When you work as a high school administrator, you may encourage your students to seek help with a variety of day-to-day issues from the guidance counselors you have on staff. However, when there's a major tragedy that affects the student population, you'll want to ensure that school board-approved grief counselors are on hand at the school the next day. Set up in private rooms throughout the school, these counselors can meet with students privately or in small groups to discuss what has happened and how they're dealing with it. Ideally, you'll never have to arrange for grief counselors to visit your school, but when these tragedies strike, grief support will be highly valuable.
A Student Commits Or Attempts Suicide
Unfortunately, suicide is a common reason for high school-aged children to die, which means that it's possible a student will commit suicide or attempt it at some point in the future. This is a highly difficult time for your school's students, who may struggle with why the person made this decision — especially if he or she seemed happy and healthy. Because the students will be left with questions, it's valuable to arrange for grief counselors to be on site to provide some answers. Even if they can't talk about the specifics of they case, they can discuss mental illness and other related topics to hopefully help your students through their grief.
A Student Is Killed In A Car Accident
Another relatively common way for high school students to die is in car accidents, either when behind the wheel or as a passenger. Unfortunately, teenagers often drive quickly, don't have adequate experience behind the wheel, and may sometimes be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The sudden and unexpected nature of this death can send shock waves through your student body, leaving students feeling full of grief. On-site grief counseling for a day or more will be helpful for allowing any student who wishes to process his or her feelings a safe and confidential space to do so.
A Student Dies Of An Illness
When a teenager dies of an illness such as cancer, it can often leave his or her peers wondering why this person got sick and passed away, as the situation can often seem highly unfair. Some students may fear that they'll get sick, too, while others may feel depressed about losing a friend for such a seemingly unfair reason. You'll definitely want to have grief counselors present in your high school if one of your student passes away from an illness, as they'll provide counselor for those who wish to use it.
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