A Note from Hopkinton Youth & Family Services as youth and families continue to process the Ulvade, Texas shooting

A Note from Hopkinton Youth & Family Services as youth and families continue to process the Ulvade, Texas shooting

It is normal for adults and children to experience a range of reactions following the news of a school shooting and most recently the tragic mass murder of students in Ulvade, Texas. Over the past week we have begun to receive questions about “what is normal” about how reactions are experienced to this tragedy.

The Riverside Trauma Center helps across our state providing response to traumatic incidents and have shared that reactions may include:

Emotions (sadness, anger, shock, fear, etc.)
-Changes in thoughts (difficulty concentrating, repetitive thoughts of the situation)
-Physical reactions (feeling sick, headaches, not sleeping well, etc.)
-Behaviors (returning to older behaviors such as bedwetting, needing physical closeness with parents, fighting more, etc.).

Riverside Trauma Center has shared these resources that can help:
-Talking with Children About Traumatic Events
-Talking to Children About a Shooting (from nctsn.org)
-Children and Trauma
-Reactions to Highly Stressful or Traumatic Events
-Practicing Self-Care After Traumatic Events

We hope that these resources support you and the children you care about and if over the next few weeks you or your children feel stuck in navigating this difficult time, please reach out to us for additional support and resources.

Please see the attached PDF, or link below, for more information: