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Preschoolers produce images of war, blood in drawing session

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A drawing made by a preschooler depicting the Peshawar school attack
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A simple drawing session at a city preschool has exposed the impact an incident like the brutal massacre of children in an army school in Peshawar, Pakistan, can have on young minds. Parel's Podar Jumbo Kids received disturbing depictions of war and bloodshed from almost half of its students, reflecting the way children react to such incidents.

For the 2-day drawing session that ended on Friday, the preschool instructed its students to draw anything that makes them happy or angry. The motive was to bring out any fear or anxiety they may have developed after hearing or watching the news about the Peshawar massacre.

"The Peshawar tragedy will create a lot of fear and anxiety in young children. Some will be able to voice them, while others will be unable to ask the questions that are worrying them. It is important that parents and teachers support them in this period by ensuring that their own anxieties are not passed on to the kids," said Swati Popat Vats, president, Podar Education Network.

Out of 825 kids that participated in the event, 386 drew about the attack, and on talking to them around 136 were experiencing fear and anxiety. "If you find that a child seems withdrawn or has suddenly started exhibiting different behaviour, maybe talking to the child or helping the child draw his/her emotions and thoughts can help," said Vats. For example, a 4-year-old drew what she saw on the news. The teacher documented her drawings and then helped her ask questions and get reassuring answers.

"Children who drew anything disturbing will be counselled by the school and their parents will be requested not to talk or watch anything in their child's presence. Children will have a lot of questions and it is important that we reply to them honesty and simplicity. It is better that they voice their questions to a trusted individual like a parent or teacher rather than being ignored. In the drawing session we had, many children drew disturbing pictures. We phoned the parents to tell them about this session as well as sent them mails about how to tackle the questions of their children about terrorism."

Questions kids ask

The school has sent this questionnaire to parents for reference in case their child ask them about a terror attack:

1) Who is a terrorist?

A) A terrorist is a person who hurts others and harms them, sometimes even killing them.

2) Why were they killing children?

A) They wanted to harm people and they did not think whether the people they are killing are kids or teachers or parents.

3) Were there no guards in the school to save the children?

A) Yes there were and the guards tried their very best to save the children, many were saved too.

4) Will terrorists come to my school too?

A) Your mummy and daddy and all of us are going to protect you and keep you safe.

5) Will the terrorists be caught and punished?

A) Yes, all the police and army will now hunt them down and capture them soon.

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