Disasters, Impact on Children

Children are likely involved in disasters wherever they occur. For example, the much-studied 1972 Buffalo Creek flood in West Virginia left 125 dead, 52 of them children. Thousands of children were affected by the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia in December 2005 and the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. Children are passengers on planes when they crash, are located in buildings when they burn, and live in areas that are flooded. They may even be specifically targeted because of the emotional impact that their victimization has on the community, as evidenced by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168, 19 of whom were infants and young children.

Although children have always been involved in disasters, the study of disasters and their impact on children is relatively young. Until the early 1980s, it was commonly believed that little, if any, treatment was needed after a traumatic event touched the lives of children. Following groundbreaking work by Robert Pynoos and others, it is now understood that children have significant reactions and that they need mental health services to improve overall outcome. Unfortunately, children's lives are affected regularly by [Page 162]traumatic events, including child maltreatment, domestic violence, and community violence. When large-scale events occur, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters like recent hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast, calamities that directly affect thousands indirectly affect many times that number through the media, and that increases children's awareness of the horrors that can accompany large-scale disasters. Children are considered one of the highest-risk groups for adverse reactions and consequences. However, the mental health needs of children do not seem to be addressed adequately in the preparedness, response, or recovery phases of planning for disasters. This finding is highlighted in a recent report by the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism.