It is important to manage our response to mass shootings so we are able to care for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Here are steps to help people cope more effectively with stress after a mass shooting.

Use YSA’s free We Stand Strong Toolkit to help your community be prepared during disasters by organizing disaster preparedness awareness events.

Help Kids Cope is an app designed to assist parents in talking to their children about different disasters they may experience or have already experienced. This app includes 10 different disaster types with sections in each on how to explain, prepare, respond, and heal from the event their family is concerned with. Each section gives guidance on talking to preschool, school-age, and adolescent children, as well as, includes ways parents can help themselves cope and support their children’s reactions. Parent audio icons are located throughout the app—simply tap on these to hear a parent’s personal story. Make sure your device is not on mute or vibrate to hear these stories.

This report from Child Trends and the National Center for Children in Poverty includes a review of the prevalence of early childhood trauma and its effects. The report offers promising strategies for child care and preschool programs looking to help young children who have endured trauma, and presents recommendations for policymakers to support trauma-informed early care.

A brief guide on being safe at home and at school followed by an extensive list of resources.

Discussing death with your kids can be a real concern and many tend to avoid it. Death is however an inevitable part of life and it is our responsibility to ensure our kids are aware of it and know it’s okay to discuss it.