Moms' Talk: Helping Kids Understand Natural Disasters

We all know that our children are amazing observers of the world around us - who among us hasn't seen or heard our youngsters repeat something one of us said in passing?  Something we didn't even know they had overheard?  Sometimes it's embarrassing, and often it's at the worst possible time!  Kids are little sponges soaking up every drop of what they experience every day.

So it's likely your children have seen and heard some amount of media coverage or conversation about the recent earthquake and tsunami and the resulting devastation in Japan.  Depending on the age and/or temperament of the children, their reactions to a disaster may differ widely.  Very young children, seeing repeated coverage of a disaster don't have the cognitive maturity to comprehend that the event isn't happening over and over - they believe the actual incident happens each time they see it.  Some studies conclude that children can even suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder just from hearing about and/or seeing  news coverage of the event - they don't need to experience it personally.  (Read one study here.)

After a natural disaster like Japan's, we see emotional reactions in kids  ranging from worry and fear to sadness and empathy, with many other feelings in between - including curiosity about the hows and whys of the event, and even, sometimes, guilt. 

With all that in mind, we'd like to know how you help your children cope with news like Japan's disaster.  Do you insulate them from the event?  How do you reassure worried children without creating a false sense of security?  If your kids want to lend a hand, how do you help them to help?  Do your children worry about a tsunami on Long Island? Do they ask about the differences in the geology of the Pacific Rim and our local coast?

Let us know how you help your children cope with events that they might not otherwise understand.