Background: A comprehensive review of the design principles and methodological approaches that have been used to make inferences from the research on disasters in children is needed. Objective: To identify the methodological approaches used to study children's reactions to three recent major disasters--the September 11, 2001, attacks; the…

In this article sixth grade English/language arts and science teacher at Oldfield Middle School (Greenlawn, New York) Monica Zenyuh describes how she established a program called "Adopt-a-School" in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Schools that wished to provide assistance would be matched with a grade, school, or district in devastated…

The February 2011 Canterbury earthquake was a dramatic reminder of the need for schools to have emergency management plans in place. A number of other disaster and hazard events have historically caused New Zealand schools to close temporarily, and often within a short time frame. At such times principals must act decisively and communicate…

Regardless of where disasters occur immediate access to images and stories are available. People are quickly drawn into the trauma and become acutely aware of the massive damage and overwhelming needs of survivors. Over the past decade, catastrophic earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, war, and political upheaval have heightened the need…

This paper reports data from an exploratory questionnaire designed to capture "curriculum P-waves"--those curriculum responses that were the fastest and therefore measured first--following a significant earthquake in New Zealand. As well as taking a professional interest in a major disaster in their backyard, it is assumed that social…

There is no question that students who experience homelessness, like all students, are entitled to be educated. A federal law, known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, requires states to provide homeless children and youth with the same access to free appropriate public education as is available to other students. The Act also requires…

As the city with the largest charter-school market share in the United States, New Orleans, Louisiana exemplifies market-oriented models in education. For a city that is so "drenched in the past," the reform movement in New Orleans typically neglects historical context, often dismissing the education system pre-Katrina as simply corrupt…

Nearly all young people in the United States aspire to a college degree, but many fail to complete college in a timely manner. Does this lack of attainment reflect abandoned college plans? I analyze mixed-methods data from a five-year study of 700 low-income mothers at two Louisiana community colleges. Hurricane Katrina displaced respondents and…

On April 27, 2011 a series of tornadoes tore through the southeast United States. Sixty-four percent of the counties in the state of Alabama were directly affected by these storms. After a natural disaster, children who are directly or indirectly affected show numerous intense emotional reactions. Recovery programs can be set up to enable them to…

The nuclear disaster that was triggered by the Japanese earthquake and the following tsunami of March 11, 2011, continues to be the subject of a great deal of news coverage. The tsunami caused severe damage to the nuclear power reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, and this led to the escape of unknown quantities of radioactive material from the damaged…

This paper proposes a developmental framework for disaster studies with children that allows researchers to explore the interaction between developmental change (defined as change that is extended, self-regulated, qualitative, and progressive) and cataclysmic change. It outlines three levels of analysis related to disasters: 1) observing the harm…

Evidence that posttraumatic growth is a potential outcome in the process of recovery from trauma and natural disaster highlights the importance of social environmental factors that encourage a growth response in survivors. This art-based research project followed up on a group of youth survivors (N = 11) of the 2007 earthquake in the Ica region of…

Prejudice against another nation or culture is often perceived as a major hindrance to world peace. This paper will report on the early emergence of such prejudices, identified in eight-year-old primary school children in Korea. The research, conducted in June 2012, investigated Korean children's reactions to the Japanese tsunami of 2011. A…

Adolescents are an emerging population in Haiti, particularly after the deadly 2010 earthquake. The steady penetration of U.S. culture into this poor, disaster-prone country begs the question, Do today's adolescents possess a similar fondness for their home country, culture, and traditional family values as did Haitians of old? Or are they more…

The earthquakes that rocked the city of Christchurch and surrounding districts in Canterbury, New Zealand, were to take their toll on families, schools and communities. The places that had once represented safety and security for most children were literally and figuratively turned upside down. Rather than reinforce the trauma and continue to…