The deadly school shooting in Red Lake, Minnesota has been a brutal reminder of the persistence of gun violence in our schools and communities. What can we say to help children feel safe? And what can we do to try and insure that they really are? Connect for Kids has pulled together information and resources.

Talking to children

Talking with Kids about Tough Issues is a project of Children Now and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

The National Institute of Mental Health has information online that can also be downloaded as a brochure titled, "Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters".

This resource from Educators for Social Responsibility is geared towards discussion of terrorism and war, but also includes useful information on how to listen and respond to children’s concerns about violence closer to home.

PBS Parents offers Age by Age Insights into discussing the issues of violence and war with children.

Making Schools Safe:

The National School Safety Center offers information, resources, and training to schools.

Fight Crime, Invest in Kids calls for investing in school and community programs that help kids stay on track as a key component in reducing youth violence.

The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center has information for parents, teens, and the press.

The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (AAETS) have published two guidebooks which provide a structure and process to help schools plan for and manage a wide range of actual crisis situations.

The AAETS also has an online checklist for response during and after a school-based crisis.

Gun Safety:

Voices for America’s Children has fact sheets on consumer safety and guns.

The Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly published a study in 2003 on the sources of guns used by young people in school shootings.

Physicians for Social Responsibility, which sees gun violence as a public health issue, has data on gun laws and gun violence.

Improving Mental Health:

The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education say it’s possible to align systems – schools, community and state organizations, mental health interventions and families – to create a comprehensive, highly effective system for children and teens. Read more about this in their concept paper, Mental Health, Schools and Families Working Together for All Children and Youth, Toward a Shared Agenda.

The Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health states that up to 70 percent of children with diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders are not receiving the mental health services they need. Depression: Ready or Not, your schools must face children's mental health problems, an article in the March issue of the American School Board Journal argues that schools must do more to connect kids with effective mental health services.

The National Mental Health Association has “tips” that are practical and easy to understand in one page for talking with students after a school shooting.