When I was a school social worker, a teary-eyed father once came to the school to tell his 4-year-old daughter’s teacher that the child’s mother had been in an accident. He did not speak to his child as she looked on but simply relayed pickup arrangements to the teacher, before he hurried to the hospital.

One of my roles at this time, in 2015, was helping teachers and administrators respond to preschool students’ social and emotional needs. I have never forgotten the sad, confused look on that young child’s face as her father left without looking in her direction.

Grief is part of the human experience and can occur at any time. Recent data indicates that 1 in 11 children in the U.S. will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18.

A caregiver’s response to painful experiences of loss during a child’s early years can have lasting implications for how children navigate future losses.

Loss generally refers to the end of an attachment bond, which could be with a person, place or thing. Grief is defined as the subsequent internal, emotional response to that loss.

As a 10-year-old, I migrated from the Caribbean to the United States. I navigated conflicting emotions as I left my routines, friends and some family behind to live in a new country. But those feelings were not affirmed or validated. Everyone around me told me this new change was for the best.

This made me feel isolated, and I ultimately remained silent about my grief.

In recent years, more people have recognized that grief can come not just from death but various other experiences, such as moving, or the loss of safety and community that people experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, many families and educators do........

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