Most children as young as preschoolers are able to effectively communicate what they want and how they feel despite not having the vocabulary wealth of an adult. Nonverbal communications play a significant role in helping us understand their needs and wants, their frustrations and excitement and also their pain and sorrow. I will show how children can become involved in End of life decision making and why they can be considered competent with a little assistance form parents, physicians and councilors depending on the age and situation of the child.
For years we have considered children incapable of processing the concepts of death and dying and have used terms like, “he has gone to a better place”, “he is sleeping” etc. to explain death to children. We have also used silencing techniques on children and in the process, have failed at actually knowing and understanding how they perceive death and in turn what they want and how they want to spend the last moments of their life e.g. As per the book titled, “When Children Die”, “Preadolescent children are rarely, if ever, asked if they want the medical care their physician and parents decide is best for them. No one asks a 6-year-old if he wants an injection. He is told that he is going to get one and what it will feel like.” Both Kastunbaum and other resources have confirmed that children, even very young ones are aware of death and experience separation anxiety. Some are also curious to know more even though they may not
Non-verbal communication consists mainly of the things people do with their body language. There are times where words are expressed and non-verbal communication could help emphasize the message. A few examples of nonverbal communication are hand gestures eye contact, facial expressions as well as tone and volume. I was given this assignment to observe a situation and take note of the nonverbal communication that occurred. I also had to observe whether the non-verbals were able to execute the message and if the behavior was acceptable.
Death at any stage in life is personal and holds different meanings to different people. Society places a great deal of meaning on death based upon age, situation, and their personal experiences and beliefs. The viewpoints of death and dying in early childhood are limited; however, children have a basic understanding of death by the age of two through their own observations of family members (Berger, 2008). Children who are dying often fear death as they do not have a fully developed concept of dying and associate death with abandonment (Berger, 2008). At this life stage, it is important to have guidance from his or her parents to gain a better understanding of death and dying.
Children who have had a close association with death, such as a personal experience or a prolonged illness are potentially more likely to understand death at a younger age (Bonoto 2013, page 49). This has not been universally acknowledged or verified according to research because some children with personal experience with death do not have a better understanding than the general population.
Most parent’s greatest fear is the death of a child. The experience each parent or caregiver will be based on the meanings they create through their interactions within their individual experience. Whether it is a something expected or unexpected, each parent or caregiver be offered services through the health care settings or social environments/resources in the community and whether or not these interactions or services meet their needs could affect the bereavement process for the parents or caregivers.
Preschool children may not fully understand what death is, but they will notice a difference in the family “routine”. They either may be emotional, through crying or displays of anger, and they can withdraw from other members of the family (The Jason Program, n.d.). By age six, although the child may seem not to be affected by the
We deal with death as a natural part of our lives. At some point someone we know will die, whether that be a friend, grandparent, other relative, a parent, or even facing our own death. This loss event can be minor to traumatic for the individual or friends and families. Grieving is a process of emotional and cognitive adaptation to the lack of the deceased individual in their everyday lives. As the topic of this paper I am specifically concerned with parental death and how that affects children. This topic relates directly to my own life. My father died after a 15-month battle with cancer and a short remission period when I was 11. Even understanding fully his battle with cancer and knowing that death was a distinct possibility as an outcome, when he went into remission I chose to believe that he would be
About those Band –Aides is a great website for teachers. It helps teachers develop support methods to help and support students who are going through difficult times. The article I selected is called Speaking to Young Children about Death and Dying. The article highlights how to speak to children about death. In the article, they use preschoolers as an example. Toddlers may have limited capacity to understanding death so it’s important to follow the articles guidelines when explaining death to a toddler for example parents and teachers should avoid selecting the words “sleep or “sick” to the concept of death because the child may not have the capacity to understand the words sleep or sick.
I have learned a great deal through by my study of death so far. In this class, I have learned more about areas of death that I did not think would be included in this discussion, but now I see their relevance. One of the most significant points that I have gained through my study of death is learning about how to teach children about death. I found it very interesting the significance of understanding a child’s developmental stages and how that related to how they will understand death. However, a child’s age does not determine what developmental stage they are in, which is why I believe that parents, teachers, and caregivers are worried about
Children learning about death and the thought process in understanding death. The other hand on how important it is to speak the truth and in plain language. It is also important to let children see emotion this allows them to understand feelings they may have and understand why. Even as adults we have issues with death on the proper emotions or what to say Leming & Dickinson (2011).
The house wasn’t flourishing with the usual life and laughter of my faithful friends and family, but dead with their mournful sorrow. “Poor little Opal Parks”, they would all cry out. The oncologist called with some tremendous news. Brain Surgery would be outrageously unaffordable for a hopeless, poverty-stricken single mother like myself. Nevertheless, my tumor would soon force my body to expire. Most likely, the least of their concerns is what happens to my 11 year old son, Lucas. Funny actually, that this has become my greatest concern. It is not the physical pain, but the psychological self-condemnation felt when you know that your own life is soon to end and that not only yourself, but those around you will be harshly impacted by your
School-aged children (5-12 years old) develop an understanding of a world outside their own sphere and begin to understand other viewpoints. This will allow them better understanding of the finality of death, especially as they grasp cause-and-effect relationships, as well as better interpretations of the actions of those around them. These same developmental changes also allow them to form peer relationships that gradually become more and more important as they mature.
Children ask questions relentlessly. What are we going to eat for supper? When are we going to play? Though it depends on the patience and tolerance of the person bombarded by these innocent demands, they are usually rather simple to answer. However, there comes a time when a child’s mind and curiosity meet their peaks of entertainment and plunge into realism for a matter of minutes and brand-new questions are formed. These questions can’t be answer carelessly; we have to grasp the importance of explaining death to children and the necessity to use an adapted vocabulary and an adapted attitude towards the subject and audience. There are a few “do’s” and “don’ts” that always comes down to the parent’s judgment; to understand
The 14th chapter of the textbook discusses the topic of talking to children about death-related issues. My gut reaction is that I believe this is a great chapter, because it is useful and informative, as well as an extremely important topic for CLS to use in our scope of practice.
Open communication is very important in relating the concepts of dying and death to children. This is because, children are always very curious about death. We should use the simple circumstances like the death of an insect to explain death to children so they may have an insight of death to relate to human death when it occurs. It is very important to pay special attention to small children at the time of a death in the family. children should be made to understand that death is the natural end of life for all living things. They should be given honest answers about what happens to the body when someone dies and be able to know that it does not hurt to be dead and that death is a permanent shut down to the body function that a dead person
Death is something that is difficult to deal with; even more so as a child. Therefore, children most of the time do not understand death and are confused about reasoning behind the loss. At this stage in a child’s life they do not have the tools that are needed to deal with this kind emotional turmoil. Bereavement of a parent can traumatize a child so badly that it can affect him or her later in adulthood. Under those circumstances psychological treatment should be obtained for the child after bereavement has taken place.