“You think young children might not know the word ‘rape’, but they have brought it up during class.” Twelve years ago, Melissa Bardfield began teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She teaches children, from five…
Challenging Children to Build Confidence
In the Spotlight: School Safety Team Members
The School Safety and Emergency Teams (SET) within Primary and Secondary Schools in Sint Maarten, continue to play an essential role in creating safer and more disaster-resilient schools. They play…
How play can help children process stress & trauma
Play is defined as activities that appear to be freely sought and pursued only for individual or group enjoyment. Play is children’s work; it is how they learn and develop. …
Advice from Teens: How To Talk To Teens
Traumatic experiences such as accidents, violence, loss of a loved one, or experiencing a disaster such as a hurricane – can deeply affect teenagers. Discussing these difficult experiences with teenagers…
Understanding the coping behaviours of children
“If we want children and adults to cope positively with trauma or difficult situations, we must become a society that focuses on the overall wellbeing of our population.” – Drs….
Fourteen and diagnosed with extreme social anxiety
By Laura Bijnsdorp*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the individuals interviewed. Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life. Feeling anxious about certain events is…
Rapid support for children who witness violence
How can teachers be informed so that they can better support children in need? The answer is simple: by letting the school know, without giving details about the case. Marga…
SJIS: Restoring Safety
When parents are unable to adequately take care of their children, the child or adolescent can in some cases be placed under ‘protective measure’ by a judge. This is executed…
Editorial: Child Protection Working Group
Kimberly Dort Brown Interim Director Court of Guardianship,Ministry of JusticeMember CPWG Introduction to the Child Protection Working GroupThe Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) is an inter-ministerial group, with representatives from…
A safety plan for each school
After Hurricane Gonzalo in 2014, the Student Support Services Division learned that although some schools did have plans in place, many only covered the infrastructural side. Today, the schools are…