Children left traumatised by quake

IAIN McGREGOR/The Press

NEW EXPERIENCE: Bailey McFarlane, six, left, Cameron McFarlane, four and Tyler McFarlane, nine, explore cracks in Christchurch's Avonside Drive. Experts have said some children may be traumatised after the quake, while others will be fine.

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Children left "scared of every sound" by the Christchurch quake will be offered trauma counselling the same as that given out in warzones and other global disasters.
 
Many Canterbury parents have called for assistance after their children have been left unable to sleep alone in their rooms and petrified of the threat of further quakes.

The Ministry of Education has issued a warning to local families that their children may suffer fear, anxiety and concern at being separated from parents following the 7.1 earthquake which struck at 4.36am on Saturday morning.
 
Save the Children CEO Liz Gibbs said the organisation would be involved with providing trauma counselling to children involved in the quake.
 
One of Save the Children's global experts in managing large-scale disasters, Chris Cattaway, had arrived in Christchurch to see how the organisation could assist the city,
 
 "Our expertise is in providing child safe spaces and providing basically what we call psycho social support," Ms Gibbs said.
 
"People are very traumatised, quite understandably so. They are feeling shocked and extremely frightened, children take that with them and it can really cause problems going forward."
 
Save the Children would use the same techniques to help children in Christchurch as in other large scale disasters such as Haiti and the war in Afghanistan, Miss Gibbs said.
 
Children spoken to by Stuff.co.nz said they had been left scared of the dark and fearful of more quakes following Saturday morning’s disaster.
 
Eleven-year-old Olivia recalled the moment the quake struck:
 
"Well I was having a dream that there was going to be something weird then mum came running in screaming 'earthquake, earthquake' and I still thought it was part of my dream and then we stood under the door and waited for it to finish."
 
She and her sister had slept in their mother’s room since the quake because they were a “bit chicken” to sleep in their own rooms.
 
"I’m just being really scared of every sound and jumping at everything and just waiting for the next aftershock to come."
 
Edward, seven, whose mother’s swimwear shop was damaged in the quake, said when the shaking started he felt like “he was in a truck”.
 
He had spent his time off school playing card games and pick-up sticks.
 
Brianna, eight, said the quake was “probably the biggest one in Christchurch”.
 
"My mum came rushing in to get me from the room, and she was trying to tell dad to wake up. We went and stood between the doorways. It went for quite a long time.
 
"I’m not really scared of the aftershocks I just don’t like the big one."
 
But Jacob, seven,  said he hadn’t been frightened by the 7.1 earthquake.
 
"At first I thought it was like a tornado until my mum told me it was an earthquake. I wasn’t scared at all. It felt like I was having a ride."
 
Psychologist David Johnston, director of Massey University's Joint Centre for Disaster and a specialist in trauma management said the most important thing parent’s could do for their children was offer support.
 
"People respond in different ways and there is no one way to manage the trauma of these events.
 
"While children are vulnerable, they are equally very resilient.
 
"The vast majority will come through it fine they just need to be provided with support."

If people require additional support they can contact the Traumatic Incident Team 03 378 7300

Things to do:

- Provide assurance that all reactions are normal

- Provide opportunities to keep routines going as much as possible and highlight what is and can be done to get things back to normal

- Emphasise how people have coped and what’s being done - at a government, council and community level, at a school level and family and neighbours - buildings and homes have been damaged and that makes people sad but we have all done well (this is a great topic for discussion outlining what went well)

- Focus on how things will be in the future.

Provided by the Ministry of Education.

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