DEATH, D

YING, A

ND GRIE

F

MACKEN

Z IE G

ROBE

AUTU

MN

BARTRAM

STAGES OF GRIEFStage One : Denial - Denial of a death is a tactic to try to block the thought of grief.

Stage Two : Anger - A grieving person usually feels hostility that is directed towards family,

friends, bystanders, the deceased, or to God.

Stage Three : Bargaining

- Bargaining is a grieving person’s way to postpone the inevitable.

Stage Four : Depression - A person’s sadness of death that is turned inward. This can last a few

days or a few months. Professional help might be needed after an extended period of time.

Stage Five : Acceptance

- In this stage, people learn to face their grief and attempt to move on.

FACTS ABOUT GRIEF

- 3.5% of children under the age of 18 have experienced the death of a parent

- Three out of every 50 children under the age of 15 will lose a parent

- About one third of grieving children may need to seek professional counseling or therapy of some kind

CHARACTERISTICS OF GRIEVING CHILDREN

(AGES 6-12)• Crying

• Protesting

• High anxiety

• Irritability

• Unexpressed feeling may surface as physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and tiredness.

• Curious

• Some older children tend to revert to a previous developmental stage such as asking for nightlights and sleeping with stuffed animals

CHARACTERISTICS OF GRIEVING TEENS(AGES 13-16)

• Behavior problems and acting out

• Physical symptoms such as headaches

• Possible suicide attempts

• Anger or rage

• Sexual promiscuity

• Vulnerability

• Not focused

• Seems to not care about goals they cherished before the death had occurred.

• Substance abuse

HOW TO OVERCOME THIS BARRIER

• Parents, caregivers, and teachers can provide support and minimize fear by answering a child’s questions about death honestly.

• Make sure the student knows that they are loved and cared for.

• Keep the student on track by putting in extra effort for their participation.

• Try to get child distracted from their grief by keeping them involved.

• Be very considerate when communicating with a grieving child.

• Solutions can be as simple as talking to a child about their feeling with an open mind.

SAMANTHA BURNS

• Samantha Burns disappeared at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, WV in November 2002. She is still missing to this day.

• Samantha is Autumn’s cousin and after her disappearance, Autumn had grief over her missing cousin.

• To help Autumn, her teachers talked to her about it and made her feel better.

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

1. What percentage of children under the age of 18, have suffered the death of a parent or a loved one?

2. Explain 3 characteristic of grieving in children under

the age of 12? 3. How could you recognize a teen or child that is

grieving or has suffered through grieving? 4. Distinguish between the different stages of grief? 5.Do you believe that students grieving should go

through therapy?

6. How would you help a student that’s grieving?

SOURCES

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMCI112822

www.healthofchildren.com/D/Death-and-Mourning.html

www.recover-from-grief.com/7-states-of-grief.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/burns_samantha.html

http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/deathgrief.pdf