President Nancy Hill of the Society for Research in Child Development shared the following statement along with helpful resources:

“Schools should be a safe place for children to learn and play, while making friendships and cultivating dreams. Violence serves to erode parents’ trust that schools are safe places to send their children, even when they have trusting relationships with teachers, administrators, and staff. 

As a field, developmental science has long studied and identified the effects of trauma on children— spanning short and long-term biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional consequences. Whereas identifying the effects of trauma and treatments that may mitigate its effects is important, prevention is even more important. 

We urge our members to share research findings that support healing and other solutions to end violence widely with their communities, organizations, policymakers, and others who may not be aware of the effects of trauma on children.”

Helpful Resources Informed by the Developmental Sciences:

• Talking to Children About Tragedies & Other News Events: How to talk about tragedy with children across a variety of ages and developmental needs. From healthychildren.org and based on an interview with Dr. David Schonfeld, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and an expert in school crisis and bereavement.
• Helping Your Children Manage Distress: Tips on how to talk with children and manage their stress from clinical and school psychologists. From the American Psychological Association with expert advice from clinical and school psychologists, Drs. Ronald Palomares, Lynn Bufka, and Robin Gurwitch.
• Empowering Communities in Violence Prevention: Summary of how research can inform new strategies to reach people at risk of committing a violent act. From the American Psychological Association.
• Prediction, Prevention, and Policy. Report by a panel of experts summarizing the science on the complexities underlying violence and evidence-based recommendations for prediction, prevention, and policy. Written by an American Psychological Association task force composed of psychologists and other researchers.