When one of your students has something horrible happen....

how do you "leave it at work?"
How do you not let it effect you when you leave school?

A student of mine had a parent pass away last week. We, at school, set the child up with all the support available, I feel so horrible for this poor child, I was crying for him on my way home.

How do you not let something like that effect you at home?

Re: When one of your students has something horrible happen....

Honestly, I can't.
It breaks my heart to hear of the things some of these kids have been through in their short lives....cancer, loss of a parent, sibling, or friend, devastation from 9/11...it goes on and on and on.....

I had a girl in my class a few years ago who lost her mother to cancer a few years earlier. One week, a few of the teachers noticed she was very sleepy in class, so we got in touch with the father, and he explained that she'd been having trouble sleeping at night because she missed her mother. I cry every time I think about that sweet little girl and what she goes through every day.

I just make sure I hug my daughter and husband a little closer and remind myself how precious life is.
And I try to let the student know that I'm there if they need me....

Re: When one of your students has something horrible happen....

I really don't think it's possible not to let it affect you after hours... that's why I think people who put teachers down and say we don't do enough have NO IDEA about the emotional component of this job. It can be DRAINING. I know I can never leave it at the door.

The only things that really help me is making sure they know I'm there for them and also writing it all out in a journal just so I don't have to keep replaying it in my head. (But that's always been the way I've coped.)

Sounds like you're a teacher kids are lucky to have.

Re: When one of your students has something horrible happen....

It is beyond hard. One of our students witnessed his father being stabbed to death last Wednesday evening. The story was all over the Daily News. He hasn't been back, but many students saw the crime scene and live in the building. It is heart wrenching and all we can do is be there for them.