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is so sad

32 replies

whymummy · 18/09/2003 18:01

we had some really sad news at ds school today a girl in year 6 was killed last night while playing on the railway tracks,everyone was so sad today and although i dont know this girl or her family i feel like i should show the family how sorry we are but i dont know wether to take some flowers into school tomorrow or just a card,any advise would be very appretiated
thank you

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waterbaby · 23/09/2003 16:25

Tiny coffins are one of the most heartbreaking sight in the world I think.

Did you find out anything about how the school is dealing with it? Are they likely to talk about the funeral? I expect the kids will be even if the teachers aren't... IME at primary school age the oldest ones pick up on more than we think we do, and share their 'knowledge' amongst all of the kids - unfortunately it can turn into chinese whispers...
Good luck, hugs to DS.

whymummy · 23/09/2003 16:37

thanks waterbaby
they have given us a letter today saying that in a few weeks time the school will decide on a more lasting tribute to sophie,they also say that the eductional psychologist will be at the school for a short period but to contact our gp if we think our children are still affected,i'm sure ds will be fine but you never know what goes on in their little heads,thanks again

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waterbaby · 24/09/2003 21:01

WM: THese are notes based on "Wise before the event, coping with crises in schools" by William Yule and Anne Gold - ISBN 0-903319-66-7 It will be the best fiver any school in this situation will spend, so pass it on. I can only put the bits in here about 'reactions to major stress in young children', but there is loads more information about memorials etc that the school might find useful.

Very young children have limited understanding of the life-threatening nature of disasters. Even so, we know that some children have very adult concepts of death and dying; there will be a range of individual differences in understanding when discussing such issues with children. Its always a good strategy to get kids to repeat back to you what you have tried to explain; that way any muddles or misunderstandings are quickly revealed, and can be corrected.

As a young childs understanding develops they will need to go back over the troubling events, to make better sense of them from a more advanced level of understanding – so don’t be surprised if this crops up in different guises over the next few years.

waterbaby · 24/09/2003 21:01

Infants and pre-school children have been less systematically studied than older kids and adults – partly because adults often avoid talking to the child about what happened, hoping they are too young to appreciate fully what has happened. Even very young children can be sensitive to their parents distress and quickly learn not to talk about their bad experiences; however even children as young as 4 to 6 years old can vividly describe what has happened to them, if the setting allows them too.

Very young children may show regressive or anti-social behaviour. Children who were dry at night may start wetting their bed, children who have been sleeping on their own may need to sleep with company for a while. Children who were happy and well-adjusted may become easily frustrated, irritable and destructive.

waterbaby · 24/09/2003 21:02

After the Herald of Free Enterprise sinking a number of pre-school children who survived the incident were described as being involved in repetitive play or drawings involving themes related to the ship – e.g one girl involved all of her playmates in endless games of nurses patching up the injured, another 6 year old boy drew many pictures of the ‘bad ferry’ and spoke about it often in class with an understanding teacher. One day another teacher took the class and forbade him to talk about it for fear of upsetting the others – he began having nightmares and a few months later tried to kill himself by poking a metal rod into the plug socket – he said he wanted to die to get rid of the pictures of the bad ferry in his head. Other pre-school boys became aggressive and anti-social at home and at school.

eemie · 24/09/2003 22:48

Waterbaby, I'm sure you'd agree it's important to emphasise that the children in your last example were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. They were on board the ship when it sank. Their lives had been in imminent danger, some were bereaved in the disaster and some had witnessed the deaths and serious injuries of other people. They were severely traumatised, more so than if they'd just known someone who had died violently.

Whymummy, your son may be distressed, and may need to talk about it, just as Waterbaby has said, but please don't fear that he will become aggressive, antisocial or suicidal. It will help him that all his school mates are going through similar feelings, unlike most of the Herald children whose mates could have no idea what it was like for them.

From what you say the school seems to be handling it well. It's good that they got expert help straight away and are keeping you in touch with what they're doing and planning.

My daughter is nearly five and she is just trying to get to grips with the idea of death - she wants to talk about it a lot, wakes up in tears sometimes saying 'I don't want to die - I'll miss you'. And she hasn't known anyone who died, it's just that she's at an age to start understanding the idea but not fully understand it.

Will be thinking of you and your son,

whymummy · 25/09/2003 01:45

thank you waterbaby and eemie,i went out with some friends tonight and ds told me not to cross the railway lines again,i thought he'd forgotten about it,he's a very sensitive child but i'm sure he'll be ok , thanks to you i now know what to look for if he's behaviour changes
thanks again

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