News Briefs
Windy City assigns grief counselors to teachers
Jun 5, 2008 4:49 PM
Chicago saw 24 public school students killed outside the classroom this school year. To help teachers and students cope, and as part of the new union contract, counselors will be assigned to all 483 Chicago elementary schools beginning in July.
“Some teachers think of these children as their children so when they see a child who has died they are looking at the death of their own child,” said Michigan State University sociologist Carl Taylor. “It affects every single bit of your life.”
It often falls on teachers to answer student questions, such as these asked after a 10-year-old was murdered: “Is he going to heaven?” “What is heaven like?” “Will I go to heaven too?” “What happens when they bury you in the dirt?” “Am I going to get shot, too?”
Teachers also bring safety into their lesson plan. One pre-K teacher said her students reported killings by “gangbangers.” She had students sign a contract — as best as they could — with a red line running through a student’s colorful drawing of a gun above a promise that the children will not “touch real guns or talk to gangs.”
One award-winning teacher told the Chicago Tribune that she tries to train her students in strategies to stay alive. “That means running away from gang members who may try to talk to them and never, ever to touch a real gun,” she said.
Chicago Tribune, May 19, May 28
