Psychologist advises parents to talk to their kids after Montgomery County student was arrested for alleged school shooting threat
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — As Montgomery County police continue to investigate Alex Ye’s 129-page manifesto on his alleged plan to commit a mass shooting at Wooten High School and an elementary school, a psychologist is advising parents to create room for kids to talk about it.
“This is what we live with. This could happen at any time which creates a kind of a sense of anxiety for kids,” said Dr. Matthew Leary, a licensed psychologist.
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Leary said it’s a shame that the reality kids live in involves the possibility of school shootings.
“It is absolutely traumatizing for kids,” he said. “Some research shows the closer to home it hits, the more traumatizing it is.”
Leary said there are different levels on how to approach helping kids trying to mentally deal with a school shooting or the threat of it. He said to try and look at a way to support the individual child, how to support the community of children at the school and how to keep them safe.
“Try to make room and space for them to try to share with you how it impacts them,” Leary said. “They might be very anxious, some might blow it off a little bit to protect themselves depending on the kid they may need.”
He explained that the impact on a child’s mental health can depend on the age of the child and it can reveal itself in different ways.
“It certainly does create a sense of anxiety. A sense sometimes of school aversion. So sometimes some kids, this is kind of another level, they don’t want to go to school,” Leary said. “I think it encourages pessimism and some distrust a little bit of the kids around.”
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His advice to parents is to listen to their child and listen actively.
“Listen both actively and in an engaged way and don’t let them blow you off and must acknowledge it must have had some impact,” Leary said. “Validating their feelings and not giving them a false sense or a sense of safety you can’t promise.”
He also said some children might need assurance and acknowledgement that school shootings are an awful reality to deal with. Leary advised parents to remind their kids what to do in the event of a shooting in school and how to keep themselves safe.
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