Some terrorism bogeymen lurk in children's fears

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

Joshua Ching of Ma'ema'e Elementary is scared of jellyfish, a very real and present hazard for adults as well.

First-grader Kenna Yamane, 6, goes for a timeless classic: being scared of the dark.

Sixth-grader Tamalii Ironside is more aware of — and wary of — Osama bin Laden.

Tiyana Nakasone sketched another fear from the headlines: dengue fever, carried by some mosquitoes.

And the classic storybook nasties are always among us:

Marisa Takemoto's scary bear

Wyllie Louie's red-eyed bat

Noe Kasuya's toothy shark

Justin Santiago's lion

Illustrations from Ma'ema'e Elementary School for an assignment about what kids fear offer a glimpse into the way children are absorbing what's going on in the world.

Grown-up stresses about terrorist attacks, anthrax-tainted letters, war and the economy are manifesting for children on a level that calls for reassurance that they are safe, teachers and therapists say.

First and second-graders drew jellyfish, bears and snakes instead of hijacked planes or war. Only the older students expressed fears directly related to terrorism.

"Young children and their immediate world is mom, dad, where I'm going to sleep tonight and what I'm going to do today," Kailua psychologist Margaret Steadman said. "If parents are anxious or depressed or angry, kids are likely to pick up on it."

Teachers are noticing children are picking up more than they would have expected.

"The children watch the news way more than I thought," first-grade teacher Karen Umeda said. "I think it's good. I think they need to have a real sense of what's going on."

First-grade teacher Terri Takabayshi noticed 6-year-old Reid Kaneshiro and a group of boys over at the globe the other day searching for Afghanistan.

"They're having the war because Osama bin Laden is over there hiding," Reid said last week during a burrito and banana lunch. "They said on the news."

For a first-grader, Reid seems pretty up on the news. But his understanding is limited.

He's a little unclear about the Sept. 11 hijackings: "I don't know how they killed the passengers in the plane," he said.

And the whole anthrax scare is a little confusing: "In the news, they said this lady put baby powder to make it like poison to scare people," he said.

But he's untouched by adult paranoia: "I know something on the news that I saw," he said excitedly. "The shooting stars!"

Parents should keep in mind that children are distracted from world events, and it may be hard for them to put recent events in perspective, Steadman said. While adults might cope with tragedy by talking about it, she said, children might take bits and pieces of what they hear and create their own misconceptions.

One youngster, for example, didn't want her father to put a flag on the family car because she feared terrorists would see it and shoot it, Steadman said.

Parents need to talk to their children and find out what they know and what they fear, Steadman said. She advises adults to give children as much information as they want, but not more than they need. The message should be one of reassurance, love and support, she said.

That's the kind of comfort 6-year-old Kenna Yamane already has.

"Sad. Sad. Sad," the first-grader said, when asked what she knew about Sept. 11. "My auntie said that some people didn't have time to say goodbye to their moms or dads."

Sixth-grader Kristen Higa said it helps to talk to her grandfather, who told her how the attacks reminded him of Pearl Harbor.

She watches the news with him.

Her classmates say being isolated in Hawai'i makes them feel safer than if they were on the Mainland. But they still have fears that bring them close to the Sept. 11 aftermath.

Tamalii Ironside, 11, drew Osama bin Laden for his fear assignment.

"I'm just afraid that he might come here," he said. "I don't really think he's gonna come here, but sometimes I think about it."

Tamalii's dad is going to see Tamalii's grandmother in Canada next month. The idea of his father on a plane makes Tamalii nervous.

His teacher, Elaine Koanui, assigned class journals to document their feelings after Sept. 11. She's focusing on getting her students back on track, yet she's still concerned about the emotional toll.

"From the outside they don't seem to be concerned," she said. "It's only when you ask them these things, like what they are afraid of, that these things come out."

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.