There is no one way to handle every crisis. My suggestion is that when a crisis is being talked about outside the church, it's probably a good time to talk about it in the church. I, typically, will cancel our "regular" teaching schedule and deal with the current issue. Bombings, school shootings, a local school suicide or any crisis that becomes newsworthy is worth talking about with the backdrop of God's Word. Most students aren't hearing a biblical perspective on pain, suffering, God, evil, etc. from their school conversations and they need to know the Bible gives direction and hope. Crisis is a great opportunity to point students toward God. Don't feel like you have to have all the right answers to all the issues(especially since you don't).

This is a great opportunity to be genuine about your feelings and honest about your real lack of answers. I love the words in Acts 4:12, "Peter saw this as his opportunity and addressed the crowd..." Crisis is an opportunity to address your crowd. You don't need to answer every question, you just need to show students that you love them and want them to know the One who is still in control in the midst of difficult times.

Also, Chris, you don't need to be embarrassed when you don't know something--that's the journey of working with students. I've been doing this over 20 years and I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing at times. I love what they said about Peter and John, "The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training." (Acts 4:13) We are all "ordinary" people counting on God's extraordinary power.

http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-articles-doug-s-thoughts.html