Helping

Children Cope

with Disaster

This booklet offers parents, caregivers, 

and other adults suggestions on how 

to help children cope with the effects of 

disaster, as well as how to be prepared 

before a disaster strikes.
 Helping Children Cope with Disaster

Children can feel very frightened during a disaster and afterwards 

some children will show temporary changes of behavior. 

For most children these changes will be mild, not last long, 

and diminish with time. However, reminders of what happened 

could cause upsetting feelings to return and behavior changes to 

emerge again. Watching scenes of the disaster on television can be 

distressing for children, especially for younger children. 

Younger children may return to bed-wetting, have difficulty sleeping, 

and not want to be separated from their caregivers. Older children 

may show more anger than usual, find concentrating at school 

harder, and want to spend more time alone than usual. 

Some children are more vulnerable, and their reactions can be more 

severe and last for a longer period of time. 

Factors that contribute to greater vulnerability include:

 Direct exposure to the disaster

This includes being evacuated, seeing injured or dying 

people, being injured themselves, and feeling that their own 

lives are threatened.

 Personal loss

This includes the death or serious injury of a family member, 

close friend, or family pet.

 On-going stress from the secondary effects of disaster

This includes temporarily living elsewhere, losing contact 

with their friends and neighbors, losing things that are 

important to them, parental job loss, and the financial costs 

of reestablishing their previous living conditions.

 Prior exposure to disaster or other traumatic event.

2
How parents and caregivers react to and cope with a disaster or 

emergency situation can affect the way their children react. When 

parents and caregivers or other family members are able to deal with 

the situation calmly and confi dently, they are often the best source of 

support for their children. One way to help children feel more confi dent 

and in control is to involve them in preparing a family disaster plan 

(refer to page 7). 

CHILDREN’S REACTION TO DISASTER

The following are common reactions that children may exhibit 

following a disaster. While the following descriptions are typical, 

some children may exhibit none of these behaviors and others may 

behave in ways not mentioned here.

BIRTH THROUGH 6 YEARS

Although infants may not have words 

to describe their experiences, they can 

retain memories. They may react by 

being more irritable, crying more than 

usual, or wanting to be held and cuddled 

more. Preschool and kindergarten 

children can feel helpless, powerless, 

and frightened about being separated 

from their caregivers. 

7 THROUGH 10 YEARS

Older children can understand the 

permanence of loss. They may become 

preoccupied with the details of the traumatic 

event and want to talk about it continually. 

This preoccupation can interfere with their 

concentration at school and affect their 

academic performance. Children may hear 

inaccurate information from their peers 

which parents can clarify. They may fear 

that the disaster will happen again and have 

sad or angry feelings.

3
11 THROUGH 18 YEARS

As children mature, their responses 

become more similar to those of adults. 

Much of adolescence is focused on 

moving out into the world. Following 

a disaster, that world can seem more 

dangerous and unsafe. Teenagers may 

react by becoming involved in dangerous, 

risk-taking behaviors, such as reckless 

driving, and alcohol or drug use. Others 

may become fearful of leaving home and 

avoid social activity. 

Teenagers can feel overwhelmed by their intense emotions, 

yet unable to talk about them. 

WHAT PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS CAN DO

It is important for parents and other caregivers to understand what is 

causing a child’s anxieties and fears. Following a disaster, children 

are most afraid that:

 The event will happen again.

 Someone close to them will be killed or injured.

 They will be left alone or separated from their family.

Parents and caregivers can 

clarify misunderstandings of risk 

and danger by acknowledging 

children’s concerns and perceptions. 

Discussions of preparedness plans 

can strengthen a child’s sense of 

safety and security. 

Listen to what a child is saying. If a 

young child asks questions about the 

event, answer them simply without 

the elaboration needed for an older 

child or adult. Children vary in the 

amount of information they need 4
and can use. If a child has diffi culty expressing his or her thoughts 

and feelings, then allowing them to draw a picture or tell a story of 

what happened may help.

 Parents and Caregivers Can Take the Following Actions: 

 Encourage your children to talk and listen to their 

concerns. 

 Calmly provide factual information about the disaster and 

plans for insuring their ongoing safety.

 Involve your children in updating your family disaster plan 

and disaster supplies kit (refer to pages 7-9)

 Practice your plan. 

 Involve your children by giving them specific tasks to let 

them know they can help restore family and community 

life.

 Spend extra time with your children.

 Re-establish daily routines for work, school, play, meals, 

and rest.

5
MONITOR AND LIMIT YOUR FAMILY’S EXPOSURE TO THE MEDIA

News coverage of the disaster can cause fear, confusion and anxiety 

in children. This is particularly true for a large-scale disaster or 

terrorist event, in which significant property damage and loss of life 

has occurred. Especially for younger children, repeatedly watching

images of an event can 

cause them to believe the 

event is occurring again and 

again. 

