Children With a Terminally Ill Parent
The environment in a home where there is a terminally ill parent is often significantly different than a well household. This is not only because this home has the paraphernalia associated with the ill, such as sick beds, pharmaceuticals, wheel chairs and the like. It is also because there are changes in rituals and traditions, whispered conversations and many things thought but not said, worried expressions and loss of sleep, and an overall tense situation that makes all family members more stressful than they already are. Children of terminally ill parents experience many of these and numbers of other frightening, daily occurrences that something at home is happening with no answers. Unfortunately, the children are not always told the truth about their parent s illness and how it will change their lives .Some family members believe that they are protecting the children by keeping this information to themselves. Others cannot admit the truth to themselves, let alone others, especially children. Other times, the siblings are just forgotten with everything taking place during this time of medical crisis. Many children and families go this situation. According to national statistics, by the age of 15, over a million children in
Once the child returns to school, keep the parent informed of the child's progress. The majority of the studies conducted on this topic found a positive relationship between the psychological functioning of the parent and the child. It is estimated that at any given time in the average classroom there are at least two students who are grieving from the death of a loved one. , of Duke University Medical Centerand co-director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. Normally, teachers are more readily to observe the impact of grief in the work, actions, attitude, relationships, and academics of the student who is dealing with the death of a loved one. * Offer grieving students creative ways to express their grief, such as by creating music or drawing. The first step in supporting children with a critically ill parent is identifying them (Mahoney, 2005), states John Fairbank, Ph. Most of the studies done from a teachers standpoint are helping a student with the grieving process after a parent has passed away. the United States will lose a parent to a terminal illness (Mahoney, 2005). Other emotional responses include increased amount of crying, clinging and difficulty in sleeping are found in pre-school children. In most cases, these children are experiencing pain that can impact them for months, even years, especially if they do not receive the support required. Older youths are more concerned with the well being of their parent and more apt to talk honestly about their thoughts and feelings about the illness. Students need assistance to dealing with death and grief. The impact of a parent s terminal illness, cancer for example, on a patient s psychosocial functioning has been studied for several decades.
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Acceptance Essays
