“We know every child will start the school year with some level of trauma.”
A public school administrator recently made this startling statement to me. No doubt, he’s right.
Children across Texas either just started the school year or soon will start. As they do, COVID-19 infections are surging … again. The uncertainty about what a new surge means for the start of a new school year may feel a little like déjà vu to our kids.
Furthermore, many children are as aware as the adults in their lives are about how dangerous COVID-19 is. Some children are starting school without at least one of the adults in their lives, having lost one or more family members to COVID-19. Others experienced economic hardship when their caretakers lost jobs due to COVID-related closures.
Many children have been away from friends for months, if not more than a year. Many are moving from one campus to another and feel overwhelmed by that alone. Many worry about how they will be treated if they wear a mask or if they don’t wear a mask at school. Many don’t want to get COVID themselves, and many worry about taking COVID home to vulnerable family members.
To say “every child will start the school year with some level of trauma” is a sweeping and startling statement indeed.
And I can’t unhear it. It has echoed in my mind since it was spoken. It’s immediate and lingering impact sounds a call for awareness, compassion and grace.
Gaining awareness of childhood trauma
We need to increase our awareness of what trauma looks like. When we do, we will discover we are surrounded by trauma.
As children and youth return to school this year, teachers in some districts are prepared to look for things like screaming, yelling or crying that seems to have no clear cause; frequent or reoccurring headaches or stomachaches; behavioral regression, such as wetting clothes or talking like a baby; difficulty maintaining attention; acting out or aggression; withdrawal or clinginess; obsession with performance; falling asleep in class; avoidance, fear or anxiety; irritability, depression, shame or self-blaming; lack of appetite; and a seeming preoccupation with death, among other signs of trauma.
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Who around you is exhibiting some of these signs of trauma? You already may be counting people on your fingers.
The object at this point is not to determine the cause of the symptoms as much as it is to recognize signs of trauma and that there are people around us experiencing deep hurt. This is demonstrated for us by Jesus seeing the crowds and having “compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
Have you ever seen sheep without a shepherd? I have. They appear aimless and even frightened. Certainly, they are vulnerable.
Being compelled by Jesus’ compassion
Once we recognize the signs of trauma, we ought to feel compelled by the kind of compassion Jesus felt toward the crowds, such as when the harried crowds pursued him around a lake. He couldn’t help but teach and feed them, caring for the need of their bodies and souls (Mark 6:30-44).
The public school administrator mentioned earlier also told me his school has prepared to address his students’ trauma-related needs. I know the size and scope of the task, and my jaw dropped. Like no school year I can remember, schools—public and private—will need us to have eyes that see, hearts that feel, and hands that serve.
The best way to know how, when and where to serve is to contact school administrators. Along with regular protocols, schools have additional COVID-related protocols that need to be considered before just showing up. In fact, you really shouldn’t just show up to help at a school.
How can you help at a time like this? Maybe you have particular expertise in trauma care or counseling. You could be a resource for a school and the parents and guardians of children attending that school.
If you have past teaching experience, you might be able to serve as a classroom aid or tutor. Maybe you have technical knowledge or skill and can serve as an additional mentor for academic programs.
Maybe you don’t have any of those, but you do have at least one good eye, ear, arm or leg and time. If you can add to that a kind heart, you’re much more than a warm body. You could be a direct conduit of God’s grace to countless kids, their friends and families, and their teachers.
Extending grace
We may not have time, particular knowledge or experience, or the emotional and psychological capacity to be engaged on a school campus. There is something all of us have, however—God’s abundant and sufficient grace—and we have enough to extend it to others. We can extend God’s grace through uplifting words to and about educators and through advocating on behalf of them and their students.
As the school year starts, teachers—public and private—will engage students some of whom fell behind last year, all of whom are expected to make academic progress this year, and all of whom will have “some level of trauma” before they even arrive at school. No pressure.
Teachers also start this school year with some level of trauma. Some have lost family, friends and/or even colleagues on campus. After almost 1 1/2 years of silent or quiet halls and classrooms, they are hearing or will hear the crush of hundreds of students echoing in the building again. They may wonder if they’re ready, if they’re up for another year of teaching.
Now is a time for those who follow Jesus to demonstrate his gospel by opening our eyes to see, being compelled by his compassion to act, and extending God’s overflowing grace to others.
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