Using Acupressure Through a School Gun Threat

Let's face it. School staff shouldn’t need to figure out what to do if something goes haywire, like a gun threat. That craziness shouldn't be happening at any school, especially a Kindergarten-Grade 6.

But that’s what did happen at Penngrove Elementary School when the staff received a call during recess from a guy who said he was coming to the school with a gun because he was not being allowed to speak to his kid. The call immediately created a two-hour lockdown in which the students were led into rooms with their teachers.

Two hours must have felt like ten when trying to keep a room of kids quiet and calm.

The teachers pulled it off.

The story is that they made it into a game for the younger children to ease tension and avoid scaring them. The games continued when it was time to evacuate by school buses to the local fire station, which became a “field trip”.

That was the “event” day.

But what about the residuals? What about how the parents felt after they were told about the threat and then they had to wait for their children to show up at the fire station?

Understandably, those parents were anxious because they had no way to assist in the situation. What about what some kids were dealing with that night and the following days? What about the staff who managed to keep it together and keep their students engaged and calm during the fiasco but then had to deal with the aftereffects?

Even when it seems like everyone is holding it together, the emotions running under the surface are fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. A child who suddenly gets anxious can easily create a stream of reactions that spreads to others. If an adult who is one of the supervisors get anxious, then the kids will quickly pick up on that feeling.

The key is maintaining a calm and safe environment, which comes from almost everyone there BEING in that peaceful space. It was lucky that the Penngrove staff were exceptional at fulfilling that goal.

Many of the older students also remembered what to do to keep calm even in a stressful situation. They recalled how to do self-help acupressure I’d taught them at a previous school assembly. Their parents and school staff had also participated in related workshops.

About a week after the school fiasco, I had the opportunity to spend time with the kindergarteners and some older students. I was there to connect with anyone feeling residuals from that crazy day.

The purpose was just to be there, listen to their stories, and help them understand that their feelings were natural reactions. And teach them self-help acupressure, which people of all ages can use to handle stress, relieve anxiousness, and let go of being overwhelmed.

Acupressure can help you accomplish that because it helps your body experience energetic balance, expand the breath, create calmness and grounding, feel safe, and rediscover joy and peace by letting go of the pattern of reaction to trauma.

The kindergartners were engaged and interacting as I showed them how to breathe deeper, even when something scary happened. One little guy was even able to calm down during a moment when I showed them how to do the “jumper cables”.

Doing the jumper cables is the last step in the Daily Clean Your House Flow®, a nine-step self-help acupressure flow I wrote years ago for my clients and students. It’s easy to learn and easy to do.

What those 5- and 6-year-olds experienced was a way to find calm and expansion of breath. They didn’t need to know everything else they were accomplishing. They just felt the space of ease.

To do the jumper cables, gently cup each thumb and finger, starting with the thumb on one hand and doing all the fingers. Then go to the next hand. When you do this, you’re connecting with all emotions and helping your body let go of anything jamming up the breath.

When I was with the older students, many KNEW what I was talking about and showed ME what they do for calm and expanded breath! I heard comments like, “It works even when it’s a really bad day, like what happened last week.”

They knew because I’d been with them for that school assembly, and I taught them the Daily Clean Your House Flow, as well as several other acupressure movements they could do to help with clarity and focus, to succeed at whatever they wanted to do better, and to feel healthier.

This one was the most popular acupressure pose for calm and breath.

- With one hand, cup the sternum directly below the collarbones.

- With the other hand, hold your fingers on your tummy.

It works so well that it can even make a difference when you feel super anxious, like a student who doesn’t feel safe in a drill and has to go under the desk.

So, imagine offering this information and tool for your students’ toolkits. Take it further and imagine offering these same techniques to your educators, staff, and parents. Imagine your entire school community having a toolkit that allows them a way to get on the other side of stress, anxiousness, overwhelm, fear, worry, anger, and even sadness.

Imagine THAT information making a difference if something terrible happens in your school. We don’t want the bad to happen, but it’s all about being proactive to be able to manage stress in high-anxiety situations.

And, no matter what, your students will be more empowered with a toolkit that enhances focus, clarity, and performance, supports a cooperative learning environment, and helps them achieve their potential.