discussing death, children…

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support group counselors, childhood bereavement death, concept that is extremely difficult, child to understand, grieving adults, confused, unsure how to respond supportively, most children, require many explanations, have many questions regarding death, "what happens, people die", "where, they go", among the most common, discussing death is extremely difficult, many adults, recognition that death, natural process, children, have problems visualizing death, develop fears, what happens after death, what death feels, what would happen to them, parents died, parents should attempt to openly discuss death, children, they ask, situation, death, discussed honestly, in language that children, understand at stage of development, a child's concept of death, must be taken into consideration, age 0, 2 years, sees death, separation, abandonment, has no cognitive understanding of death, feels despair from disruption of caretaking, age 2, 6 years, believes that death is reversible, temporary, perceive death, a punishment, engages in magical thinking that wishes come true, feel guilt, negative feelings toward the person who died, think that was the cause of death, age 6, 11 years, gradual understanding of irreversibility, finality of death, demonstrates concrete reasoning, ability to comprehend cause, effect relationship, age 11 years, older, understands that death is irreversible, universal, inevitable, has abstract, philosophical thinking, family members should showing feelings, shock, disbelief, guilt, sadness, anger, not only normal, sharing these feelings, memories, the person who has died, the child reduces the child's sense of isolation, children need lots of reassurance that they, loved, cared, by a consistent adult, must be assured that they, did not cause the death, nor could they have prevented it, grief, process that unfolds over time, initial shock, denial, change into sadness, anger, last from weeks to months, children, no emotional response to death, disconcerting to family members, normal behaviors, shock, crying, sadness, anger, guilt, increased clinginess, disobedience, lack of interest in school, sleep difficulties, decreased appetite, temporary regression to more childish behavior, physical complaints, signs of a problem, long-term denial, repeated crying spells, disabling depression, suicidal thoughts, persistent anger, persistent unhappiness, social withdrawal, severe separation anxiety, delinquency, promiscuity, decline in school performance, persistent sleep problems, eating disorders, long-term avoidance of feelings, take child to a doctor, mental health specialist, clergyperson, any of these signs appear, persist, recommended books, bereavement, young children, dead bird, by margaret wise-brown, addison-wesley, reading ma, 1958, 5 years, when dinosaurs die, a guide to understanding death, by laurene krasny brown, marc brown, little brown, boston, ma, 1996, 8 years, accident, by carol carrick, seabury press, new york, ny, 1976, 8 years, older children, a taste of blackberries, by doris b, smith, thomas y, crowell co, new york, ny, 1973, 9 years, magic moth, by virginia lee, seabury press, new york, ny 1972, 12 years, beat the turtle drum, by constance c, greene, viking press, new york, ny, 1976, 14 years, guidelines, caregivers, lifetimes, beautiful way to explain death to children, by bryan mellonie, robert ingpen, bantam books, new york, ny, 1983, straight talk, death, teenagers, by earl a, grollman, beacon press, boston, ma, 1993, how, we tell children, helping children understand, cope, separation, loss, by dan schaefer, christine lyons, newmarket press, new york, ny, 1993, related topics, fetal death, sids, death among children, adolescents.