The deadly shooting attack at a kosher market in Jersey City last December is no longer in the news headlines but it remains fresh in the minds of people who live and work in the community including teachers and counselors in the city’s schools. The incident, which occurred near an elementary school, serves as a stark reminder that violence and loss of life in urban communities has a traumatic impact on children both at home and in the school environment.
With 1 in 7 children experiencing the death of a parent or sibling and 90% experiencing the death of someone important in their life by the age of 25, educators across the country report being ill-equipped to navigate these difficult moments with their students. According to a national survey of educators*, some 93% of teachers report never having received specific training in the area on childhood bereavement.
In response, Good Grief, a nationally recognized child bereavement organization, has launched an innovative school-based program called Good Grief Schools which takes a comprehensive approach to help children build resilience and overcome loss and adversity. The program includes a classroom curriculum, peer-support groups, professional development, and parent education to provide educators with tools to support students’ social-emotional learning. To date, more than 60 schools in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have committed to the program including Jersey City which conducted a day-long training earlier this month for 65 counselors representing 40 elementary, middle and high schools across the city.
“Grief shows up in so many different ways for our students,” said Myra Rodriguez, school counselor at Jersey City’s PS #20. “The grief our students experience is trauma-based from losses in their families, violence in the community, or constant lockdowns.”
Students experiencing loss and adversity face a variety of risks. Research points to higher rates of stress, anxiety, and depression, and poor performance in school. The Good Grief program helps students learn adaptive life skills such as emotional intelligence, how to cope with stress, how to seek help when they need it, and how to be empathic toward their peers in the face of adversity.
“This training equips teachers and counsellors to be more supportive of our students who need help,” said Rodriguez. “We not only will be ready to address the adversity that students face, but we will be able to help them grow from those situations.”
For more information on Good Grief Schools, please visit: goodgriefschools.org
(*Data from a national survey of 1,006 teachers conducted by the American Federation of Teachers and the New York Life Foundation.)
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Good Grief is respected as a national leader in delivering grief services to children and their families. It is the leading provider of these services in New Jersey serving more than 900 participants each month. Good Grief is a registered 501(c) (3) tax-exempt non-profit organization whose mission is to build resilience in children, strengthen families, and empower communities to grow from loss and adversity. For more information, please visit our web site www.good-grief.org