ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the different types of trauma that might impact young people, and the ways in which schools might respond to the needs of young people who have been exposed to various traumas. Depending on the trauma and exposure, some programs target the whole school while others are designed for selective or at-risk groups of students. Every school needs to have a crisis plan, which provides procedures to follow if or when a crisis such as a suicide or death occurs. Likewise, teachers need to be clear about expected behaviours in the classroom and on school grounds, and teach rules and expected behaviours explicitly. A school with a tiered approach to identifying and responding to children’s mental health and learning difficulties will already have many of the skills, frameworks and resources to help traumatised children. Understanding specific triggers that might set off a child’s behaviour is an important component of understanding the child.
