PDF Book (Meena Life has Changed Teachers Guide)

Natural and human made disasters are part of our lives today. These events affect adults as well as children and may have deep impact on their feelings and behavior. If detected early and helped, children can come to accept that while their lives have been disrupted, they can still find some hope for the future. Even when they have lost family members, they can be helped to be resilient.

Children should be exposed to information that they can handle. Adults can respond to children’s fears without over alarming them, by listening to and answering their questions and by using language which is appropriate to their age. Children need to be given enough information to answer their questions, but not too much which would be difficult to understand.

Sometimes to protect children from further pain, parents may not want to be fully truthful. They need to be honest while talking to children in order to help them heal. Teachers or volunteers working with affected people should explain this matter to the parents. In many cases encouraging children to draw (if they are able to) about their experiences has helped them express their feelings and fears.