It really helps to understand post-traumatic stress disorder. Things that we might not notice could be very upsetting to a child, keeping them in that part of their brain where it’s 'fight or flight.' So it’s a reminder every now and then that we just need to check ourselves and think, "What are some things that we can control that could be helpful to a child in distress?"
– Susan Stanley, Principal, Salina Elementary School, Dearborn, MI
Overview
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Many immigrant students live with high levels of fear, anxiety, stress, and depression. To better understand the reasons why, take a look at our section on how immigration issues impact students.
Building relationships with students and families can provide opportunities to identify students' needs, while providing professional development on a variety of topics in a respectful setting can help increase awareness across the staff. Here is some information to get started.
Immigrant students' social-emotional distress
In a UCLA survey studying the impact of increased immigration enforcement on schools, almost 90% of administrators surveyed "indicated that they have observed behavioral or emotional problems in immigrant students," and 25% indicated that it was a significant problem (Gándara & Ee, 2018b, p. 2). One administrator notes,
“Several students have arrived at school crying, withdrawn and refusing to eat lunch because they have witnessed deportation of a family member. Some students show anxiety symptoms…All of this impacts their ability to focus and complete work, which further affects them academically.” (p.9)
Pediatricians serving immigrant families have noticed the same thing, according to a December 2017 Kaiser Family Foundation report, as well as negative effects on health such as problems sleeping, headaches, stomachaches, and mental health issues.
Loss of motivation
In addition, students' loss of motivation is another challenge. In this Education Week article, Principal Nedda de Castro of the International School at Prospect Heights in Brooklyn observed that, "Some of the students are assuming that they're just going to be deported anyway and starting to talk about how there's really no point in coming to school anymore. It's a lot of lost potential."
According to the UCLA research, administrators and educators across the country also reported that high-achieving students are giving up on their plans for college. After a nearby raid, a teacher in the Midwest observed the following:
"I noticed those students behaving so differently. They don't sit or stand tall. They do not want to participate in presentations. They do not want to be called. They seem disconnected or uninterested now…I serve in an academically advanced setting where students are selected and good performers" (p. 10).
Another teacher from Oregon observed,
"I have students who were college-bound now questioning if it's worth it, because they don't believe that they could get a job in their field after graduating" (p. 12).
And in our own travels to Dearborn, MI, we met teachers and community members who spoke about the toll of lengthy separations on students and families from countries such as Yemen and Syria.
Identify resources for addressing student anxiety and depression
Why this matters
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has publicly stated their expectations that increased strains on immigrant families can also increase students' toxic stress level, particularly if students experience trauma. (The AAP also released a 2018 statement on the impact of family separations at the border.)
Researchers at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) documented the impact of this anxiety on children as young as three, including an increase in finger biting and toilet accidents (Cervantes, Ullrich, & Matthews, 2018, p. 9), while teachers of older students report an increase in severe depression and a decrease in motivation and engagement. See more on the impacts of this anxiety on young children in our section on supporting young children in immigrant families.
Tips for getting started
- Learn about the impacts of anxiety on students in your age group, such as impacts on behavior, as well as strategies for supporting students' social-emotional health.
- Consider pulling together a team of educators, cultural liaisons, mental health professionals, administrators, parents, students (as appropriate), and community partners to identify (a) the types of challenges students are facing and (b) culturally appropriate approaches to social-emotional health for your families.
- Determine which supports are currently in place and what else might be needed, such as more professional development, community outreach, and family engagement; extra time for discussion in peer groups; or creating new community partnerships that can address specific issues.
- As a group, determine your priorities and next steps to implement those priorities.
- Continue to revisit these topics, particularly if new immigration policy changes are announced.
- Keep in mind that students may be keeping these concerns quiet out of fear for their safety.
- Remember that any training or discussion should always respect student/staff privacy; nothing personal should be shared without explicit permission.
