Students at Britton Middle School who continue to need help to
deal with the death of one of their classmates will still have
counselors available to them in the coming weeks.
Students at Britton Middle School who continue to need help to deal with the death of one of their classmates will still have counselors available to them in the coming weeks.
Assistant Superintendent Claudette Beaty, who has coordinated the efforts of Morgan Hill School District counselors, Community Solutions counselors and private therapists, along with other district employees who have been involved in the effort to help Britton students and staff, said arrangements have been made to continue support.
“We have identified those students that we think will be needing extra attention, extra support,” Beaty said on Friday. “We will also continue to provide counselors at the school for anyone, students or staff, that needs them.”
The school is dealing with the shock and sadness that followed the suicide of a ninth grader at the school on March 7. The girl was involved in a peer counseling program but also was seeing a counselor herself to help her deal with her bi-polar condition and what have been described as “normal teenage problems.”
“I think we came through the week as well as could be expected under the circumstances,” said Britton Principal Jim McDonald.
Community Solutions Executive Director Lisa DeSilva said Monday that the Britton community now faces another difficult step: returning to normal.
“One of the most difficult things but at the same time one of the most important things they must do now is to return to normal as much as possible,” she said. “It may not be at all easy for them to get back to normal. They may be going to class, having homework, hanging out with friends, teaching class, yet having difficulty doing that.”
DeSilva said that one of the things that may complicate a return to normal is a feeling that, in doing so, the victim has been forgotten, or that a return to normal is somehow disloyal.
“In the wake of a death, people may feel guilty if they are having fun or doing something to enjoy themselves,” she said. “That is a common response. But what is important to remember is that a part of survival is moving on and continuing to live.”
Arrangements have been made to have group counseling sessions at the school.
“We’ll have two of our counselors running two separate groups over a 10-week period,” DeSilva said. “Students in the groups will be referred by the staff.”
Counselors will be available to the school for “whatever else they may need,” she said.
