Department of Counseling Psychology

How to help young people and children:

1. Encourage young people and children to design murals that allow them to express their feelings and thoughts.
2. Encourage young people and children to send cards, toys, and clothes to young people and children in New York City and Washington, D.C.
3. Link school children around the world with children in New York City and Washington, D.C. and facilitate conversations between these children through chat rooms and e-mail.
4. Review these general resources that can be used by parents, teachers, and other caregivers to help children through these difficult days.

The Parent Center: 

www.parentcenter.com/general/34754.html

American Academy of Pediatrics:

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/disastercomm.htm

American Psychological Association:

http://helping.apa.org/therapy/traumaticstress.html#children

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:

http://www.aacap.org/

Some general advice from the Child and Family experts includes:

1. Continuously reassure your children that you will help to keep them safe.
2. Turn off the TV. Overexposure to the media can be traumatizing. If your older children are watching the news, be sure to watch with them.
3. Be aware that your child's age will affect his or her response.
4. Adolescents in particular may be hard hit by these kinds of events. Obtaining counseling for a child or adolescent soon after a disaster may reduce long-term effects.
5. Calmly express your emotions, but remember that a composed demeanor will provide a greater sense of security for your child.
6. Give your children extra time and attention and plan to spend more time with your children in the following months.
7. Let your children ask questions, talk about what happened, and express their feelings.
8. Play with children who can't talk yet to help them work out their fears and respond to the atmosphere around them.
9. Keep regular schedules for activities such as eating, playing and going to bed to help restore a sense of security and normalcy.
10. Consider how you and your child can help. Children are better able to regain their sense of power and security if they feel they can help in some way.
11. Assemble outreach teams that offer crisis intervention services to children in our local schools.