Responding to a crisis at a school

It’s been several days after the shooting at the local middle school, and details about the shooter have emerged.

The shooter—13-year-old John—had been bullied most of his life. His mother left when he was three, and his alcoholic father physically and emotionally abused him. John often went without food and clean clothes for days, and other children mocked and humiliated him. Desperate to escape the misery, John took his father’s rifle and killed his father, whom he considered to be the source of his anguish. Then, John headed to middle school, seeking additional payback. John killed 14 students and three teachers, wounded five other people, and ultimately ended his own life.

Surviving students and teachers feel pain, anger, confusion, and guilt in the shooting’s aftermath. They need your help to create a program that will help them effectively process the situation and deal with their emotions.

Research

Your main research source will be your textbook when creating the program for the survivors. You should also use the references listed in this section or conduct your own research using reliable, relevant sources. Whether you agree or disagree with the authors, you must support your argument with reliable material from the provided sources. Also, if you have life experience in this area, you may include this information in your paper.

SOURCES

• Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA. (2016). Responding to a crisis at a school [PDF file]. Retrieved from http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/crisis/crisis.pdf
• Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). First responder. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/cisa/first-responder
• Office for Victims of Crime. (n.d.). Helping victims of mass violence and terrorism: planning, response, recovery, and resources. Retrieved from https://www.ovc.gov/pubs/mvt-toolkit/
• Office for Victims of Crime. (n.d.). The vicarious trauma toolkit. Retrieved from https://vtt.ovc.ojp.gov/
• Soma, C. (2017). 10 steps every educator needs to know to create a trauma-informed school. Retrieved from https://starr.org/10-steps-every-educator-needs-to-know-to-create-a-trauma-informed-school/

Writing Guidelines

Keep the following guidelines in mind when writing your report:

• Ensure your paper has the following components:
  • A title page
  • An introduction
  • A body containing several paragraphs
  • A conclusion
  • A reference page that lists all the sources you used to write your paper
• Type your submission, double-spaced, in a standard print font, size 12.
• Use a standard document format with one-inch margins. (Do not use any fancy or cursive fonts.)
• Ensure your project is a minimum of 850 words in length.
• Proofread your work carefully. Check for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.
• Use APA style throughout your paper, including formatting and citations.