SAFETY school violence ARE WE PREPARED FOR ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS?
WRITTEN BY MEGHAN GRANT
Approaching aclassroom, PatrolmanCharles Kryzsiak advised his team how to proceed. Working in groups with their weapons drawn, the officers choreographed their movements to provide maximum defensive protectionand offensive firepower.
Watching an officer enter, Kryzsiak offered acritique, one that would keep the officer from being an easy target to an armed assailant inside the room. Carefully progressing through an empty Henry P. BectonRegional High School in East Rutherford, the team practiced strategies that could ultimately end an active-shooter situation.
During the highschool’ s winter break, East Rutherford police and the Bergen County SWAT Team held an active-shooter drill. The drill is part of aregionalized trainingapproach for Bergen County, enablingeffective coordination across the county’ s patchwork of departments.
HOW TO TALK TO KIDS ABOUT TRAGEDY
Inthe wake of the deadly shooting at aFlorida high school, parents and educators may struggle to explain violence to their children and how to reassure them about own their safety and security. But there are ways that parents can help children and teens work through their anxieties and fears related to tragic events, experts say.
Maureen Brogan, statewide coordinator of the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, offers the following recommendations for talking to children:
Talk about the news with them. When breaking news is being reported, some details are often sketchy and some reporting may not be accurate. We should explain that and try to give some perspective. It is also an opportunity to teach children about reliable news sources.
Don’ t pretend to understand why violence is occurring. But explain that whoever carried out the violence are troubled individuals unable to deal with their feelings and problems and unable to control their impulses or urges to hurt others.
Emphasize the good things people do and how acommunity comes together to help one another during atragedy and its aftermath.
Consider professional help for children who experience aunusual level of anxiety that interferes with their normal lives. In younger children, symptoms could include stomachaches, changes in eating habits, nightmares or separation anxiety. Some may become sad and withdrawn or refuse to attend school.
Recommendations can also be found on the websites of the American School Counselor Association, the Scholastic company and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
— HANNAN ADELY
THINKSTOCK
34 SPRING 2018 |( 201) FAMILY