A single teardrop is one too many........

 

What about the children?

They are not responsible for any of the atrocities so many

of them are and have been forced to endure.

Trauma leaves an indelible mark on everyone who

experiences it.

For emotional and physical trauma, there is no quick-fix

or cure-all magical potion.

Healing from traumatic experiences takes a lot

of time, a lot of patience, a lot of understanding,

and a lot of support.

And of course; the absence of bombs falling on

children's heads, poisonous gasses and chemicals filling

their lungs, tanks and guns firing deadly bullets at them,

having their closest relatives killed in front of their eyes,

going for days and days without food or water or a safe

place to rest.

Any kind of experience that a child experiences as

traumatic has the potential to keep on hurting

the child for years.

Some say that children are naturally resilient, that they get over it,

that they adapt.....but I'm not so sure about that.

Current thinking in child development and neuroscience

is that children are not naturally resilient, rather, evidence shows

that they are particularly vulnerable to traumatic experiences.

Children have not learned how to process and understand

 complex emotions,

and not understanding what they are experiencing, they

have no language to express what they are feeling.

It may be more convenient for us adults to believe that

children are resilient but the fact is that children create

their view of life on their experiences as they perceive

them, and whatever suffering they experience, has a

profound impact on their psyche and well-being.

Unless those of us who call ourselves ''adults''

start to face our own traumas and figure out

how to deal with them in a life-affirming way,

there is a high probability that we will do or and say

things that will inflict trauma on our own or other's

children.

We really need to do better.

''It is easier to build strong children than to repair

broken men [and women].'' (Frederick Douglass)

''There can be no keener revelation of a society's

soul than the way in which it treats its children.''

(Nelson Mandela)

about the images: Top: Graphite pen on paper

Bottom: Water colour on paper Title: ''A single teardrop is one

too many''