In Newton, members of a crisis team that has been organized for at least a decade went into the middle school to break the truth gently. Crisis team members also met with the families who lost children that remained in Newton. Dr. Michael Jellinek, a child psychiatrist who headed yesterday s efforts, said he made sure children heard the news from their own homeroom teachers, with counselors present. There were rumors and misstatements and misunderstood names going around. The kids have been tremendously upset.
Kids are very close to each other in junior high school.
The mood I saw was tremendous sadness. He said children were asking their friends, their parents and the counselors such questions as whether it is safe to go on a trip or even to ride a bus. When the names of the dead were announced to parents and teachers, Massimo said, it seemed that within a matter of minutes a chain reaction of sobs and screams fanned out throughout the rooms and corridors of the school.