How to Respond to a School Crisis? Essay

Introduction

Schools, across the world, are affected by crises. A crisis may paralyze a school’s operations. Knowing how to respond to it and prevent it is therefore important. This essay clearly explains the roles of crisis team members in responding to a crisis and preventing it.

How School Crisis Team Members can Respond to a School Crisis

A school crisis could refer to several situations that may bedevil the school. These may range from natural disasters to criminal activities or traffic accidents. School crisis team members have a critical part to play in the face of such crises. When a crisis takes place within a school, it is the responsibility of the school crisis response teams to find a way of coming up with feasible mechanisms to arrest the situation. First, there should be a deliberate attempt to assist those who have been directly affected by the crisis. For instance, in the case of a tragic accident that entails shooting or stabbing of students, the injured students and/teachers should be admitted to the hospital immediately. While here, they will get the services of health professionals to help them recover. Second, the source of the crisis must be dealt with. For example, if a stranger got into a school and stabbed students and teachers, it would be better to liaise with the police and bring the perpetrator of the crime to book. This will not only be a form of justice to the victims but will also shield the remaining students and teachers against further attacks from the same person. Third, the school should be closed especially if the other students and teachers are affected psychologically. This will help to relieve the tension and provide enough time to attend to the victims. Fourth, the school administration should organize a meeting with the parents in which they should invite experts such as psychologists (Motomura, et al, 2003, pp. 239-240). In such meetings, parents can be educated on understanding the psychological and physical manifestations of stress among their children. They will also be able to ask questions about child care and be responded to. Moreover, there ought to be counseling of the victims and a 24 hour-hotline, where important information can be channeled and be responded to by counseling experts (Motomura, et al, 2003, p. 240). The team responsible for crisis management is supposed to share their responsibilities (Schofeld, et al, 1994).

Effective preventive strategies to be adopted by school crisis response members

Generally, there is a variation among different ethnicities with regard to the ways of preventing different school crises. For example, the African American community does not only teach its youth problem-solving techniques but has also established programs to teach them how they can prevent themselves from other health-related problems (Goldstone, et al, 2008, p. 19). Besides, the African American church has an influence on the lives of the youth and this black church can therefore help the youth through its teachings and spirituality (Molock, 2005).

Additionally, engaging families to help in the prevention of suicidal tendencies among school-going children is important. This has been proved to work in the Latino culture and can also apply to any other culture. Qualified staff should help train parents on how to go about this. Seminars and the use of videotapes could be handy in this. Using this strategy is crucial due to the proven fact about the centrality of the family (Rotheram-Borus et al, 1996).

On the other hand, peer programs should be used in schools. Student peers should be educated on suicidal matters and then pass the same information to their friends. This is because it’s easier for them to confide in one another (Sandoval and Brock, 1996, pp. 171-175).

Conclusion

This essay has effectively elaborated on the fact the reality of the existence of school crises. There is a duty that the school crisis team members can play when there is a school crisis. Some of the measures that they may do involve counseling, taking victims for treatment, and involving parents. On the other hand, prevention of school crises can be done through education, religion, and the use of the family.

References

1. Goldstone, et al (2008). Cultural Considerations in Adolescent Suicide: Prevention and Psychosocial Treatment. America Psychologist.
2. Molock, S. (2005). Developing suicide prevention programs in African American churches. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Suicidology, Denver, and CO.
3. Motomura, N. et al, (2003). Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences School: crisis intervention in the Ikeda incident: Organization and activity of the mental support team. 57; 239-240.
4. Rotheram-Borus et al, (1996). Enhancing treatment adherence with a specialized emergency room program for adolescent suicide attempters. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 654–663.
5. Sandoval, J. and Brock, S. (1996). The School Psychologist’s role in suicide prevention. School Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 169-185.
6. Schonfeld, D.J. et al. (1994). School-based crisis intervention: An organization model. Crisis Intervent.1994; 1: 155–166.