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Crisis-related stress can take its toll on young children, especially when preoccupied parents are busy with day-to-day survival tactics. Some children may be good at masking their fear and grief, so parents and other adults must take time to talk with children about their emotions. Determining how much information should be shared with children is up to the individual families. A good rule-of-thumb, however, is to try not to overwhelm children at one setting. Allow them to handle the loss in small doses, but be open and honest about what is happening.

Families are critical in the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social development of children. Research indicates that families are unique and individual, yet share common strengths. We must remember that . .

Children need time to heal from traumatic events. Studies of children following natural disasters have shown that children may experience emotional and behavioral effects for months, one year or even two years following the disaster.

As flood waters recede for some Kansans, others continue to experience the daily stress of evacuation from homes, loss of farms and businesses and uncertainty. Because of the continual “not knowing what’s next” people are unsure if they can return home while others wonder if they will yet have to evacuate. Natural disasters often lead to prolonged emotional and physical stress. Disasters can also lead to “lessons learned” as communities rebuild.

When teachers and school per­sonnel experience a traumatic event along with their students, they have the double burden of resolving personal feelings while also trying to help teenagers through their reactions. This brochure is a guide for middle school and senior high school teachers and others who work with adolescents. It is also in­tended to help teachers and school staff provide guidance and support to parents, to help them work together with their adolescents to aid in recovery from disaster trauma.

When there is major interrup­tion in the natural flow of life, children can experience anxiety and fear. Disasters such as earthquakes and fires are dra­matic and intense experiences, especially unsettling to children.

After a natural disaster or other traumatic experience, life might seem out of control. How do you manage? What are you supposed to do? There is no right or wrong way to respond to a trauma. You might expenence:

In the aftermath of a disaster, callers may be angry, rude and frustrated for many understandable reasons. People who have been affected by a disaster will most likely feel profoundly shaken in their sense of security and well being. Frequently, their lives will have changed drastically. The greater your understanding about the reasons for your caller's anger, the easier it will be for you to manage the situation.

Assisting upset individuals is both rewarding and demanding. You may be exposed to the intense emotions of others and may not know what to do or say. You may be confronted with questions for which you have no answers. The following are some guidelines for communicating with upset, agitated, or demanding people.

A lot of effort is needed to keep the family operating. Even more effort is required to enhance and affirm the strengths in a family. Just as proper diet and exercise combine to make you feel, look, and function more efficiently, there are certain contributions each family member can make to help create a stronger, healthier, and more satisfying family life.

Family communication is much more than just the exchange of words between family members. It is what we say, how we say it, why we say it, when we say it, and what we neglect to say. It is our facial expressions, our gestures, our posture, our vocal tones. Communication includes both verbal and nonverbal language. Words are the basic tools of verbal language. However, nonverbal language has many components such as:

Sometimes a family is like a circuit box. When too many things go wrong, the circuits overload and throw a breaker. Here is a quick activity to see how much stress your family is loading on the circuits. Simply write in each slot something that is causing stress in your family. Then read on to learn more about family stress, how families can cope with stress, and ways to bring out the strengths of your family.

Some residents loudly criticize community leaders for not adequately preparing residents for flooding. Local relief workers, feeling their efforts were hampered by red tape, express anger. Victims voice anger toward relief workers both for interfering with their lives and for not doing enough to help.

Strong families recognize that there are benefits and pleasures to be gained from time and activities together. They value the family bond and make special efforts to preserve time together for family activities and interaction. By spending pleasant time together, families build a reserve of good feelings and are able to cope with personal and family crisis more effectively. Strong families are deeply committed to the family unit and to promoting the happiness and welfare of each other. Family commitment comes from an active involvement in setting and carrying out family goals. Families work to spend PRIME time together. They don’t just take advantage of spare time to devote to the family; they actually PLAN for quality family time.