Impacts of Natural Disasters on Children

Autor/in	Kousky, Carolyn
Titel	Impacts of Natural Disasters on Children
Quelle	In: Future of Children, 26 (2016) 1, S.73-92 (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1054-8289
Schlagwörter	Natural Disasters; Children; Climate; At Risk Students; Developing Nations; Low Income Students; Physical Health; Nutrition; Access to Health Care; Mental Health; Stress Variables; Anxiety; Migration; Grief; Death; Child Neglect; Child Abuse; Social Networks; Child Labor; Emergency Programs; Child Safety; Birth; Resilience (Psychology); Foreign Countries; Education; Bangladesh; Honduras; Louisiana; Mexico; Nicaragua; Peru; Philippines; Tanzania; Texas + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Natural disaster; Naturkatastrophe; Child; Kind; Kinder; Klima; Developing country; Developing countries; Entwicklungsland; Gesundheitszustand; Ernährung; Psychohygiene; Angst; Trauer; Sterbefall; Tod; Todesfall; Kindesvernachlässigung; Abuse of children; Abuse; Children; Kindesmissbrauch; Missbrauch; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk; Child labour; Kinderarbeit; Hilfsprogramm; Geburt; Ausland; Bildung; Erziehung; Bangladesch; Mexiko; Philippinen; Tansania
Abstract	We can expect climate change to alter the frequency, magnitude, timing, and location of many natural hazards. For example, heat waves are likely to become more frequent, and heavy downpours and flooding more common and more intense. Hurricanes will likely grow more dangerous, rising sea levels will mean more coastal flooding, and more-frequent and more-intense droughts will produce more wildfires. Children, particularly the poor and those in developing countries, are at risk. Carolyn Kousky considers three ways that natural disasters may harm children disproportionately, often with long-lasting effects. First, disasters can damage children's physical health. Children may be injured or killed, but they may also suffer from such things as malnutrition caused by disruptions in food supply or diarrheal illness caused by contaminated water. Moreover, disasters can cut off access to medical care, even for non-disaster-related illnesses. Second, disasters can cause mental health problems. Not only are disasters themselves stressful and frightening, but children can suffer psychological harm from the damage to their homes and possessions; from migration; from the grief of losing loved ones; from seeing parents or caregivers undergo stress; from neglect and abuse; and from breakdowns in social networks, neighborhoods, and local economies. Third, disasters can interrupt children's education by displacing families, destroying schools, and pushing children into the labor force to help their families make ends meet in straitened times. How can we mitigate the dangers to children even as disasters become more powerful and more frequent? For one thing, we can prepare for disasters before they strike, for example, by strengthening school buildings and houses. Kousky also describes actions that have been proven to help children after a disaster, such as quickly reuniting them with parents and caregivers. Finally, a range of policies not designed for disasters can nonetheless help mitigate the harm disasters cause children and their families. In fact, Kousky writes, using existing safety net programs may be easier, faster, and more effective than creating entirely new programs after a disaster occurs. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. 267 Wallace Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. Tel: 609-258-6979; e-mail: FOC@princeton.edu; Web site: http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01