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Crisis Intervention and Crisis Management
Strategies for School-Based Response Teams

The decade of the 1990s: Grayson, Kentucky (1993); Redlands, California (1995); Blacksville, South Carolina (1995); Lynnville, Tennessee (1995); Moses Lake, Washington (1996); Bethel, Arkansas (1997); Pearl, Mississippi (1997); West Paducah, Kentucky (1997); Stamps, Arkansas (1997); Jonesboro, Arkansas (1998); Edinboro, Pennsylvania (1998); Springfield, Oregon (1998); Littleton, Colorado (1999) - Another School, Another Senseless Act of Violence.

Suicide and sudden death (natural or due to acts of violence) have become a reoccurring crisis for today's schools. Today families, schools, and communities have to help youth; even very young children confront death, grief, and loss on a routine basis. The following is a checklist of responsibilities for teachers and uspport personnel in the event of a crisis:

Announce event to students; clarify facts to eliminate rumors.:

Lead class discussion and generate activities to reduce the impact of the trauma (not discussing a loss with students can send a very powerful message, i.e. that someone?s life is expendable).

Identify students in need of counseling and refer to the counseling suite or care center.

Notify counseling office of students wanting counseling.

Postpone testing, restructure, or shorten assignments.

Keep the administration, counselors, and members of the Crisis Response Team department informed of concerns or problems.

If appropriate, ask the class what they wish to do with the decease's desk.

In the event of a teacher death, members of the department should rotate by planning who will cover the class for the first week following the loss (students need the availability of a teacher not a stranger to cover the class - it sends a message of caring and shared loss).

Discuss and prepare both students and teachers for funeral attendance, especially if they are asked to make a brief statement or deliver a eulogy, and if they are unfamiliar with religious customs or rituals of the deceased. Maintain the traditional ethnic and cultural mores regarding procedures and protocal of students from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds. The cultural diversity in school settings cannot be ignored. Education and responsiveness to different roles and rituals will help diffuse rigidity and expectations of other ethnic groups for the deceased. This can be a powerful learning experience.