A Young Widower's Tale
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The Grief Industry Part II: Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?!? Considering the rapid expansion of the grief industry into every foreseeable tragedy known to man, I shouldn’t have been surprised when an article in Sunday’s paper about the growing grief industry for children. The article focused specifically on Canary Garden, a local family support program that provides peer interaction for children who have lost a parent or sibling. The further I read, the more disturbing the article became. Consider some of the children who are receiving help from this center. Can someone explain how six year old boy who was only nine months old at the time his father’s suicide need any sort of grief therapy? I image it’s difficult growing up without a father but could the kid have any real memories of his father or even have any what he might be missing out on? For that six year old life as he knows it has always been without a father. Unfortunately the article made the assumption that the grieving process is just as long and as difficult as it is for adults when actually the opposite is true. Though the loss of a parent or sibling is difficult for children, they often cope better than adults – as long as their parent(s) are able to explain things to them and put it in their proper context. Reading between the lines of the article, it sounds like those having the most difficult time are not the children, but the children’s parents. For whatever reason they’re the ones who are still having difficulty with the death of a son/daughter/spouse/. Unable to deal with their own grief or properly explain death and related issues to their children. And since the adults hare having a hard time dealing with it, the children start having behavior-related issues. Children are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for. Yes, tragic events can affect them but they are very good at dealing with death and other tragedies providing the adults around them aren’t going wacko. Unfortunately, knowing how many adults thing that they need grief support if their second cousin twice removed passed, it’s no wonder that they think children need it too. You Can Now Purchase Room for Two - 2007-08-31 |
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