Today, we all know that traumas negatively affect the physical and psychological health of all of us, regardless of child/youth/adult. Traumas also cause academic and behavioural difficulties in school-age children.
In this respect, the protective function of the school on children and young people is of inevitable importance.
School is not only an institution where teaching activities are carried out. As we all know, children and young people establish healthy bonds at school; they learn how to establish relationships with adults/ authority figures and the function of boundaries.
In short, children and young people are socialised through schools. When we say socialisation, we should not only understand the learning of social bonds and the development of social rules. While trying to overcome such a difficult process, children and young people are also looking at how we react to this challenging process.
Children and young people need a lot of understanding and support to feel safe again. The most important thing to heal us is relationship.
When we think from this perspective, as teachers/educators trying to build a trauma-sensitive school, what can we do to make our students feel safe?
- From a place that recognises the difficulty of the earthquake and disaster, let us allow for mourning.
- Let's try to create spaces for our students to express themselves. Let's work together with branch teachers to help them express themselves not only by talking, but also by acting, art and painting.
- When our students express their difficulties and emotions, it is very important to be able to look at our own emotions and regulate them in order to meet them in the right way.
- Our students do not only come to learn what we teach. They also learn a lot from how we react to which event.
- While going through such a challenging process, it is very important to allow ourselves to notice the emotional effects of this process on us. When we recognise what is happening to us, we can respond to our students' pain/ difficulties in a healthier way in the classroom.
- Let us remember that our goal is not to make our students feel good, but to help keep them safe and healthy. As we try to do this, let's think about how we can keep ourselves safe and healthy too.
It's a day to remember again why we want to be teachers.
We became teachers because we chose to be a safe embrace for our students. We chose to educate and develop them.
School is not just a physical structure.
It is the address where experience is gained, where we can be together in trust, share our experiences, understand each other again, support each other and grow together.
