Kids can help after a disaster

When hurricanes or other disasters hit, children are vulnerable. But they are not just passive victims. Many step up to help themselves and their communities.

Lori Peek of the University of Colorado, Boulder, studies the impact of disasters on kids. She says when families were in shelters during Hurricane Katrina …

Peek: “The older kids, they sometimes set up, like, sports activities, coloring. They even babysat for moms who were having to stand in lines to get the aid.”

After the storm, many helped gut damaged homes, and some teens got jobs to support their family’s recovery financially.

And children outside the disaster zone – who learned about it through social media or on the news – were also inspired to help. Many raised money to donate to relief efforts.

Peek: “They collected supplies that they donated. They put together backpacks that were full of school supplies and books. They went down on mission trips through their church, or school trips where they went down to muck out houses and to literally help with the physical recovery.”

Peek says getting involved in age-appropriate ways can help kids process the disaster they experienced or witnessed, and it shows them the power they have to make a difference.

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media