With the frequency and intensity of disasters increasing and more kids being affected by school shootings, increasing acts of terrorism, rising crime and the lingering aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we face a growing public health crisis caused by trauma that touches us all.
For children, the world can be a terribly traumatic place.
Aside from neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, community and school violence, war, medical issues, and other frightening events, natural disasters also can take their toll—and not necessarily in the same way those disasters would affect adults.
The way people respond to disasters in general—is still based on adult research. It’s too easy, experts say, to simply think of children as “little adults” or—worse yet—to believe that because they’re still young and growing, they’ll be able to just “get over” anything that happens.
Children are uniquely affected by disasters because they are afflicted not only by the trauma of the event but also by their parents' fear and distress. Active shooter incidents can be especially traumatic for young children. Evidence suggests schools should not wait to deal with the enormous difficulty of explaining disasters or hazards to students for the first-time after they occur. Whether they emerge from the shadow of sexual abuse, the devastation of a hurricane or the wake of an active shooter attack youth survivors of traumatic events all have one thing in common — picking up the pieces of a life shattered by violence.
Trauma, especially when left untreated, has a devastating impact on the victim’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Trauma from a violent event goes far beyond the average mental, emotional, or physical strain of daily living, leaving the victim with a deeper “silent” wound. For those individuals, the trauma isn’t just part of life, it changes life as it was once known.
In considering ways to increase resilience, it is first important to articulate what is meant by the term. Resilience is the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events. This definition reflects the many facets of resilience and its relevance not just during and after a disaster, but also before it occurs.
Resiliency isn’t magic. Resilience do not require something rare or special. Resiliency depends on a great variety of factors—including preparedness/prior psychological health that begins with engagement knowledge.
Resilience Can Be Promoted Using Gamification
PrepBiz™ educational app provides a healthy, balanced collaborative that is fun and engaging. Elements of preparedness are couched in terms todays' youth understand – “gamification,” with each level of mastery being engaging and feeling rewarding.
PrepBiz™ provides collaborative guidance in the form of "engagement knowledge" through gamification infusing emergency preparedness principles across the entire educational experience to help kids build confidence when faced with these types of incidents and may help ameliorate psychological morbidity that some youth may experience when faced with a family disruptive tragic event, emergencies, hazards or disaster.
Interventions that work often combines strategies that promote competence, confident and connectivity with those that reduce problems. Successful resilience programs alter the balance of risks and assets and introduce powerful systems and programs for human development. It takes a whole community practicing a strength based philosophy when working with youth at all levels of implementation of resilience promotion programs.
In Service,
Kenneth R. Bibbins
Founder/CEO
PrepWorld LLC
NOLA 70118
www.prepworld.org
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