In the Face of Disaster: Helping Children Cope

A hurricane bearing down on the Carolinas. Wildfires in California. A typhoon in the Phillipines. A gas line fault causing multiple explosions and fires in residential areas near me in Massachusetts. All this in the week of 9/11. Disasters are much on my mind, so here are a few resources to help us parents help our kids prepare for them and cope during and after—including one resource that’s unabashedly queer.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has many online resources about Caring for Children in a Disaster, including emergency kit checklists, a factsheet on ” Helping Children Cope During and After a Hurricane,” information on “Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs in Emergencies,” and much more.
• Colorín Colorado, a site with bilingual, research-based information for educators and families of English language learners, has a page of links in both English and Spanish on “Helping Children After a Natural Disaster.”
• The National Institute of Mental Health looks at the emotional side of dealing with trauma on its page about “Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters: What Parents Can Do.”
• The Disney Junior show Doc McStuffins, in its episode “The Emergency Plan,” conveys important lessons through an engaging storyline. Doc,  a young girl who can magically inhabit a world of toys, helps two doll moms reunite with each other and their two kids when a toy dragon causes an “earthquake” by jumping up and down. Doc then tells them about the importance of having an emergency plan, with an agreed-upon meeting place and an emergency preparedness kit. This is the first episode of the show to feature a two-mom family (about which more here)—and the show is created and executive produced by Chris Nee, a lesbian mom herself.

I’m no expert at any of this, but know that it never hurts to hug our kids and loved ones, whether near a disaster or knowing that someday we could be. Wishing you all safety.