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student coping with the effects of disaster media coverage: a qualitative study of school staff perceptions
j. brian houston et al. 2018
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12310-018-9295-y
Researchers in the MU Disaster and Community Crisis Center (http://dcc.missouri.edu/) found that teachers and parents might not be prepared to respond to students' questions and anxieties in the aftermath of natural or human-caused disasters. The coverage can impact children's mental health, not only in school but in response to future disasters as well.
"Teachers spend seven to eight hours a day with children," said Jennifer First, program manager at the Disaster and Community Crisis Center and a doctoral candidate in the MU School of Social Work. "They often are the first responders, both directly and indirectly."
The Disaster and Community Crisis Center developed a step-by-step plan with guidelines on how to discuss disasters with children. They found that teachers commonly don't know how to answer children's questions about disasters such as mass shootings or devastating wildfires, or explain why they happen at all.
"Images of disasters stay with kids for a long time," First said. "That's why it's important to be prepared and offer helpful coping methods."
The researchers surveyed 42 teachers on their preparation in dealing with media coverage of disasters. They also were asked what techniques they felt were needed to help students in dealing with their fears and anxieties. First and her colleagues found that many children bring concern to teachers and parents about why these terrible things happen and what can be done to stop it happening to them. The Disaster and Community Crisis Center includes instructions in their disaster intervention protocols about encouraging safety measures and helping victims. The detailed instructions can be found on their website.
"We believe that our guidelines offer a solid place for teachers and parents to learn about children's emotions during these times," said Brian Houston, director of the Disaster and Community Crisis Center and associate professor of communications at MU. "Children have easy access to media today, and we want to make sure they are getting the help and understanding they need when they feel unsafe or confused."
abstract Addressing mental and behavioral health effects of disaster media coverage is an important part of a disaster public health response, and school staff may be particularly well suited to help children and youth cope with disaster media. We conducted qualitative interviews (N = 42) to explore US school staff (e.g., teachers, mental health staff, administrators) perspectives on disaster media coverage and students and used an inductive thematic method for analysis. We found that school staff reported that students often exhibited reactions to disaster media that included expressing emotions and asking questions. With regard to school staff coping efforts with students, participants described different ways they talked with students about disaster media, but also reported a need for help with these conversations.
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