Program Aims to Soothe Students’ Post-Quake Fear

After a powerful earthquake jolted the Whittier area two years ago today, teachers at the Irvine Unified School District noticed something more unsettling than the quake itself--many children were frightened and withdrawn for several weeks afterward.

Marion Zenoff, a special projects assistant at the district, said teachers discovered that the children were not prepared to handle the emotional trauma of the 5.9 temblor. Some were afraid to leave home, others cried constantly. Some could not concentrate in school, others could not sleep.

And the problems were not limited to the Irvine area. In Whittier, the community that sustained the most damage in the quake, 46% of the parents interviewed by earthquake researchers said their children were also showing signs of stress because of the temblor.

Irvine school officials agreed that something needed to be done to help the youngsters cope during future earthquakes.

After receiving a $12,000 state grant, Zenoff recently put together a special curriculum designed to help students from kindergarten through sixth grade deal with stress associated with quakes. This year the district is implementing the program in its schools.

When the next earthquake jolts the Los Angeles area, school officials want the children to be able to recognize their anxieties, realize it is OK to be frightened, and use relaxation techniques, such has deep breathing or thinking pleasant thoughts.

“During earthquakes and other natural disasters people realize that there are outside forces we can’t control, and that’s really frightening,” Zenoff said. “But one thing we can control is how we deal with it, and that’s what we’re trying to teach the kids.”

During classroom exercises some children participate in lessons using “stress tabs,” small stickers that when put on the hand or wrist change colors according to body temperature, Zenoff said. The stickers, props to make children aware of their anxiety levels, turn black to indicate stress and purple to indicate calmness.

Kindergarten and first-grade teachers will use a puppet called “Teddy” to get the children’s attention.

“After the (Whittier) earthquake we found a lot of kids were keeping things inside,” Zenoff said. “There was a lot of denial going on. Some of the kids regressed and went back to earlier stages, such as bed wetting or clinging to their parents.”

Children also will be encouraged to seek assistance from an adult after an earthquake. Some will be asked to make a list of people they can count on and talk to during times of crisis.

“These skills need to be considered survival skills,” said William Benn, the district’s coordinator for research. “You need to know what physically to do in a disaster, that’s important. But you also can prepare yourself psychologically.”

Zenoff said parents also will receive a special booklet called, “Mommy, I’m scared.”

The booklet points out ways parents can help their children deal with their fears. For example, parents are encouraged to provide opportunities through “children’s play,” using toys, art or other objects to discuss or act out the children’s anguish.

And parents are encouraged to describe their own feelings to children, Zenoff said.

The program was tested last year in some classes in the district and received positive responses from youngsters and their parents, Zenoff said. On a written exam given students after the classes, the youngsters indicated that they would be better able to recognize and handle stress, she said.

Zenoff said she hopes the curriculum will be adopted in other school districts, especially in Whittier and Montebello, the center of a temblor in June. So far a few other districts have expressed interest, Zenoff said.