Grief Instruction at New Jersey Public Schools

The State of New Jersey has signed legislation requiring grief instruction in NJ public schools, effective immediately.

“Under the bill, New Jersey’s public schools will be required to provide instruction for students in grades 8 through 12, on, at a minimum, the physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of grief; coping mechanisms and techniques for handling grief and loss; and resources available to students, including in-school support, mental health crisis support, and individual and group therapy.”

Naturally, I think this has the best of intentions – I just have questions - a LOT of questions:

⚠️ Who is deciding what is being taught here?

⚠️ What curriculum are you using? 

⚠️ How long and how often are these classes? An hour? A week? 

⚠️ What support are you offering beyond what happens in school?

⚠️ How are you involving parents in this process? Do they get support, as well?

⚠️ What timeline is in place to make sure this actually occurs?

⚠️ What accountability is in place if it does not happen?

⚠️ Where is the funding for this project? How much will be available and when?

This bill is only two pages long…. There needs to be more detail here, to make sure that the right standards are being used, with specialists for young people directly involved. How about it @govmurphy? 

@grief @griefinschools @griefcurriculum @fearlessgrieving @griefhealingchildren