Aug 18, 2022 | Community, Family, Grief
With Teacher Shortages, Community Programs for Grieving Kids Are More Important Than Ever
With the back to school season in full swing, all of us with students in our homes have probably heard about the critical shortage of teachers. Reports say that our country lacks a whopping 300,000 teachers and support staff.
In an interview with ABC News, Becky Pringle, the president of the National Educators Association, said, “We know that this has been a chronic problem. This is not new. We have been sounding the alarm for almost a decade and a half that we have a crisis in the number of students who are going into the teaching profession and the number of teachers who are leaving it.”
This shortage should come as no surprise though. Pringle raises an important point – our country has placed so many burdens on educators over the years, and with all things, the pandemic has exacerbated the problem.
She said,”The concerns that our educators and parents have raised, which are playing out, [and] played out last year… is that we had to double-up classes.[Also] we had to not necessarily offer the special education services that our special education students need. We knew that there were too many educators who were overwhelmed by the number of students that they were trying to meet the individual needs of, and we don’t have enough substitutes.”
Considering everything that has been forced onto educators’ plates, adding unofficial grief counseling seems likes a bridge too far. Adding more under-resourced tasks to their already hefty workload, is not an approach our country can afford to take. It sets up students to not get the adequate support they need to be academically ready and it puts even more of a burden on the leaders in our classrooms.
When I read articles about the teacher shortage, it makes me commit even more to the work we are undertaking at Evermore – building communities to address the impact of childhood bereavement. We are working to uplift community projects across the country.
Aug 12, 2022 | Community, Family, Grief
The Time Is Now to Invest in Grieving Young People
Recently, NPR covered a fascinating club for teenage students experiencing the death of a parent. The article follows the story of a high school sophomore named Elizabeth, whose father passed from COVID-19 last year. More than anything, this reporting shows that the time is now to invest in community-centered programs for grieving young people and that our approaches should include all children experiencing grief.
Elizabeth George, 15, was a freshman in high school when her father died from Covid-19 last October. Since his death, she has struggled to regain a sense of normalcy. “I have difficulties even going [out] with my friends,” she says. “I just want to sleep at home.”
It’s important to point out that children, unlike adults, have to continue to go to school. There is no pause or time off for them. Sometimes, these children simply fall behind in school and in life because they are often facing compounding instability at home. Some lose their housing, experience food insecurity, loss of health care coverage among other hardships. Children who seek post-secondary education opportunities face enormous academic stressors — like how grades will impact their path to college or how they will pay for it. We believe no child should face these hardships.
Chaterjee continues: “Losing a parent in childhood is the kind of trauma that can change the trajectory of kids’ lives, putting them at risk of having symptoms of anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress and even poor educational outcomes.”
To be frank, this is an understatement and scratches the surface at the impact of childhood bereavement. Childhood bereavement experts have found that when compared to non-bereaved children, bereaved children are at risk of “lower self-esteem, reduced resilience, lower grades and more school failures, heightened risk of depression, suicide attempts, suicide [completions], and premature death due to any cause as a result of their loss, drug abuse, violent crime involvement, youth delinquency, and a greater number of, and more severe, psychiatric difficulties.”
Keanna Tyson holds on to her backpack during a group session at Steve’s Club in Atlantic High School. The Club meets every twice a month to talk about what they are going through.
Saul Martinez for NPR
Please check out the full article and let us know what you think. We have a long way to go to address the needs of bereaved children, but it’s encouraging to know that we are not alone in this fight!
Aug 1, 2022 | Advocacy, Community, Family, Grief, Volunteer
Close the Loophole! – Universal Paid Leave Should Include Bereavement Leave
Due Monday, August 15th!
Earlier this year, you made phone calls, sent emails, called your friend in order to add paid bereavement leave to our nation’s policy conversations. You did it and it was the first time Washington included paid bereavement leave to its paid leave agenda, an amazing accomplishment.
In classic Washington fashion, however, Congress passed a law that provides two weeks of paid leave for the death of a child, but only if you are a federal employee. While it’s a step forward, we believe that all employees deserve the confidence to know that they will not be fired in the aftermath of losing someone they love.
So, what now?
Today, the average American can be fired for not showing up to work the day after their child – or spouse, or domestic partner, or a parent, or a sibling – dies. And, it’s perfectly legal.
We must close this loophole as millions of Americans are grieving the deaths of loved ones. With concurrent mortality epidemics raging across the United States, we must act now to ensure everyday Americans, like me and like you, have the ability to take paid leave following a loss.
For the next two weeks, Congress is accepting stories from parents who have experienced challenges due to the lack of “universal paid leave.”
They need to hear from you NOW!
Here’s how:
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- You can submit one of the following:
- Short video (30 – 90 seconds);mp4 format; filmed horizontally if possible OR
- Photo with caption OR
- Written piece.
- Email your story to shareyourstorywaysmeans@gmail.com. Include your name, what you do for a living and any social media tags.
- Tag them on Facebook and Twitter at:
Then, spread the word! This can only be done by YOU. We must ACT NOW to ensure that everyday grieving Americans aren’t left behind.
Let your voice be heard.
Learn more about how you can share with others and be the change: https:///waysandmeans.house.gov/share-your-story-paid-leave-and-child-care
