I have not experienced, nor known anyone who experienced any of the stressors. So I decided to research what happened to children who experienced the Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earth quake which occurred in Japan in 1995, where 6,434 people died and 43,792 people were injured. I found a story about a boy referred to as Kazunori who lost his father when he was 12 years old because of the disaster. He experienced much more stress because he was the oldest child in his family and he had to take over his father’s role in the house for his mother and three younger siblings. He says he couldn’t cry for his father’s loss in front of his family. Instead, he felt he had to teach what he had been taught by his father. He also shared that he hid the fact that he lost his father to his friends until he was in high school. He told them that his father was on business trips because he felt nobody understood his feelings. He coped with his tragedy by being responsible. Now that he is 21 years old, he is trying to study abroad in Brazil. He says he wants to work for people dealing with difficulties outside Japan.
I think many children in Japan now are experiencing stresses similar to those that Kazunori went through because of the Higashi Nihon Daishinsai (East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Event) last March that killed 15833 people died and has left 3671 people missing. Even though Kazunori did a great job for his family and grew up to be an ambitious man, I feel that a lot of children who experience such huge stress and grief will have more negative outcomes. They might have troubles which come from stresses such as lost appetite, stomach problems, headache, and trouble sleeping. Those are directly related to children’s biosocial development. In addition to these issues for biosocial development, the lack of a sense of safety, and less time with parents will slow the cognitive development in these children. I think these children will also suffer from long-term issues in psychosocial development such as indifference, depression, and a lowered ability to cope with future stressful situations.
Reference
NHK Online. Fukushi Network. Retrieved on November 26, 2011, from http://www.nhk.or.jp/heart-net/fnet/arch/thu/40115.html