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    Scholasticnews Indepth War-Iraq Brodkin12

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    Hirenkumar Shah
    The document provides guidance for teachers on how to discuss tragic events like the Columbia disaster with students. It suggests listening to students' existing knowledge and concerns, addressing topics at an age-appropriate level, maintaining routines, and offering comforting activities to help students process their feelings.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Scholasticnews Indepth War-Iraq Brodkin12

    Uploaded by

    Hirenkumar Shah
    9 views1 page
    The document provides guidance for teachers on how to discuss tragic events like the Columbia disaster with students. It suggests listening to students' existing knowledge and concerns, addressing topics at an age-appropriate level, maintaining routines, and offering comforting activities to help students process their feelings.

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    scholasticnews

    Original Title

    Scholasticnews Indepth War-iraq Brodkin12

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    The document provides guidance for teachers on how to discuss tragic events like the Columbia disaster with students. It suggests listening to students' existing knowledge and concerns, addressing topics at an age-appropriate level, maintaining routines, and offering comforting activities to help students process their feelings.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    9 views1 page

    Scholasticnews Indepth War-Iraq Brodkin12

    Uploaded by

    Hirenkumar Shah
    The document provides guidance for teachers on how to discuss tragic events like the Columbia disaster with students. It suggests listening to students' existing knowledge and concerns, addressing topics at an age-appropriate level, maintaining routines, and offering comforting activities to help students process their feelings.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    Soon after the event, an ordinary citizen, when

    given the tragic news by a roving reporter in


    Times Square, cried out Oh, no! How much
    more can this poor world stand! An imminent
    war, smoldering conflict in various regions of the
    world, the haunting memories of 9/11, and a
    faltering economy have left many adult
    Americans understandably edgy. And when
    adults are edgy, children of all ages sense the
    worry in the air.
    Once more, teachers (and parents) face the
    tough task of suspending their own disquietude
    to consider how to reassure the very young. The
    task is complicated by the fact that childrens
    perception of the event may vary:
    For some students, the tragedy will be
    remote and they will have very little
    knowledge.
    Others may have been watching television on
    Saturday morning and been introduced to
    this event with little or no adult supervision.
    As with any news event, the impact will be
    greater in different parts of the country. In
    this case, children in Texas and Florida may
    be more deeply affected than children who
    live farther away from the accident.
    There are certain principles that do apply to
    this or any other shocking eventnatural or
    unnatural:
    1.
    Start by doing more listening than
    talking. By doing so, teachers will know
    how to handle the topic in their particular
    classrooms. (The youngest children may say little
    or nothing about the Columbias loss.) Somehow,
    communicate the idea that while this is a
    dangerous job, and the astronauts all knew that,
    accidents like this are rare. Every once in a
    while, something terrible happens; and the
    scientists will learn from it, so they can better
    protect future astronauts.
    2.
    Tailor discussions of bad news to
    childrens ages and individual
    sensitivities. By this point in the year, you
    know the children in your classes well and you
    know the developmental issues of your age
    group. Broadly speaking, respond to their
    questions honestly. But for the youngest and
    most fragile of any age, offer minimal details to
    avoid confusion and further worry.
    When the subject arises, listen to their
    impressions, thoughts, questions, and tailor your
    responses to the needs you recognize. At times
    like this, teaching moments should focus much
    more on meeting emotional needs than on any
    academic subject.
    3.
    Stick to familiar routines in your
    classroom. Changes in routine are often
    signals that something is wrong.
    4.
    Make time for comforting activities.
    Games and activities that provide chances
    for winning, for mastery as well as pure fun can
    help dissipate feelings of powerlessness. Make
    sure that the schedule is not unbalancedtilting
    too much toward serious and worrisome topics.
    You can suggest to parents that they make time
    for comforting activities at home.
    5.
    Allow children to get involvedoffer
    those who seek it an opportunity to do
    something to help. The class may write a letter
    to a class in Houston, for example; or send art
    work to Mission Control.
    6.
    Make the school-to-home connection
    either with a special parent-teacher
    meeting, or with individual notes sent home.
    Recommend to parents that they limit their
    childrens exposure to all media reports. Ask
    parents to share what they know about their
    childrens concerns. How are they handling
    things at home? Are there ways that teachers and
    parents can collaborate? Learn whatever you can
    from each other.
    Following the COLUMBIA Tragedy
    by Adele M. Brodkin, Ph.D.

    A M E R I C A ' S C L A S S R O O M N E W S P A P E R
    E D I T I O N 1/ 2

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