Newtown Tragedy: Responding to Trauma

December 14, 2012—Twenty children, six adults, and their shooter died in a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Use these resources, developed or suggested by Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) staff, to process the Newtown shooting and its aftermath, emotionally and spiritually—for yourself, with children, and in the communities to which you belong.

Workshops

• Making Meaning after Disaster (PDF) by Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, a Tapestry of Faith workshop for congregations, posted by the UUA Resource Development Office
   
• Together in Faith (PDF): Finding Home in Times of Trauma or Disaster by Tracey L. Hurd, posted by the UUA Resource Development Office

Meditations and Readings

• In Beyond Absence: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations, and Reading on Death and Remembrance, collected by Edward Searl (Skinner House, 2005): A prayer by Victoria Safford (p. 117); "Love Abides" by Barbara Pescan (p. 144), and "We trust that beyond the absence" by Anonymous (p. 154).
   
• In Mary Oliver's New and Selected Poems, Volume 1 (Beacon Press, 1994): "In Blackwater Woods"

Blogs and Articles

• Supporting Children in the Face of Disaster or Trauma by Tracey L. Hurd, posted by the UUA Resource Development Office
   
• Helping Students Navigate a Violent World by Sean McCollum, posted by Teaching Tolerance, A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
   
• The Senseless Shootings: How to Talk with Your Children by Donna Schuurman, posted by The Dougy Center for Grieving Children
   
• Talking with children about horrific news by Michelle Richards, UU Parenting blog, March 28, 2011

Tips and Fact Sheets

• A National Tragedy: Helping Children Cope and Talking to Children about Violence (PDF): Information for Parents and Educators, from the National Association of School Psychologists
   
• Helping Children Cope after a School Shooting (PDF), from the Children's National Medical Center
   
• Helping Children Cope with Tragedy-related Anxiety, from Mental Health America
   
• Discussing Hate and Violence with Your Children, from the Anti-Defamation League
   
• Talking with Kids about News, on the PBS Parents website
   
• Coping with a Traumatic Event, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   
• The Terrorism section of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network's website offers multiple fact sheets for processing a shooting tragedy with children (PDF), youth, and adults.
   
• The Educators for Social Responsibility website provides the National Education Association's 2012 School Crisis Guide (PDF): Help and Healing in a Time of Crisis.

Video Q&A

• How to Cope with a School Shooting with Dr. Hayley Sherwood, licensed clinical psychologist

More Recommendations

• Talking about Death: A Dialogue between Parent and Child by Earl A. Grollman (Beacon Press, 2011)
   
• Living When a Loved One Has Died by Earl A. Grollman (Beacon Press)
   
• Visit Trauma Response Resources for Families and Congregations on the UUA website.