On Tuesday the day broke with bright sunshine. The grass was rimed with sparkling frost and the air was sharp and fresh. It was a perfect morning in early spring.
And the contrast was stark with the devastation and horror that was unfolding across the world in Japan.
While we as adults attempt to make sense and cope with the scenes presented so dramatically and graphically our minds also turn to our children. As we cope with our shock and disbelief, we also consider our students and how they cope with disaster on such a scale.
Such terrible and tragic events have their impact on us in different ways. As adults we seek different solutions. Some of us follow the news with close attention to each unfolding moment. Others immediately reach for a personal connection to make sense of it all. And others need to find a distance from the details as a way of grasping the magnitude while managing the personal and emotional impact.
And all of us have the impulse to take action and help by whatever means we have.
Meanwhile, life in school goes on and it must.
When adults cannot make sense of the scale of the loss and the disaster, it is hard to know what to do for the best. But think of it we must. Much depends on the developmental level of each child and age group. We worry about what to share and how much to explain. Beyond the immediate human concern it may be appropriate to focus on the science, geopolitical implications or global politics. With younger children it is quite another matter to even raise such abstractions.
Loss of any kind reverberates within a community. There is no a simple answer or formula or script for what to do or how to make sense or manage the emotional impact. The fundraiser, the bake sale response has a place and doing something, anything, is helpful.
But we must also pay attention to that which speaks to the human need to cope, build resilience and expand our emotional capacities for empathy and action. There are people now in Japan with the courage, fortitude and selflessness to endure unimaginable hardship and risk their lives for the good of others. The human capacity for altruism and survival is immense. How can that be?
So we worry about whether we doing too much. Or too little. About what to say and what not to say. About what and how much children need to know. And about what will help them remain resilient and optimistic in the face of such loss and suffering.
Our mission calls us to develop educated citizens with global awareness who act with empathy and understanding. But here is a whole nation facing a crisis of unimaginable proportions. And here are our children full of hope and optimism from age 3 to 18.
I share here five points from the psychologist Rob Evans written in response to 9/11. They have relevance now. I wrote to him then asking his permission to quote them. I am assuming that his permission to share still stands:
Our hearts and minds go out to the people of Japan.
I welcome your response and suggestions.
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