Helping young children recover after natural disasters

Cutline: The Morrill Fire burned 642,000 acres, including areas north-northwest of Broadwater, Neb., and north of Cresent Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Gary Stone

 (The Morrill Fire burned 642,000 acres, including areas north-northwest of Broadwater, Neb., and north of Cresent Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Gary Stone)

Nebraska Extension

 Nebraska wildfires that began on March 12 burned around 800,000 acres, covering an area about the size of Rhode Island, according to data from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. The natural disaster will affect ranching families and communities, causing various levels of stress for adults and children. 

 The Nebraska Extension has suggestions for parents and guardians on how to help children cope with stress after a natural disaster. The most important thing right now is to help children feel safe and protected. It is the first step in the process of mental health or emotional recovery.

 Trauma from such events is what a person experiences inside and is not the event itself, so one child may be experiencing traumatic stress while another child may not. Because the experience is within each person, adults should carefully watch for behavioral changes that can provide clues into what the child is experiencing.

 In the early phase after an event, children may display a wide range of symptoms, from showing no behavioral changes at all to behavior changes such as becoming tearful, aggressive, or not wanting their parent (teacher or other caregiver) out of their sight. Care should be taken not to assume that the child showing almost no behavioral change is not experiencing any distress from a natural disaster. Many children will internalize their distress, showing few outward signs, while other children will externalize it, making their distress easier to see. 

 Watch for children signaling what they need. Parent or guardian’s nearby presence, or that of another trusted caregiver or teacher, is probably the single most important factor in helping a child recover from a disturbing event in a healthy way.

 Routines can be especially helpful in conveying a sense of safety and protection to children. Children find comfort in the predictable rhythms of their usual day, particularly when something has disrupted their ability to predict what is coming next. So, keeping or returning to a child’s typical daily routines and times of going to bed, waking up, eating, bathing, playing, etc., can be very therapeutic for children.

 For infants and very young, pre-verbal children, their experience is mostly driven by the parent or other caregiver. When adults are distressed, children will notice subtle changes in face, voice, and behavior, even when adults think they may be disguising their emotions. Caregivers need to think about ways to take care of themselves, to cope with fear, anger, sadness, exhaustion, etc.

 It is helpful to tell children (even infants and very young children) that being upset about something is not because of anything they have done. And reassure them that you will still be there to care for them. At times, a caregiver may need help from other caring adults to look after their children, so they can seek support for mental health and well-being.

 Nebraska Extension is your trusted source for disaster-related information. Learning Child and 4-H campus and county-based experts are ready to help you get the answers you need to support children, youth, and the adults in their lives during life-changing events.

 For more information, visit https://disaster.unl.edu or https://child.unl.edu/read4resilience 

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Nebraska Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture. Nebraska Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.