ABSTRACT
When a loved one dies in an adult’s world, sadness is frequently the dominant emotion. To a young child, however, this is not always the case. Sometimes the first reaction is more egocentric, such as anger at the disruption to normal routines. When it occurs, sadness is not only because the deceased is missed but also for the loss of how life used to be. Children will respond to the reactions of others; sadness is contagious. For many young grievers, the death may be the first time in which they have seen parents and other adults cry. In an effort to protect adults from experiencing more pain, children often hide their own feelings of despair and loneliness. Children express emotional upset in a myriad of ways, and this section will focus on behaviors that typically manifest in the classroom. Sadness is a complicated emotion that emerges in a variety of ways from individual to individual. Understanding how despair indirectly rears its ugly head can help us recognize it and help kids work through it.
