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.

Ready Wrigley Coping After a Disaster coloring book cover page

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.