“Sailing through a river of emotions”: capturing children's earthquake stories

Abstract

Purpose -The three case studies reported in this paper are drawn from a wider project in which schools in Canterbury, New Zealand, were invited to tell the stories of their experiences of the 2010/2011 earthquakes. The purpose of this paper is to capture the stories for the schools, their communities and for New Zealand's historical record. Design/methodology/approach -The approach taken was qualitative and participatory. Each school had control over their project design and implementation. The researchers were partners and facilitators in assisting each school to reach its goal. In these three case studies approximately 100 participants including principals, teachers, students and families were engaged in generating data to create tangible and long-lasting end products. Findings -The two themes from the data highlighted in this paper are: first, the importance of providing emotional processing opportunities for children without severe post-trauma symptoms to support their recovery and second, the ways in which children can be engaged and given a voice in research that concerns them. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the wider collection of research on and about the Canterbury earthquakes by giving voice to children and highlighting the role of schools in post-disaster response and recovery. The "continuum of engagement" described here is a new and original model.

Disaster impact and recovery: what children and young people can tell us

“…A commitment to listening to children's voices needs to be maintained at all times not just in the 'easy' pre-quake period (Gibbs et al 2013;Mutch & Marlowe 2013). In the rebuild period, children need to be an active part of the process.…”

“…This is primarily through the application of appropriate expert intervention, either physical intervention with relief supplies, rebuilding or therapy. However, slightly later research, adopting an approach where children are actively involved in telling their own stories, reveals how children's responses were complex, informed and agentic (Gibbs et al 2013;Mutch & Marlowe 2013).…”

Children with Disabilities and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Review

“…Similarly, in New Zealand the 2011 Christchurch earthquake occurred at 12:51 p.m., a time when all children are expected to be in school. Effects included school closures, demolitions, power cuts, and the establishment of temporary school sites following the earthquake (Mutch 2013). Although specific research on the disaster effects on children with disabilities and schools is lacking, the timing of many disasters means that these children can be significantly affected.…”

“…They range from the suddenness of disasters and the inability of existing systems to cope, to widespread deaths, injuries, and economic losses, and lack of immediate access to livelihood resources. The literature also includes small or low-intensity and lingering events associated with droughts and conflicts (Peek 2008;Philips et al 2010;Mutch 2013). For the purpose of this article, a disaster situation refers to a natural hazard that has consequences in terms of damages, livelihood/economic disruptions, and/or casualties that are too great for the affected area and people to deal with adequately on their own .…”

“…Admittedly, an increasing amount of work has been directed at researching disaster experiences of children and youth generally, not only research for or with children but also by children (Save the Children 2006; Stough 2009;Peek and Stough 2010;UNICEF 2010;Mutch 2013). Examples have emerged internationally of children's capacity to actively contribute to planning, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts, and the apparent positive mental health benefits of these involvements (Save the Children 2006 ;Wisner 2006;Mutch 2013).…”