Educators as First Responders: A Teacher’s Guide to Adolescent Development and Mental Health, Grades 6-12

204 Pages·2022·1.464 MB·English

by  Deborah Offner

Educators as First Responders
Educators as First Responders is a comprehensive, hands-on guide
to adolescent development and mental health for teachers and
other educators of students in grades 6-12. Today’s schools are
at the forefront of supporting adolescents with increasingly
complex, challenging psychosocial needs. Moreover, students
are more likely to seek out a trusted teacher, advisor, or coach
for support than to confide directly in a parent or even a school
counselor. Succinct and accessible, this book provides tips and
strategies that teachers, coaches, nurses, counselors, and other
school professionals can put into immediate use with students
in varying degrees of distress. These evidence-based practices
and real-world classroom examples will help you understand
the “whole student,” a developing individual shaped not just
by parental pressure or psychiatric diagnosis but by school and
broader cultural and systemic forces.
Deborah Offner is a Clinical Psychologist who has worked in
schools and colleges as a counselor, educator, and consultant
for 25 years. She is Consulting Psychologist at Beacon Academy
in Boston, MA, and provides counseling, supervision, and pro-
fessional consultation to several other middle and secondary
schools. Her areas of expertise include adolescent development
and mental health, student affairs, and professional development
for K-12 educators.
Other Eye on Education Books
Available from Routledge
(www.routledge.com/k-12)
Learner Choice, Learner Voice: A Teacher’s Guide to
Promoting Agency in the Classroom
Ryan L Schaaf, Becky Zayas, and Ian Jukes
Supporting Student Mental Health: Essentials for Teachers
Michael Hass and Amy Ardell
The K-12 Educator’s Data Guidebook: Reimagining Practical
Data Use in Schools
Ryan A. Estrellado
Teaching as Protest: Emancipating Classrooms
Through Racial Consciousness
Robert S. Harvey and Susan Gonzowitz
The Brain-Based Classroom: Accessing Every Child’s
Potential Through Educational Neuroscience
Kieran O’Mahony
The Media-Savvy Middle School Classroom: Strategies
for Teaching Against Disinformation
Susan Brooks-Young
Educators as First
Responders
A Teacher’s Guide to
Adolescent Development and
Mental Health, Grades 6-12
Deborah Offner
Designed cover image: © Shutterstock
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2023 Deborah Offner
The right of Deborah Offner to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978-1-032-05914-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-41607-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-35892-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003358923
Typeset in Palatino
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
To Sam – my most loving, enthusiastic supporter
To Julia – my favorite middle, high school, and college student

Contents
Meet the Author ...................................... ix
Introduction ......................................... xi
SECTION I
Educators and Adolescents ... ....................... 1
1 Educators as First Responders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 The Adolescent Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 They Did What? Risk, Reward, and Impulsivity . . . . . . . . 35
4 Worried, Sad, or Something More? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
SECTION II
Social Contexts ...................................77
5 Race, Ethnicity, and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6 Socioeconomic Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7 Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8 Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
viii ◆ Contents
SECTION III
Strengthening Their Circle of Support ........ ...... 153
9 Meet the Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
10 Encouraging an Emotionally Healthy School . . . . . . . . . . 173
Rules for the Road ...................................187
Meet the Author
Deborah Offner, a clinical psychologist, has spent twenty-five
years in schools and colleges as a classroom teacher, counselor,
administrator, and consultant. She also maintains an active clini-
cal practice, where she works with adolescents and their families.
Dr. Offner spent fourteen years as Consulting Psychologist
and, subsequently, Dean of Students, at an independent high
school in Boston. Currently, she serves as Consulting Psychologist
to Beacon Academy, a one-year, full-time program that prepares
highly motivated students from communities with limited
resources to succeed in competitive high schools. Dr. Offner
also supervises school counselors, consults to school leaders,
and provides professional development to educators and edu-
cational content to parents about adolescent development and
mental health.
Dr. Offner holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a
Ph.D. from Boston University. She lives in the Boston area with
her husband and daughter.