Cyberbullying, trash polling, chat rooms, text messaging, MySpace gossip, anonymous threats - this is the new landscape where students can be psychologically terrorized. Try being targeted as the "ugliest girl" in a poll by classmates.

Sometimes it doesn't stop with the emotional scarring. "Bullying for both the perpetrator and victim is a violence risk factor," said licensed psychologist David Drassner, addressing NYSUT's annual professional issues forum earlier this month in Albany.

He gave practical information for school staffers in responding to traumas overt and covert in the lives of students, as well as crisis and disasters.

Drassner is a member of New York State Psychological Association, an affiliate of NYSUT.

An adjunct associate professor at Long Island University, he spent 16 years as director of the Bronx High Schools Crisis Response Team and supervisor of psychologists for the Bronx High Schools clinical services program.

School counselors, nurses and psychologists attending his sessions were among the 210 people at this year's forum, sponsored annually by NYSUT's Health Care Professionals Council.

"Your presence is an indication of how dedicated you are," said NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue, whose office oversees health care issues for the union. "You are seen as confidantes to students, and you are called to do more than ever before."

Crisis response

Drassner shared ideas on how to respond to help those troubled by crises. "You don't have to say something brilliant," he said. "I've learned over the years to just be quiet - be there for them ... The greater the dose of trauma, the more likely the need for a greater dose of response."

Even high-stakes testing at schools can become a critical incident for students. One school nurse shared that when her school conducted state testing for math, students came forward with a variety of anxieties. Kathy Betzhold, a school nurse and member of the Bethlehem Central Teachers Association in Albany County, talked the students through anxieties by focusing on how they have managed difficult situations before, who is there to help and how they can enter an overwhelming space step by step - starting with standing in the doorway.

A more complicated crisis, such as a school shooting or loss of a classmate, will affect more people. Drassner said addressing these in large groups of people sharing their feelings can sometimes retraumatize people; he advocates cohesive sub-groups.

He suggests working with affected students by initially focusing on factual information about the incident or their relationship to a person. Information should also be provided about possible repercussions: racing heart, trouble sleeping, change in appetite.

At one school, where a student died of an asthmatic attack, sub-groups were formed of other students with medical conditions, to discuss and allay their fears.

Teaching resilience is the foundation on which Drassner builds in his work. Getting clients to understand their roots - strengths they have used before - and their branches - difficult tasks they have mastered - will help. Helping them get in touch with resources - people who have helped them in the past - will provide guidance.

While not everyone involved in a traumatic event will experience post-traumatic stress disorder, some may get acute stress disorder. They may have startled responses, detachment or trauma recall. Drassner uses the coach approach: "We need to help that person gain back their life, yard by yard."

Conceptually, that is exactly what one school did when students, faculty and staff were rocked by the unexpected death of a teacher who loved sports. They dedicated a football field to him.

Memorials and rituals can be healthy, Drassner said, reminding practitioners that it is important to know the particular ways of grieving for different cultures.

For those affected by trauma, redemption can heal. This, Drassner explained, means helping those who are affected to find one redeeming feature out of a painful experience.

He spoke about how students in one school teased a kid who was later murdered in an unrelated tragedy. The teasers decided to start a non-bullying program in the school. At another school, after a teacher died of a heart attack, a CPR program was started.

- Liza Frenette