New Trauma Awareness Course for High School Students

New Trauma Awareness Course for High School Students
Resources

November 4, 2021

Resource: Blog Industry: Education, K12
Tags: K12 Education, Student Training

Pandemic-Related Trauma

Many students have experienced illness, death of loved ones, family or financial instability, and disruptions to learning and social connections as a result of the pandemic. Adolescents are no exception to the stressors pandemic-related trauma. Earlier this year, a new study published in JAMA Network Open found that youth could be the most susceptible to long-term trauma as a result of the pandemic. According to the study, a person who experiences dysfunction in early adolescence is 43% more likely to experience problems in adulthood than someone who has not. And news reports and other research studies continue to highlight the mental health emergency facing students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strategies to Help Educators Address Student Trauma

As school leaders look for ways to support student mental health and well-being, some of the key recommendations include ensuring that teachers are prepared to incorporate trauma informed practices into teaching and learning and implementing a social-emotional learning curriculum or program to help address some of these important topics with students.

Trauma Awareness Resources for Students

Vector Solutions’ Student Safety & Wellness Courses are powerful, engaging web-based video lessons that support student safety and well-being both in school, and online. Authored by subject-matter experts, the lessons cover essential safety, wellness, and social-emotional learning topics and can be used to help schools positively impact school culture. Adding to the existing course modules covering topics such as depression, stress and anxiety, healthy relationships, good decision making, resolving disagreements, bullying and cyberbullying, alcohol, drugs, and vaping, youth suicide and sexual harassment, Vector recently released its newest course, Trauma Awareness for students in grades 9-12. In this course, we discuss the types of trauma and the different ways we respond to it. We also identify the signs and symptoms—and their long-term effects—and examine healthy ways to manage intense emotions.

Preview the Trauma Awareness Course

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Trauma Awareness Student Course Modules

  • What is Trauma? - Trauma is the emotional response to a deeply disturbing event, but why does it seem like some people are more affected than others? In this module, we discuss the different types of trauma and how they can impact our lives.
  • How We Respond to Trauma - When we’re in a potentially dangerous situation, our instincts take over, and a lot of times we can’t control how we react when we feel scared or threatened. In this module, we highlight the autonomic nervous system and identify the four survival responses: fight, flight, freeze and fawn.
  • Signs and Symptoms of Trauma - Because our survival system kicks in during a disturbing experience, trauma can end up affecting us in a lot of different ways. In this module, we examine how symptoms of trauma can take over our thoughts, actions, bodies and emotions.
  • The Long-Term Impact of Trauma - Most of the time, our minds and bodies recover pretty quickly after a traumatic event. Sometimes, though, the experience doesn’t fade, and we’re left wondering if things will ever get better. In this module, we discuss the long-term effects of trauma—including PTSD—and offer ways to find support.
  • Healing from Trauma -  It’s important to find healthy ways to manage intense emotions and trauma symptoms, or they could get worse. In this module, we look at the reasons why people may not reach out for help; the importance of a good support system; ways to break out of survival mode; and healing practices, including mindfulness and self-compassion.

To learn more about our Student Safety & Wellness Courses, request a demo online.

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