Creating a Safe Space

As we near the end of this school year, one of the biggest challenges that I encountered in September as a new school social worker, was figuring out how to create a genuine safe place where trust was at the top of the list for the kids here at DAA. In a world where we as are taught to be on guard and protect ourselves, it truly a challenge to open up to strangers. So my mission was to be a non judgemental ally with the kids who need extra support, leading with love yet also holding kids accountable for their actions. As the school year has gone on, I’ve found that many of the kids with the biggest behavior issues, really just needed a space where they could be safe and be a kid. As people in general, we bring our home to work/school and if that home is chaotic, then behaviors at school will be chaotic. Being firm yet non judgemental created a space, where kids could open up to me and let me know what they were scared of, angry about, or even just times when they were really unsure of themselves and if they were truly a good person. We as adults often wonder the same things, so it was interesting to see kids have the same worries we adults have. This is a very different day and age that we’re in, so by little things like giving snacks when kids are hungry , to comforting kids who are crying in the hallway to doing restorative circles with peers who don’t know how to effectively solve the disputes, and also engaging families it has opened doors for me as a social worker to be trusted and not feared (since many people only think of social workers as CPS). I will say now that this year is almost over, I feel that this has been a success. Next year my goal is to continue to be that safe space for all the students. One of the successes of the year is my middle school boys group, which was amazing in creating safe spaces for boys in 6th-8th grade, and to start a middle school

girls group (per the request of many of my upcoming 7th and 8th grade girls) and create them a safe space, while also fostering the importance of positive relationships with peers, having positive self-esteem, and also improving the mental health of the kids in general. I know the focus is academics but feeling safe and seen is so good for mental health, and with positive mental health comes better academic performance.