Supporting Children Affected by the Christchurch tragedy
Sadly it has come to my attention that videos of the massacre that occurred last Friday in Christchurch have been shared among boys at school.
In an extraordinary assembly this morning I explained to the boys that if they are in possession of this video they need to delete it. If they are asked to view this video – say no. You cannot ‘unsee’ what you have seen. Lastly if they have seen the video and need support regarding what they have seen – the Guidance Counsellor, Mr Pine is available at any time. Staff are also available for support and have information from the Ministry of Education to guide them.
A useful website is the Ministry of Health – helping children dealing with trauma.
As a school our approach to the tragedy has been to balance the acknowledgement of what has happened with a return to normal routines.
Over the weekend I contacted the families of the two Muslim students we have here at Waitaki boys’ and passed on our love and support to them. Yesterday we had a formal assembly acknowledging our condemnation of what happened in Christchurch, along with our support for the Muslim Community (my speech is on the website and the school Facebook page). In the library we have set up a message board and cards where boys are encouraged to go and express their feelings. These messages will be taken to our Muslim families later this week. On Friday we will be having a ‘sausage sizzle’ with funds raised to go to the North Otago Muslim Community.
As I said to the school yesterday, what we can all do individually is show love and kindness to those who might be different from us.
Finally, could I please ask for your support.
Firstly, at home reinforce this message “difference is not better or worse, it is simply different”. If our boys knew more about other beliefs and religions, they would appreciate this. We are all New Zealanders.
Secondly, that on-line gaming is not real - the senseless massacre that took place on Friday is.
Thank you for your support
Darryl Paterson
Rector