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The Impact of War on Children
Soothing Kids in Tumultuous Times By Jenn Director Knudsen
Shortly after the United States declared war on Iraq in 2003, Brenda Sene and her family in Sherwood, Ore., tuned in to a local news program and witnessed one of many anti-war rallies going on in nearby downtown Portland. They saw some protesters burning the American flag, an action that completely unnerved Sene's 7-year-old son, Jared. "He was devastated," says Sene, a mother of four. "He could not believe someone would do that. He started to cry and said, 'Mom, why would they do that?'"
War is very real to some older kids and adults, that is. But to younger children, war in a faraway land is impossible to comprehend. Yet, like Sene's children, they're constantly exposed to it through TV, newspaper and magazine images and other sources.
This exposure can cause stress and anxiety unlike they've ever experienced. Here, parents and experts offer some signs parents should look for in their kids and ways to help soothe their children and even themselves during such uncertain times.
Singler says parents mainly of elementary school students are calling her office for assistance. She says children between about 6 and 11 years of age are old enough to understand a little about the violence they see and hear, but still too young to recognize that the shooting and bombing isn't literally going to enter their living room.
Many of these children are having nightmares and not sleeping soundly; they're clingy and afraid to leave their parents' side, even to attend school; they're talking and thinking a lot about war and terrorism. Kids also are complaining of headaches and stomachaches, according to Singler, who has three adult children.
Kids see mayhem on TV and hear their parents talking in hushed tones, and they don't really get it. "What they get is the visual images, and they get them a lot," says Singler. "And they can easily go on overload."
