• What is preventing a student from coming to school? Training Module on the Right to Mental Health in the Academe • What is preventing a student from paying attention in class or doing homework? • What is preventing a student from returning to other school-based activities? Note any changes in behavior, school performance, interactions with schoolmates and teachers, participation in school activities, and behavior at home that parents may have noted. B. PROTECT You can help make your students feel better through the following: • Answer questions simply and honestly • Let students know they are not alone • Provide opportunities for students to express themselves • Inform the students about things being done by the school or community to ensure their protection • Maintain structure in routines • Be sensitive to the student’s current level of functioning • Limit access to media that may remind them of the traumatic event C. CONNECT Reaching out to the people at school and in the community will help your students after a disaster or crisis. Some ways to establish a connection include the following: • Check in with students regularly • Keep lines of communication open with people that are involved with students (e.g., family, coach, etc.) • Gradually restore school activities • Empathize with students by giving them leeway to learn new materials • Emphasize that disasters, crises, and emergencies are rare Efforts to help the student might prove to be more successful if the following things are observed: • Be aware of thoughts, feelings, and reactions about the event which can affect students • Children will model how they cope and behave after how their teacher copes and behaves as well • Acknowledge the difficulty of the situation, but emphasize that people can come together to cope after these events 23