SARA

Each year of my High School career there was a death of a classmate within the school. My freshman year a girl in my grade was killed drunk driving, sophomore year four boys in the senior class collided into a tree and all were four were killed, junior year a sophomore girls heart stopped beating on her way into school and senior year the death hit closest to home when one of my friends, Andy, drown in the merciless waters of Lake Michigan.
Each one of the these tragedy turned the school upside down, reversing it from a house of education to a house of grieving and pain. The student walked around with no motivation, if you went into the hallways in the middle of a class period, kids would be scattered laying on benches, sitting in the hallway so distraught and weak that they couldn’t deal with sitting in a classroom. I don’t know if the response of administrators or teachers became any better through the year because I only sought help the last year I was there when my friend Andy died. The morning after his death they had counselors throughout the district at the High School, ready to help. Students were allowed to skip their classes and gather in a large room where there they could talk to each other, counselors or youth group leaders. Everyone was allowed to grieve because the classroom was too painful of a place to be. They created a room where people could bring pictures they had of themselves and Andy, things that reminded them of him. The school and teachers were very understanding but when I think about it, I feel like they could have done something more than simply begin the class with reading a piece of paper saying “Last night Andy drowned in the water of Lake Michigan…” but when I think what they could have done I am stumped.
Tragedy whether it be death or world disasters is unavoidable. Talking about the tragedy 100% depends upon the situation, there is no right answer for every tragedy. The situation depends on the severity, and circumstances of the particular tragedy and also depends upon the age and maturity level of the students. Teachers should not have to decipher this question by themselves, it should be the administrators job to send out information to the teachers instructing them what to talk about and how in depth. Above all, I believe that no tragedy should be ignored on ANY level. The classroom should be a safe environment for kids to grow and learn, they need to be informed on what is going on and how to handle it because many may not be getting that kind of support and instruction within their homes.
For example, in the recent tragedy of hurricane Katrina, I think handling the situation depends on how close you are to the area hit. If children can feel the immediate effect within their life like with losses, homes hit ect.. then the situation needs to be handle more fragile and with available support rather than here in Michigan where the majority of people weren’t hit on a personal level. Without the situation on a personal level, a teacher could handle the situation by teaching the students about the hurricane and recovery process.
From every situation a lesson can be drawn from within. Most times in a tragedy a teacher will need to drop all that he/she was planning on teaching, to teach a more pressing and valuable lesson that the students need more in their lives at that time.