When Kids Are Grieving
Addressing Grief and Loss in School
- Donna M. Burns - College of St. Rose
Foreword by Kenneth J. Doka
"Burns provides an excellent, user-friendly guide to help school personnel navigate the tricky waters of children's grief. This is a welcome resource for school professionals."
—Steve Hoff, Licensed Psychologist
Great Barrington, MA
"The author's sensitivity and understanding of cultural variations in reaction to loss provide a much needed perspective to this important topic."
—Heta-Maria Miller, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology
The College of Saint Rose
Help students deal with grief and loss in appropriate, healthy ways.
Most students experience some form of loss in their lives, and the resulting grief can profoundly affect their academic performance, emotional stability, and social interactions. Serving both as a resource and workbook, this reader-friendly primer helps educators and school counselors understand and respond to the extraordinary challenges that children and adolescents may face when dealing with loss and grief.
Featuring helpful charts, quotes, activities, case studies, reproducible handouts, and resources from national organizations, this sourcebook offers strategies to help students affected by divorce; death of a parent, relative, friend, or pet; violence; chronic illness; and more. The author examines grief experiences at different developmental levels and illustrates how to:
- Respond appropriately to expressions of grief that are unique to children and adolescents
- Help students handle emotions associated with loss
- Promote communication and facilitate effective interventions
- Determine when to refer a child to a specialist
- Respect cultural attitudes toward loss and grief
This resource underscores the importance of understanding how children experience grief and loss and helps educators assist in ways that promote students' emotional health and recovery.
"Burns provides an excellent, user-friendly guide to help school personnel navigate the tricky waters of child grief. This is a welcome resource for school professionals.”
“The author’s sensitivity and understanding of cultural variations in reactions to loss provide a much-needed perspective to this important topic.”
"A significant resource for educators as they work with children and adolescents who are dealing with grief and loss.”
"Burns' book captures the wisdom, sensitivity, and gentle humor that she has used in a lifetime of work with grieving families. She teaches us to discover our own strengths as we mourn the people we have loved and lost.”
"Donna Burns has written an important book for practicing professionals, especially school professionals involved with grieving children and young adults. What is a matter for profound grieving by a young person may not be recognized among adults as an issue calling for sensitive support. And, symptoms of childhood and young adult grieving are often mistaken for other issues because young people are so often indirect in the ways they channel their grief. Burns provides an excellent resource for preventing traumatic grieving, recognizing youthful grieving as it occurs, and constructively responding to grieving youth at the individual, classroom, and school levels. This book provides an excellent knowledge base on the subject, and is also an invaluable reference volume that every educational professional would do well to own.”
“The best guide to dealing with loss for children that I have read. The book teaches the counselor to use life experience tools in the healing process.”
“For anyone dealing with grief, this book is priceless. It is perfectly suited for professionals as well as families dealing with this difficult issue. By far, it is one of the best books written on the subject because of the manner in which Burns compassionately combines human sensitivity with relevant theory and research. When you read this book, you never forget that first and foremost we are fragile human beings. Burns’ wisdom, insight, kindness, and love shines through on every page.”
Students who are studying trauma want to know how to work with children ... especially around issues of school violence
