When violence occurs on a school campus, particularly violence involving death or serious injury, school districts usually are diligent in offering immediate crisis counseling for students. Yet we should remember that faculty, classified staff and particularly building principals are subject to the same traumas as students, even though adults may react to crises differently.
Central-office leaders can play a vital role in helping site administrators and their staff deal with the lingering symptoms that often accompany violent acts.
The principal is called on to protect human lives, direct evacuations, call in reinforcements and ensure the office keeps running when under siege. During and immediately following a crisis, when the principal experiences the natural physical and psychological stress responses, news media add to the pressure by asking for statements and for access to others on school property.
A Genuine Disorder
Once the crisis counselors have left the building and the media have packed up and moved on to the next story, the principal may have a vague, lingering sense that he or she "blew it" by failing to stop the tragedy from occurring. Once warm and approachable, the principal may feel inordinately edgy and short-tempered or may be uncharacteristically disengaged from the school. This principal may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, formally recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980, is characterized by anxiety symptoms, which can occur involuntarily following a traumatic event, particularly if the stress is severe, sudden and unexpected and when physical injury or death is involved. Symptoms include a general edginess and irritability, nightmares or flashbacks or the numbing of emotions. Symptoms may manifest themselves immediately or several weeks, months or even years after the event.
Following a crisis involving violence, a principal's words or thoughts might center on feelings of guilt, responsibility, anger, defensiveness, helplessness, survivor guilt, blame or resentment.
Columbine High School Principal Frank DeAngelis' own symptoms emerged when he met with his faculty. He told the press at the time: "Right now I'm feeling guilty. I've asked myself I don't know how many times in the last several hours if there was anything I could have done to prevent this." Later he commented, "I was concerned that I had let [the faculty and students] down. Here I am a leader in our school district, and I just felt that I had let everyone down."
Offering Assistance
Superintendents would be wise to consider the principal as a key victim of a campus crisis and allow for adequate follow-up counseling for site administrators and other personnel on the front lines of a campus emergency.
* Be pro-active. Don't wait for the principal to exhibit symptoms or ask for help. She may be trying as hard as she can to present the facade of the strong leader and may deny that help is needed. Immediately offer her counseling opportunities. Make sure the offer is open-ended and not presented in a way that implies she was inadequate during the crisis.
* Shield the principal from unrelenting media attention. Once the on-the-spot coverage is over, instruct the principal and other office staff to refer all subsequent comments to a districtwide spokesperson. This will allow the issues to be addressed fairly without continuously forcing the principal to relive the event.
* Allow adults to vent feelings. The principal or any other building-level personnel should be encouraged to freely discuss feelings, including possible symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder they notice in themselves, fellow faculty and staff and administrators. Understand that the sufferers may not readily recognize the symptoms in themselves.
* Be flexible regarding the principal's duties. Some principals may deal with their stress more effectively by not wavering from completing reports or other routine duties. Others may need time and space to sift through their feelings, which may encroach on scheduled due dates.
* Provide united support. People under stress need to know they are not suffering alone. Visit the school often and let all personnel-especially the principal-know you care about them and you are available.
Stress at the Top
Hopefully, your school system never will face a crisis like that at Columbine High School. However, should the unthinkable occur, while the immediate concern is the welfare of the students, do not forget that the caregivers need ongoing care themselves.
And be aware of your own feelings as superintendent. You, too, are subject to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in times of violence. Accept the emotions as normal and be willing to ask for the same support and understanding you provide others.
Tony Armenta is an associate professor of educational leadership at Southeastern Louisiana University, 9 Silman Ave., Hammond, La. 70401. E-mail: tonelly@I-55.com. Elly Victoria Darwin is a graduate student in counseling at Southeastern Louisiana University.