Recommended resources
- Sesame Street in Communities: Care, Cope, Connect (Toolkit available in multiple languages)
- Bilingual activities and videos on self-expression from Sesame Street
Recommended videos 
When immigration status impacts young children: Lori Dodson, ESOL Specialist, MD
Trauma-informed instruction for immigrant students
Why this matters
More and more educators across the country are learning about the impacts of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on students. Researchers estimate that half of the U.S. student population has experienced or is still experiencing some type of trauma, violence, or chronic stress (Zacarian, Haynes, and Alvarez-Ortiz, 2017). One teacher wrote in our 2017 survey on how schools are supporting immigrant students, "Staff need training in trauma-informed education and supporting students who've experienced many kinds of trauma. We brought in the Center for Victims of Torture to train our staff to support our specific refugee populations."
For immigrant students, the sources of trauma may be complex and may be related to:
Immigration experiences
- the reasons the family left their home country (such as war or wide-spread violence)
- difficult conditions, violence, sexual assault, or casualties during the journey to this country
- forced separation from a parent or sibling on the journey
Experiences related to immigration enforcement
- witnessing a loved one's arrest
- being separated from a parent during interrogation
- a forced separation for an extended period of time
- detention in an immigration detention center
- coming into contact with immigration enforcement officers
- a lengthy separation from families or siblings
Current stresses
- stressful situations such as economic stress and homelessness
- other challenges at home, including domestic abuse.
Note: See the resources on addressing trauma in our resource section about family separations at the border.
Articles from school psychologists and social workers
These articles from Colorín Colorado feature school professionals who work regularly with immigrant students:
- Helping Students Heal Through Love and Trust: A Social Worker's Perspective on Serving Immigrant Youth
- Social and Emotional Support for Refugee Families: A School Psychology Perspective
- Finding Where the Hope Is: Supporting Immigrant Students as a School Psychologist
- Using a Strengths-Based Approach with ELs: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress
Changes in behavior
Take a look at our section on how trauma and anxiety can impact students' behavior and the importance of getting a complete picture of the source of the issue before taking steps that can have long-term consequences for the student.
Tips for getting started
- Learn more about the impacts of trauma and signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for students the age group you work with.
- If possible, look for clues and try to learn a little bit more about your students' backgrounds, keeping in mind that every individual's situation is unique, even within a family, and protecting student privacy. Start with a trusted colleague, parent liaison or community partner. If appropriate, give students opportunities to share their stories privately, or, if they wish, with classmates.
- Discuss ideas for addressing students' needs with colleagues and identify next steps to implement those ideas.
- Learn more about trauma-informed instruction in the following resources.
Recommended resources
Trauma-informed instruction
- The How and Why of Trauma-Informed Teaching (Edutopia)
- The Transformative Power of Trauma-Informed Teaching (Education Week)
- A Glimpse Inside the Transition to Trauma-Informed Practices (KQED)
- Why Mindfulness And Trauma-Informed Teaching Don't Always Go Together (KQED)
- Developing Trauma-Sensitive Classrooms to Support Students and Educators (Institute of Education Sciences)
Strategies and toolkits
- Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network)
- Helping Traumatized Children Learn: Supportive School Environments for Children Traumatized by Family Violence (Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Harvard Law School, and the Task Force on Children Affected by Domestic Violence)
In the news
- Trauma and Transitions: How San Diego Schools Grapple With Educating Refugees (KPBS)
- Lego Foundation and Sesame Street Team Up to Help Refugee Children (The New York Times)
- When Schools Meet Trauma With Understanding, Not Discipline (NPR Ed)
- For Traumatized Children, An Offer of Help from the Muppets (NPR Ed)
- A Pediatrician's Advice for Treating Student Trauma (Education Week)
- Student Trauma Is Widespread. Schools Don't Have to Go It Alone (Education Week)
- The Transformative Power of Trauma-Informed Teaching (Education Week)
- Student Trauma Is Real. But Connection Can Heal. (Education Week)
- Social-Emotional Resource: Addressing Trauma (The Education Trust-West)
Recommended videos
Video playlist: What educators need to know about trauma
Video: When loud noises cause post-traumatic stress in schools
Video: A superintendent recalls a distressing journal entry from his teaching days
Video: Why not all changes in behavior require a special education referral
Provide ideas for age-appropriate ways to express emotions and manage stress
Why this matters
There are lots of other ways that kids can express their emotions beyond conversation. The UCLA team shares the experience of an art teacher from Texas: “As an art teacher, I saw many students drew and colored images of their parents and themselves being separated, or about people stalking/hunting their family” (Gándara & Ee, 2018a, p. 9).
