Nobody likes to be told the detrimental news that someone near and dear to their heart is no longer around. Death is a hard reality for people to comprehend, especially young children. They often times are confused by the idea of death and may believe that it is just temporary. They may even believe that this has occurred as a punishment for something they did wrong (Wiseman p 3). What do we do whenever we have a student in our class that is going through this difficult time?
An idea for helping students that have recently lost someone important to them is to bring up your own personal experiences from the loss of a family member, friend, or pet. This will show students that everyone has to go through loss in their life. The teacher will be able to relate to the students and could help them through their own personal experience.
Grief is a difficult emotion to deal with, especially for adolescents. It is part of a teacherś job to be there for students when they are going through difficult times. Teachers need resources to help students who have a death in their life. Students may lose a family member such as a grandfather or they may lose a long time pet. When this happens, students will not know how to manage the emotions they feel. Educators can help by using these resources.
A picture book I recently found that explores the issue of death is Always and Forever by Alan Durant. This book is about animal friends that live with one another and work together as a family. One day, Fox becomes very sick. He later dies and Mole, Hare, and Otter are very devastated. They do not understand what to do or how to feel. A new animal friend, Squirrel, comes to visit. Squirrel helps the others remember all of the wonderful memories of Fox. The others learn that Fox will always and forever be in their hearts and minds. This book does a great job of showing children how to keep those they have lost in their memories.
This link tells you how children comprehend death. The website shows what different ages of children feel and how they see death. It starts at infants and goes all the way to teenagers. It also tells you what you should say to them.
This website on PBS kids is a great tool for students. It has several subheadings that answer questions that students may have such as when you lose a pet and funeral/memorials. The last subheading even provides students with examples of other students who have lost a loved one. This tool can help students with the grieving process.
Wiseman, Angela M. "Summer’s End and Sad Goodbyes: Children’s Picturebooks About Death and Dying." Children's Literature in Education44.1 (2012): 1-14. Web.
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