Experts emphasized that guiding children and educating them on how to deal with difficult circumstances such as earthquakes and floods is important to maintain their safety, and to focus on the positive aspects that can contribute to rebuilding their self-confidence and enhancing their endurance and stress management skills.
Despite the depth and difficulty of disasters, hope can be revived in the souls of these children. Psychological experts have confirmed that guiding children and educating them on how to deal with these difficult circumstances, and focusing on the positive aspects, can contribute to rebuilding their confidence and belief in a better future.
Guiding children to understand what natural disasters are and how to act if they occur, and including this in school curricula contributes to helping them and ward off much of the danger.
Experts stressed the importance of training children on safety procedures, such as exiting demolished buildings or staying in safe places during earthquakes and floods.
They stressed that parents must strengthen their children’s ability to deal with stress and trauma through psychological and social support.
On the other hand, experts stressed that proper education and awareness can also help prepare children to better face these disasters.
Experts advised the importance of cooperation between schools and parents, to guide children towards dealing with disasters better and enable them to develop survival skills and recover quickly.
In this context, educational expert Dr. Lama Al-Safadi said in an interview with the morning program on Sky News Arabia:
Children are more affected in disasters, due to their lack of expertise and experience. The state of shock is very harmful, and the change following the disaster will affect them psychologically. When a child is occupied with something useful, the horror of the shock will be relieved. Returning to school is important in this context. Having the child with other children may be an ideal solution in this type of accident. The extent of psychological damage must be determined and the case dealt with accordingly.