Tips for getting started
You may wish to introduce this topic by asking students how they manage difficult topics – they may never have thought about it! Consider sharing the following activities that educators have recommended and giving students opportunities to practice these activities. You may also wish to invite a school counselor to lead a class discussion and share strategies such as:
- Drawing “what this means to me”
- Writing journal entries
- Writing letters to elected officials, as in this post-election activity from Larry Ferlazzo
- Creating comic books (See related video from NPR)
- Brainstorming ways that students do/can help each other from teacher Rosa Villalpando
- Activities to deal with stress such as breathing exercises, meditation, the arts, and sports
- Sharing other artistic activities, such as this musical about immigration
- Providing opportunities for students to share their stories (see our related article)
- Talking with trusted friends or adults
One teacher who responded to our survey wrote,
Having students keep journals can be effective. The journals are used for processing their learning, but at times, utilizing the journal to share their concerns and feelings. The journal can be kept between the student and the teacher or students may elect to share their journals with classmates. Teacher comments and feedback are a very important aspect of the journals. This is a safe way for students to express their thoughts and for teachers to identify student needs.
Another teacher wrote of a student activity in which students could write their thoughts about current events on sticky notes for all to see in the cafeteria.
Note: Activities such as sitting with eyes closed may be triggers for students who have experienced trauma. For ideas on how to use mindfulness in trauma-based teaching, as well as what to avoid, take a look at Why Mindfulness And Trauma-Informed Teaching Don't Always Go Together from KQED.
Giving students the words they need to express themselves
Another important tool that can help students, particularly English language learners (ELLs), is to teach them words and phrases that will help express emotions, much in the way a teacher teaches academic language. Some strategies for this include:
- giving students sentence frames and sentence starters that illustrate how to express different feelings, manage interactions in the classroom, and resolve conflict
- providing these on a sheet that students can keep handy and posting them on the wall
- printing the sheet in English and ELLs’ native languages.
ELL administrator Kristina Robertson writes,
One of our after-school workers said she has many bilingual students (mostly boys) who get into fights across cultures because they just don't have the words to express their frustration or needs, so their anger builds. How can we think about ways to intentionally teach language about feelings and appropriate ways to express emotion? We are so focused on teaching academic language and basic needs of following rules in a classroom that we overlook the need to learn how to express our emotions. This is a terrible feeling for a student who is sad or angry.
Developing social-emotional skills
Help students develop their social-emotional skills with the following strategies:
- Introduce activities early in the year that give students practice in expressing themselves, both individually and in a group setting.
- Provide students a regular opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns, and questions.
- Look for opportunities to include social-emotional learning activities or themes in the classroom throughout the year.
Recommended resources
- How Do We Support Newcomers’ Social-Emotional Needs? (U.S. Department of Education Newcomer Toolkit)
- How Teachers Can Help Immigrant Kids Feel Safe (Greater Good Magazine, UC Berkeley)
- 8 Fun Breathing Exercises for Kids (Childhood 101)
- How to Teach Your Child Calm Breathing (Anxiety Canada)
- Calming Anxiety in Children (Coping Skills for Kids)
- The Inner World of the Immigrant Child by Cristina Igoa
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