Visit Child Care Aware
Helping Children Cope with Natural Disasters
January 17 2005
World events are always a concern
for parents. The recent tsunami tragedy in South
Asia can be a topic of conversation and will prompt
questions from children. Here are some tips on
how you can help your children cope with such
emotions:
Maintain your routine: Routines
are very important to children. Keeping a regular
schedule especially when the world around them
seems confusing or unpredictable, gives them a
sense of reassurance that they are safe. Make
sure children get appropriate sleep, exercise,
and nutrition. Children may find it difficult
to accept routines and limits but continue by
being firm, calm, and supportive.
Avoid overexposure to media: Make
sure children are not overexposed to media. Media
can be graphic and if children are watching television
they are more likely to feel afraid and confused
with the images. Children also don't have the
understanding of time and space yet and may assume
that what they are seeing on the television is
close to home and may become scared that a disaster
will hit in their neighborhood.
Answer their questions: Children
fear most when they don't understand what is happening
around them. Make sure when you are answering
your children's questions you are calm and respond
at their developmental level. Preschooler's thinking
is concrete and egocentric so keep the answers
simple and only to what they need to know. School-
age children can be given a more scientific approach
such as explaining to them how tsunamis are formed.
Getting children involved in the
effort: Let your child participate in a charitable
function or initiative. This will show children
how people around the world are working together
to the relief of to those in need. Ask the children
what they would like to do. They can send clothes,
food or even write letters or email to those in
need. There are several charities that they could
donate to such as the Global Fund for Children,
Save the Children and United Way just to mention
a few.
