Discussion Board

#1 charity parker

Specify some strategies teachers can use to help students cope with stressful events such as this.

Keeping communication open and letting them freely Express what they may feel . Anger, frustration, being scared, be open to outbursts a student may feel. Every student may have a different look out, or feelings towards this.

One strategy that this web page mentions is " letting the students guide how much or little information to provide and emphasize the positive things that are available to stay safe"( National Associated of School Psychologists ,2015).

I would have intervention strategies in place with faculty, in case something as horrific as this were to occur again. Being prepared for the worse is also a good preparation. Having teachers look for signs or change in a students behavior would be good to keep documented. Andrew Golden ended up being a shooter at a school facility. Even though his father was completely shocked and in disbelief, he showed signs earlier in life of anger.. " In first grade Andrew brought a pop gun to school filled with sand and shot a girl in the face" ( Paul G, 2000).

Identify trends that may provide insights into and assistance with coping in the aftermath of this type of tragic event.

I would start out expressing my own feelings, and hurt towards the situation. Knowing that even adults or authority figures are in pain as well, can express that we are all human, with feelings and it's ok to hurt.

The importance of talk therapy here is going to be really important with the aftermath of this tragedy. It is important to help these students feel safe in a place where this boy use to attend their school. By having one on one sessions a person can open up with confidentiality. Dome students may do better in group therapy, more open to talking with the support of friends. Both therapy's allow the students to be honest and express their feelings.

They need to feel that school is a safe place for them to still be able to attend. By placing higher security, and prevention such as metal detectors may help the students to feel more safe as well. I would say having some intervention

Identify at least two of the theoretical perspectives discussed in the text (e.g., behavioristic, cognitive, social learning theory, humanist), and briefly discuss how you would address the question "Why did this happen?" that surrounds events like this from each of the perspectives you selected.

Why did this happen? What a tough question to answer. Why do bad things happen? How do we explain to kids why they lost a friend, or maybe even why I friend took fire on other kids?

According to The Behavioral perspective," a theory focusing on learning the observable actions over mental process, focusing on shaping and conditioning ones actions and ones reactions" ( McCarthy et Al.2016).

Being a psychologist we can use this theory to evaluate reasons for the cause of this event, and the effect it is having on these students.

The social learning theory- " learning is not an isolated, individual activity. Learning is a social process" ( McCarthy et. Al. 2016). I would ask the students .. why do you believe this happened? And wait for responses from the students. Was he an outcast? Was he bullied? Did he have a bad home life? And just wait for answers.

Lastly, examine the issue of personal responsibility. Defend your position by generalizing some of the pros and cons that might be associated with each of your recommended strategies

Pros- students can express their feelings openly. Professional help can be given to the students and staff , when friends and family are harder to talk to. They have the responsibility of their own actions. Choosing to get help or not to get help.

Cons- a lot of students won't open up with their feelings l, keeping them bottled up and losing trust is the environment and friends around them . They can begin to shut down.

References-

McCarthy, C. J., DeLisi, M., Getzfeld, A. R., McCarthy, C. J., Moss-King, D. A., Mossler, R., Privitera, G. J., Spence, C., Walker, J. D., Weinberg, R. S., & Youssef-Morgan, C. M. (2016). Introduction to applied behavioral science [Electronic version].

National Association of School Psychologists. (2015). School violence prevention: Tips for parents & educators.

Paul, G. (Director), & Neufeld, V. (Executive producer). (2000). Punishing parents: Who is responsible for delinquent kids? [Video file].

#2 Kyle Fenstermacher

Some strategies a teacher could use are resiliency training and social interaction with students. Training a person how to be more resilient is not just for adults but can prove useful in children as well. As with many other things, learning something at a younger age provides more knowledge earlier and a skill that can be perfected over time. Resiliency focuses on how to battle stressors in life from a different perspective, providing guidance in sorting through to find positivity in a situation to enable a person to focus on a solution rather than dwell in negativity. It also allows them to approach situations with more clear thought by rationalizing instead of simply reacting impulsively. Tailoring lessons to involve more social activity among students and the teacher can help provide real feedback and insight of what may be going on in the classroom. Through the social interaction, it may also help to identify issues that may require immediate attention and the teachers are not working by themselves to identify, these issues can be identified by other students.

The strategies before can also be used in coping with these horrible events. Getting things out into the open may inspire students to share their feelings and hopefully encourage others to do so that may have been hesitant.

Providing an answer to why this happened may not be exact but there are theories that can help provide some light on the issue. Social learning theory helped to influence the development of social constructivism, which demonstrates how individuals interact within a culture and knowledge is exchanged in formal and informal ways (McCarthy, DeLisi, Getzfeld, McCarthy, Moss-King, Mossler, Privitera, Spence, Walker, Weinberg & Youssef-Morgan, 2016). Basically, they learn from their environment and this can sway a person either way due to the type of interaction. Negative interactions will foster more negative results and positive will generally create more positive results.

Resources

McCarthy, C. J., DeLisi, M., Getzfeld, A. R., McCarthy, C. J., Moss-King, D. A., Mossler, R., Privitera, G. J., Spence, C., Walker, J. D., Weinberg, R. S., & Youssef-Morgan, C. M. (2016). Introduction to applied behavioral science [Electronic version].