Helping Children Cope with Emergencies | CDC

Helping Children Cope with Emergencies | CDC

Helping Children Cope After a Disaster

Mental health plays an important role in physical health, school performance, behavior, and long-term quality of life. Therefore, it is important to keep children physically and mentally safe during and after a disaster. CDC has developed a Ready Wrigley book in English and Spanish to help your child cope after a disaster.

Parents and caregivers can take steps to help their children cope with traumatic events:

• Answer your child’s questions truthfully and in a way that he or she can understand. You can also correct misinformation about the event.
• Set an example for your child by managing your stress and returning to your normal routine and encouraging your child to do the same. This can help reduce stress.
• Give your child opportunities to talk about what he or she went through and encourage your child to share concerns and ask questions.
• Allow your child to be with you or another trusted adult who can help your child feel safe and calm and give him or her a sense of hope.
• Limit exposure to media coverage of the disaster and its aftermath. Children who are directly exposed to a disaster can become upset again if they see or hear reminders of what happened.
• Work with teachers and other adults, who see your child in different situations, to share information about how your child is coping.