Children need stress debriefing, too

Let children tell their earthquake stories.

If adults were unnerved by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake last October 15 and the aftershocks, imagine the trauma for children.

It’s important for children to unburden themselves by being able to narrate what they went through and express how they feel, social workers said.

The Mandaue city government plans to hold a stress debriefing for children, to be conducted by the Bidlisiw Foundation.

“There’s a need for the children to openly express how they feel,” said Sarah Walker-Cortes, chairman of the  Mandaue’s City Council for the Protection of Children (MCCPC).

Violeta Cavada, head of City Social Welfare Service (CSWS), said the foundation prepared a stress debriefing module that they would conduct with teachers first.

The teachers then can do the same for children.

Cavada said children will be encouraged to tell their experiences and express their worries.

The children’s trauma was not just from the earthquake itself, but from the panic they saw on their parents’ faces.

“Ang bata nga imbis mu-kalma kay maratol ug apil tungod sa ilang ginikanan ug ubang tao,” she said adding that the stress debriefing will be conducted as soon as the classes start.

The activity will be done in coordination with the Mandaue’s Department of Education (DepEd) headed by Virginia Zapanta. /Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos