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In times of loss, illness, or uncertainty, a school community is called to come together with compassion, dignity, and care. Whether grieving the passing of a school member or responding to critical circumstances affecting students and families, educators, in partnership with parents, bear a significant responsibility to support students while remaining steady themselves.
Across school communities, this type of care is often grounded in shared values of compassion, resilience, and trust. Adults play an important role in helping students process grief and loss in ways that are both emotionally supportive and rooted in their values and identity.
Friendzy provides student resources and professional learning designed to equip caring adults to respond with confidence and sensitivity. These tools offer practical approaches designed to foster a sense of emotional safety, strengthen relationships, and support resilience.
When life feels uncertain, students don’t need more content; they need consistent moments of care, connection, and calm.
Research shows that when students are taught to identify and label emotions, they build stronger emotion understanding and self-regulation skills, both of which support healthier coping and behavior.
Friendzy’s Daily Reinforcement Tools are short, practical activities designed to help the adults around students, parents and educators alike, create those moments of connection throughout the day. These tools can be used at home or in virtual learning environments to support emotional well-being, strengthen relationships, and build resilience in real time.
Start small. Choose one tool that feels manageable and try it today.
Build a rhythm. Use it at a consistent time each day (morning, transitions, or before bed).
Stay connected. Check in with other adults—share what’s working and where you need support.
Give yourself grace. You don’t need to do everything. Showing up with care is what matters most.
You don’t have to have all the answers; you just need a place to start, and Friendzy is here to help you take that first step.
Research suggests that resilience-building practices help children and adolescents strengthen coping, reduce internalizing distress, and grow in their ability to respond to stress with greater confidence and flexibility. 2
This visual tool helps students identify and communicate how they’re feeling in a clear, simple way. It can be used at home or in learning environments to start the day, talk through challenges, or guide problem-solving conversations.
Use this weather chart to help students “scale” their problems. This approach helps students recognize what they’re feeling and begin to think about what might help.
Students rate how they are doing on a scale from 1 to 7 by asking, “How big is the problem?”
This simple tool builds self-regulation and problem-solving skills. It helps students see that emotions change, challenges can be managed, and small choices can help them move toward feeling better.
Research indicates that simple calming practices, especially breathing, mindfulness, and other self-regulation routines, can help lower children’s physiological arousal and support calmer, more regulated responses in stressful moments. 3
Simple visuals and strategies that help children pause, breathe, and regulate their emotions before re-engaging with learning or family activities.
Create a small, consistent space in your home, like a “calm down corner”, where your child can go to reset. Using these visuals, you can help them identify what they’re feeling and practice healthy ways to manage those emotions. Over time, this space becomes a safe, familiar place for calming down, not punishment.
Start simple: a quiet spot, a few visuals, and a consistent message: This is a place to feel better.”
These short learning videos are designed for the adults caring for students, parents and educators, who want a deeper understanding of how to support kids during stressful or uncertain times.
In this three-part video series, Dr. Joy Roberts and Dr. Marcella Chiromo walk through how stress and trauma affect children and how you can respond with empathy, steadiness, and practical support. These videos meet you where you are, acknowledging that supporting kids can feel heavy, while offering clarity, encouragement, and tools you can use right away.
Part 1 – What Is Trauma? | Understand what trauma is and how it may show up in children, and even in ourselves
Part 2 – The Impact on Students and Families | Learn how stress impacts relationships, attention, and emotions, and how adults can serve as calm, steady anchors for the children in their care.
Part 3 – Practical Tools for Support | Discover simple, practical ways to help children manage big emotions, rebuild trust, and find calm during difficult moments.
This Friendzy unit provides simple, ready-to-use ways to help students process emotions, feel seen, and begin to regain a sense of safety during difficult or uncertain times.
The lessons are flexible and can be used over time or adapted for individual conversations at home or in learning settings. Each of the 6 lesson builds understanding, connection, and emotional awareness.
What’s Included:
Simple teaching guidance to introduce the idea that it’s okay to feel what you’re feeling
Conversation prompts to help students open up and feel understood
Activities and visuals to reinforce emotional awareness and connection
Practical tools to support ongoing check-ins and daily support
“It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” helps students understand that feeling sad, scared, or uncertain is normal—and that naming those emotions is the first step toward healing. The included Daily Check-In Tool (emotions chart) helps adults create consistent, meaningful conversations with students.
It's our sincere hope these tools, guides, and resources bring peace and comfort to you during times of heartbreak. The Friendzy team is here to be a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen, and a hand to hold in any challenge or tragic event.
Citations:
Sprung, M., Münch, H. M., Harris, P. L., Ebesutani, C., & Hofmann, S. G. (2015). Children’s emotion understanding: A meta-analysis of training studies. Developmental Review, 37, 41–65; Wyman, P. A., et al. (2010). An emotion self-regulation intervention for children. Archives of General Psychiatry.
Dray, J., et al. (2021). Child and adolescent mental health and resilience-focussed interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of preliminary studies; Dray, J., et al. (2017). Systematic review of universal resilience-focused interventions targeting child and adolescent mental health in the school setting. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry; Pinto, T. M., et al. (2021). Resilience programs for children and adolescents: A systematic review of randomized trials. Frontiers in Psychology.
Bockmann, J. O., & Yu, S. Y. (2023). Using mindfulness-based interventions to support self-regulation in young children: A review of the literature. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51(4), 693–703; Obradović, J., et al. (2021). Taking a few deep breaths significantly reduces children’s physiological arousal in everyday settings; Kramer, A. C., et al. (2023). The effectiveness of slow-paced diaphragmatic breathing on children’s relaxation and negative affect.
