This guide provides educational and practical guidance to help schools, parents and others who care for children understand and respond to children’s reactions to traumatic events.
It has been prepared for use with all children and adolescents following a traumatic experience (created as the result of the work undertaken after September 11), but users should be particularly sensitive to the reactions of those children who are more likely than others to be at risk for developing problems. This would include children who had physical exposure, who witnessed the event, who were near the location of the disaster or incident, who had a preexisting mental health issue, whose caregivers experienced emotional difficulty, who had preexisting or consequent family life stressors such as divorce or loss of job, previous loss or trauma experience or those who have a limited support network.
This Guide is organized in sections to examine a range of issues including information on children’s reactions at different stages of development, followed by practical, hands-on advice to parents and school staff. Building on the strengths of children, thereby enhancing their resilience, is emphasized. Also included are specific strategies for when and how to get help for mental health problems, preparedness for natural disasters, talking to children about terrorism, war and media issues and specific techniques to help families access community resources. Each section provides information based on principles of child and family psychology, results of previous experiences and research studies.