Disaster impact and recovery: what children and young people can tell us

Abstract

Christchurch's earthquakes revealed children's vulnerability to disaster but also their ability to respond and play an active role in recovery. We argue that children's voices need to be heard and given priority in the recovery process because the disaster impacts on them and their families in ways that are not recognised or well understood. We report the findings of a study undertaken with 94 Christchurch children. Its aim was to give voice to children's experiences of post-earthquake Christchurch and in doing so contribute to postdisaster recovery. The experiences of these Christchurch children offer other children, parents, government and agencies valuable insights into how to manage the recovery process in ways that best meet children's needs. In the post-disaster recovery period, decision-makers need to recognise children as authentic actors in the recovery process and should commit to hearing children's voices throughout the rebuilding. Children and young people's resilience and positive commitment to Christchurch are assets that should be capitalised on in the longer-term recovery process.

Disaster Mitigation in Early Childhood Education

“…Therefore, in the context of disaster mitigation, early childhood is not only seen as vulnerable population, but also has resilience, (Ronan, Haynes, Amri, & Frontiers, 2016), qualities and potentials. In his research, Freeman (2015) found that children that have gone through disaster period show their resiliency by giving out advise that focuses on their role in disastrous situations. It shows that the effort to reduce disaster risks in early childhood is possible.…”

Barns deltagande i förskole- och daghemskontext under inledningen av coronavirusets utbrott i Finland och Sverige

“…Tidigare forskning beskriver resiliens som en förmåga att mobilisera resurser (psykologiska, sociala, kulturella eller fysiska) (Ungar, 2011) och Freeman, Nairn och Gollop (2015) hävdar att barns röster måste tas tillvara i samband med kriser som ett sätt att möjliggöra utvecklade av resiliens. Den här studien bidrar med kunskap om hur barns uttryck om coronapandemin fångats upp av personalen vilket möjliggjort barns deltagande i olika faser (Prilleltensky m. fl.…”

Drawing on fire: children’s knowledge and needs after a wildfire disaster in Portugal

“…The study also stresses that although children are vulnerable to disasters, they are also capable of developing their own resilience cultures and strategies for coping with such events. In New Zealand, Freeman, Nairn, and Gollop (2015) interviewed families and children in the aftermath of an earthquake and found out that based on their experience, children could provide sound advice regarding types of assistance needed, improvement of safety procedures or communication. In Australia, Harwood et al (2014) examined how seasonal changes affected children's daily lives, showing that children not only develop adaptive behaviours according to dry and wet seasons, but also that their perceptions contrast with those of adults, and must be examined in order to develop targeted messages promoting safety (flooding, for instance, can be seen as positive due to certain games they can play with the water, whilst risking their lives).…”