High Schools Respond to Crises

Abstract

Schools across the nation have increasingly coordinated crisis intervention programs to minimize the impact felt by students as the result of a crisis, such as national events and school violence. Through the development of response plans and crisis teams, as well as the instrumental work of school counselors in promoting intervention plans and prevention programs, school systems have taken steps toward assisting students in recovery from crises. Theories of crisis intervention emerge from direct practice; however, minimal research has been conducted to examine how schools plan to respond to crises versus their actual response. This research investigated what high schools in one Massachusetts county have learned from actual response to crises. The study was conducted via written surveys of administrators and qualitative interviews with school counselors.

The Crisis Response to a School-Based Hostage Event: A Case Study

“…However, school district and state teams should include a postcrisis evaluation meeting in their response plans. These appraisal debriefings can be an effective way to review the crisis plan and the response to identify limitations and make improvements (Razi & DeChillo, 2005).…”

Armed Employees and School Policy: The Issues and Perspectives of School Employees Regarding Armed Personnel in a Rural High School Setting

“…However, in addition to schools taking proactive measures to prevent school shootings, it is also important for schools to have a crisis plan in place should a dangerous situation ever occur (Cowan & Rossen, 2013;Estep, 2013;Razi & DeChillo, 2005;Zubrzycki & Shah, 2013). Many schools have had crisis plans in place for decades, however it wasn't until the 1990s that schools were now forced to add "active shooter" or "lockdown" drills to the more common fire and tornado drills (Cowan & Rossen, 2013).…”

“…School counselors should also be ready to serve as leaders in the midst of a crisis-many times counselors are looked to first during and after a crisis situation, even before the building principals (Fein, Carlisle, & Isaacson, 2008). While many schools have these plans in place, a large number of them do not practice them out of the fear of creating anxiety in students (Razi & DeChillo, 2005;Zubrzycki & Shah, 2013). As stated previously, schools should not let the threat of student anxiety stand in the way of discussing and drilling for potentially dangerous situations (Ericksen, 2013).…”

“…Another important part of a crisis plan that a school should have in place should be a plan to address the media if a crisis situation should ever occur (Razi & DeChillo, 2005). The media has played such an important role in the shaping of public perception surrounding school shootings, most notably during and after the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School (Ferguson et al, 2011).…”

School Counselors’ Experiences and Responses During the South Carolina “1,000-Year Flood”

“…School personnel often serve as critical resources to meet community needs during and following a natural disaster, and school counselors often work as brokers between students, their families, and the community (Razi & DeChillo, 2005; West-Olantunji & Goodman, 2011). For instance, schools may function as distribution centers, shelters, or as a forum for community meetings or information dissemination (Jaycox et al, 2007; Kataoka, Langley, Wong, Baweja, & Stein, 2012).…”