Children still impacted by recent violence one month after deadly rally shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - From the shooting at Union Station to the most recent killing of an Independence Police Officer and court employee, violent crime can have a profound impact on Kansas Citians, especially children.
KCTV 5 Anchor Sharon Chen experienced it firsthand at a recent school reading event when a young child asked about the shooting at Union Station. The moment prompted her to investigate the mental health impact on kids, here she sat down with Michelle Bertuglia-Haley, Manager of the Child and Family Therapy team at Children’s Mercy.
Thursday, March 14, marked one month since the horrific Union Station rally shooting in which Lisa Lopez-Galvan lost her wife. While children have had time to process the events of that day, now is the time when the impact really hits.
“There’s been some researchers from across the country who have shared that,” Bertuglia-Haley said. “After events like this that occur in communities, there can almost be like a tsunami effect, so it can be a few months past the event so we can see folks are having more of a reaction.”
At Children’s Mercy Hospital, staff work with many families in the Kansas City area - many of whom continue to be impacted by recent events.
“They are having to have these really tough conversations with their children and so we work hard to equip parents in how to have those conversations in age-appropriate ways with their kiddos to help support them,” Bertuglia-Haley noted.
While impacts can be psychological, they can also be physical. Some signs to look out for include clinginess and moodiness.
“For younger children, we notice if they’re clingy if they don’t want to leave your side, if they’re talking about what happened, if they’re asking questions about what happened, if they’re having a hard time sleeping, if they’re moodier or have more behavioral challenges,” the child health expert indicated. “For older kids, they might be more withdrawn they may be more moody, they may not feel safe going to places they previously felt safe going to and those are all signs to have further conversations with your kiddos.”
Many parents have been left wondering what they can do to make their children regain that sense of safety.
“I think the first and foremost is for caregivers to actually pay attention to how they’re doing, because sometimes as caregivers right? We’re not always attuned to how we are and how we respond to things that impact our children.” Bergulia-Haley shared. “Second, it’s important to consider having the conversation with your child and checking in with them and letting them know that we can talk about this as a family, but in addition to that it can be important to get additional help and support.”
While having these conversations can be difficult, it is still important to have them.
“When we do open the door and we have some of those conversations – you can almost see kids begin to relax and start feeling a little bit better because they feel like I’m not alone in this,” Bertuglia-Haley said. “The way I’m responding is normal and it’s ok to have these questions.”
According to the child mental health advocate, finding help can be a difficult task itself. She suggested a phone call to a primary care provider. Evidence-based treatment has proven to be most effective.
“You can also talk to school counselors and your pediatrician. Most important is getting help, if your child is showing any signs of struggle,” Bertuglia-Haley concluded.
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