article on How to talk to kids about violence, which we posted last February following a mass shooting in Arizona.
• ABC News features an interview with journalist Willow Bay, who wrote the book “Talking to Your Kids in Tough Times: How to Answer Your Child’s Questions about the World We Live In.” Bay suggests creating a safe and comfortable place to talk about things out and also suppressing “the normal parental instinct to tell them everything.”
• The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) provides a great deal of information on Helping Kids During Crisis including webinars on supporting students after crisis and loss, PowerPoint presentations on coping that teachers can share with students, and parental and teacher guides.
• In the CHARACTER COUNTS! Lesson Plan Bank, we posted this lesson plan on helping kids cope with violence.

If you’d like to donate to the families of the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary, the United Way of Western Connecticut has set up a donation page here and members of the Newtown community have also started a fund here.