Parents and caregivers 

should be available to 

encourage communication 

and provide explanations 

when children are permitted 

to watch television or use 

the Internet if images or 

news about the disaster are 

being shown. 

Parents can also limit their 

own exposure to anxietyprovoking information.

 Use Support Networks

Parents and caregivers can best help children when they understand 

their own feelings and have developed ways of coping themselves. 

One way of doing this is to build and use social support systems of 

family, friends, community organizations, faith-based institutions 

or other resources. In the event a disaster strikes, they can call on 

these support systems to help them manage their reactions. In turn, 

parents and caregivers are more available and better able to support 

their children. 

6
If a child continues to be very upset by what happened or if 

reactions interfere with their school work or their relationships at 

home or with their friends, it may be appropriate to talk with the 

child’s primary care physician or a mental health provider who 

specializes in children’s needs. 

PREPARE YOUR FAMILY

Preparing for disaster helps everyone in the family accept the fact 

that disasters do happen, and that they can do something about it. 

Families should work together to identify and collect the resources 

needed to meet basic needs during and after disaster. When people 

feel prepared, they cope better.

Take the following actions with your family to get prepared: 

 Get Informed 

 Call your local emergency management office or local 

American Red Cross chapter and ask about the specific 

hazards in your community and about your risk to those 

hazards. Also learn about community response plans, 

evacuation plans and routes, community warning systems, 

and nearby buildings that are designated as disaster 

shelters.

 Learn about the emergency plans and procedures that exist 

in places you and your family spend time. Priority locations 

include places of employment, schools, and childcare centers. 

 Create a Family Disaster Plan

 Discuss with your family the hazards that could impact 

your local area, the potential for community evacuation or 

sheltering, and your community’s warning systems and what 

to do if they are used. 

 Determine where to meet in the event of an emergency. 

Designate one location right outside your home in case of a 

7
sudden emergency, like a fire, and another location outside 

your neighborhood in case you can't return home.

 Ask an out-of-town friend or relative to be your emergency 

contact. Following a disaster, family members should call 

this person and tell them where they are. 

 Make a communication plan where all family members 

know how to contact each other. A form for recording 

this information can be found at www.ready.gov

- or at www.redcross.org/contactcard.

 Include provisions for your pets in your family disaster plan.

 Practice the plan.

Once you have developed your plan, you need to practice and 

maintain it. For example, ask questions to make sure your family 

remembers meeting places, phone numbers, and safety rules. 

Conduct routine fire and emergency evacuation drills, test fire 

alarms, and replace and update disaster supplies.

8
Assemble a disaster supplies kit

Every household should assemble a disaster supplies kit and keep 

in up to date. A disaster supplies kit can help your family stay safe 

and be more comfortable during and after a disaster. Though local 

officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, 

they cannot reach everyone immediately. Also, if you need to 

evacuate at a moment’s notice you probably will not have the 

opportunity to shop or search for the supplies you and your family 

will need. 

 Pack disaster supplies in an easy-to-carry container, such as a 

duffel bag or backpack and label the container clearly. 

 Ask your children to think of items that they would like to 

include in the kit, such as books, games or nonperishable 

snack food items.

 Include such items as: 

 Three-day supply of non-perishable food and manual can opener.

 Three-day supply of water (one gallon of water per person per 

day).

 Portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra 

batteries.

 Flashlights and extra batteries.

 First aid kit and first aid manual. 

 Photocopies of credit cards and identification cards.

 Sanitation and hygiene items (hand sanitizer, moist towelettes 

and toilet paper).

 Matches in a waterproof container. 

 Whistle. 

 Clothing, blankets, kitchen accessories and cooking utensils. 

 Special needs items, such as prescription medications, spare 

eye-glasses, hearing aid batteries.

 Items for infants, such as formula, diapers, bottles and pacifiers. 

 Tools, pet supplies, a map of the local area, and other items to 

meet your unique family needs.

 Ask your children to help you remember to keep your kit 

updated by marking dates on a calendar to regularly review 

and update your kit.

 Consider having emergency supplies in each vehicle and at 

your place of employment.

9
FEMA 478

A4499

August 2004

Learn More

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community and 

Family Preparedness Program and American Red Cross Community 

Disaster Education are nationwide efforts to help people prepare for 

disasters of all types. 

For more information, please contact your local emergency management 

office or American Red Cross chapter. This booklet and the 

preparedness materials listed below are online at www.fema.gov and 

www.redcross.org. Other preparedness materials are available at these 

sites, as well as at www.ready.gov.

These publications are also available by calling FEMA at

1-800-480-2520, or writing:

 FEMA

 P.O. Box 2012

 Jessup, MD 20794-2012

Publications with an “A” number are available from your local 

American Red Cross chapter.

 Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness (IS-22)

 Preparing for Disaster (FEMA 475) (A4600)

 Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other

 Special Needs (FEMA 476) (A4497) 

 Food and Water in an Emergency (FEMA 477) (A5055)

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