如何與孩子談論死亡和面對哀傷

本文旨在分析兒童對死亡的看法，探討幫助兒童發展處理哀傷的應對能力。本研究以非結構式的訪談法訪問了 118位幼稚園及 93位小學老師 (N=211) 有關他們和孩子談論死亡的教學經驗，分享他們幫助5至6歲兒童明白喪親的哀傷過程，和表達情緒的方法。老師鼓勵兒童表達曾經歷的哀傷，並確認兒童表達感受、悲傷和提問有關死亡之事的權利。研究結果能幫助家長及老師瞭解兒童對死亡的看法，從而更有效的疏導兒童對死亡的焦慮或喪親的哀傷。研究結果顯示兒童會主動提問有關親人離世或有關死亡的事，他們須要知道真實的情況才可克服對死亡的恐懼。
A semi-structured interview was conducted to explore children’s understanding of death and how teachers help children to develop coping strategies to cope with grief. 118 kindergarten and 93 primary teachers (N=211) were interviewed about their experience in discussing about death with five to six-year-old children. This study has shown some evidence of how teachers can help children to have a better understanding of the grieving process and recognizing different ways in expressing grief. By expressing feelings towards loss, teachers reassured children that it was permissive to be sad, to express their feelings and ask questions about death. The results will help teachers and parents to understand children’s concepts about death, so that they are in a better position to help children to cope with their emotions and worries associated with death. This study showed that children were actively asking questions about bereavement and death. They needed to understand the concept of death in order to cope with stress that associated with it. Copyright © 2007 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.