Helping Children Cope With Disaster

See also:

• Preparing your home for natural emergencies
• What to do in an earthquake
• Home Hazard Hunt
• Family Disaster Plan
• Returning home after a disaster

After a disaster, most parents' first concern is the health and well-being of their children. Finding a warm place to sleep and food to eat is only the first step in caring for a child in these circumstances. Disasters are particularly traumatic for children, so adults must be extra sensitive to their emotional needs and make a special effort to reassure them that they will do their best to protect them.

Plan For Disaster

Talk to children about the likely disasters in their community

It is easier for children to understand what is happening during a disaster if they already know what can take place. Point out that natural disasters are indeed natural events although they are natural events and although they are dangerous, they do not have to be life-threatening. Try not to alarm the children in discussing possible disasters.

Teach children about the safety precautions for each disaster

Prepare a family disaster plan

Choose a family contact and have a place to meet. Try to include children in the process of developing the plan. Give them some minor duties of their own that will help them feel part of the family.

Explain how to call for help

Children over the age of 4 should know how to call for emergency assistance. Keep this simple. Teach children to dial either 9-1-1 or 0 for the operator. Make sure they know their address and phone number.

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Provide Comfort

Take a child's fears seriously

Disasters are particularly traumatic for children. They may lead to fears of abandonment, injury, and even death. Fantasized fears are real threats to children. Take them seriously. Encourage a confused child to talk and ask questions. Listen to what the child is saying about fears and about feelings about self, family, and what has just happened. Look for any physical reactions such as stomachaches and headaches.

Keep the family together

Although it may seem to make more sense to leave a child in a safe place while looking for housing or assistance, children may become anxious that parents might not return. Take children along and try to keep the entire family together as much as possible.

Include children in the clean up process

Let the children be responsible for as much of the clean up process as they can handle. By seeing that it is possible to return to a normal life, children will realize that the world has not come to an end. As they are helping, encourage them to talk about their feelings.

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Allow children to make some decisions regarding the family

Children can decide where and what to eat, or how to lay out family sleeping bags in the shelter. This will help them feel that they still have some control over their lives.

Leave time for play

Children need to be children even in disaster and need to have time to escape from the demands of the disaster. Encourage children to play, and help them find things to do. Your local community will generally provide play materials in shelters.

Increase attention

Children may require more attention during this period. Try to meet these additional demands on your time. A child wanting to be held more should be held more.

Maintain control

Reassure children that you will do your best to protect them in this difficult situation. Be understanding, but firm. Be aware that children may act out of fear or anxieties by having tantrums or provoking fights. Calm, consistent limit-setting is called for from parents.

Share your fears with children

It is useful for adults to share with their children a bit of their own sense of fear and concern to help children understand that these feelings are normal and acceptable.

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Communicate

Children will naturally be curious about what happened. Explain the facts about what happened. Explain the facts and encourage the child to asks questions. If the child continually repeats the same questions, remember that this is a new experience for the child and he or she may need to hear the answers several times. Use these guidelines when talking with children:

• Use words or phrases that won't confuse children. For instance, use of the word "sleep" for death can cause a child to fear going to bed.
• Make sure children understand your answers to their questions.
• Listen to children's feelings and accept them.
• Remember that children - just like adults - may react with unusual behavior such as wide emotional shifts.
• Help children talk with each other about what has happened and how they are feeling.

When to Consider Professional Help

Be open to the possibility that a child may need professional help to deal with a trauma. Children, like adults, recover from trauma at different speeds. Sometimes a trained professional counselor is needed to help a child fully heal. Consider counseling if the child is having an ongoing sleeping problem or difficulty concentrating, or if fears surrounding the disaster seem to have become worse.

A child that continually clings to adults several weeks after the event, or who expresses a sense of permanent doom may need to talk about the experience with a trained professional.

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How Children React to Disaster

Children of different age groups are likely to have different reactions. Here are some guidelines developed by Dr. Deborah DeWolfe for the American Red Cross.

Birth to 2 Years - Infants may become more irritable, cry more than usual or want to be held and cuddled. Children in this age group are likely to retain memories of particular sights, sounds and smells associated with the trauma.

2 to 6 Years - Preschoolers often feel helpless and powerless after a disaster. Their age and small size prevent them from being able to protect themselves and others. They feel very afraid and insecure and are unable to understand the concept of permanent loss.

6 to 10 Years - School age children understand the permanence of loss and may become preoccupied with the details of the event. These children have a greater grasp of more complicated issues and can have a range of different reactions including feelings of guilt, failure, or fantasies of playing rescuer.

11 to 18 Years - Preteens and adolescents may react in a way that combines the normal reactions of adults with those of children. Teenagers may come out of a disaster with a sense of immortality and become involved with different types of reckless behavior. Some teens may feel overwhelmed by emotions, yet be unable to discuss them with family members.

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Questions or comments? Contact: emergency.management@vancouver.ca or call 3-1-1 (within Vancouver) or 604.873.7000 (outside Vancouver).

Last modified: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
© 2009 City of Vancouver