Stress guide intro - NEA Health Information Network

Introduction

This Guide is produced by the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN) with support from, and in collaboration with, the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

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A school is really a mirror image of society. Every factor that’s prevalent in the community, in your environment that’s outside of the school, is just as prevalent inside the school.

– Pamela Busch, teacher, La Cima Middle School, Tucson, AZ – “Violence-Related Stress: A Guide for School Staff,” NEA Safe Schools Now Network

Given the prevalence of violence in our society today, it should come as no surprise that educators, parents, and children can sometimes worry and feel stressed about the threat of violence—even in settings where they should feel safe—their schools.

Are concerns about violence in schools realistic?
Are schools safe places for our children, teachers, and other school personnel?
What can we do to identify and reduce the stress associated violence?

Questions like these led the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) to develop this guide.

Objectives of the Resource Guide

This guide is intended to provide an overview of the impact of violence on schools and to present information, recommendations, and resources to help teachers and other school personnel reduce and manage violence-related stress. Specifically, the guide is intended to:

Help school personnel identify sources of stress in the workplace, especially violence-related stress;
Provide information on the prevalence of violence in our schools, both violence directed at students and violence directed at teachers and other school personnel;
Highlight evidence-based practices and programs currently being used to prevent violence, which can help to reduce violence-related stress in schools and communities across the nation; and
Enhance the capacity of schools, communities, and their leaders to identify and respond to the needs of school personnel who experience violence-related stress.

While the focus of this guide is primarily on the mental health and well being of school staff, it also reflects some of the best thinking on what students need in order to learn, achieve, and stay healthy.

Background

In January, 2000, the NEA Health Information Network convened an advisory group of 15 representatives from 12 national mental health and education organizations who met in Washington, D.C. This group was asked to identify what they saw as the 4 most critical stressors for school personnel in relation to violence, and to make recommendations for prevention and intervention to address those stressors.

Complementing this effort, staff of the NEA HIN (with assistance from school personnel and other professionals) reviewed the empirical research pertaining to school violence and stress to identify other relevant information and resources. The content of this guide is based on both the deliberations of the advisory group as well as the findings of the literature review. Although many of the resources presented in Section IV of this guide are evidence-based, some resources and recommendations presented in this guide are not. Additional research is still needed to evaluate promising programs and practices and to develop new ones in order to broaden our evidence-based knowledge of how we can best address the varied needs of our schools and communities.

Organization of this Resource Guide

The remainder of this guide is organized into sections:

Letter from Bob Chase, President, National Education Association
Full Table of Contents
Section I – Stress 101: A Primer on Stress for School Employees provides an overview of stress, focusing especially on work-related stress in schools.

Section II – Violence and Schools: Separating Myth from Fact highlights current information on school safety for students and school personnel.

Section III – Reducing Violence-Related Stress in Schools summarizes our advisory group’s recommendations for reducing violence-related stress.

Section IV – Recommended Resources presents programs and practices, many of which are evidence-based, which can help reduce violence-related stress in schools and communities.
References

Project Advisory Group

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