Children who are Grieving

Children who are grieving need very special care and attention - this is frequently unavailable. Schools are ill equipped to give the kind of individuated support that will bring a child through the worst and they misunderstand the capacity of the surviving parent to mediate between them and the child. I would attend meetings for my fourteen year old and speak with great resilience and clarity - as soon as I had left the room, however, I utterly forgot every word that was spoken and every plan that we had been made. The parent is not being obstructive, but the mind and body can cope with only so much - your whole being is withdrawn to a place beyond proper communication. My fourteen year old has grieved with the strength of an adult but without an adult's defences - her's is a genuine tragedy.

Those who can help include Winston's Wish, and, in our case, Daisy's Dream