ABSTRACT
Death and the dying process is a very real stressor in the lives of many children and adolescents. Researchers estimate that as many as 90% of high school students have personally experienced the death of someone who they cared about, such as the loss of a family member, friend, or pet (Ewalt & Perkins, 1979; Harrison & Harrington, 2001). By the time a child reaches the age of 18 years, research suggests that he or she will witness thousand of deaths (Kroen, 1996). These deaths may range from the impersonal deaths in books, on cartoons, in news media, and in movies to the personal deaths of pets, family members, and friends. Trying to protect children from death is a futile effort. The most frequent experiences of death are the deaths of parents and grandparents followed by deaths of siblings and friends. Deaths of adolescent friends are most likely to arise from unexpected deaths due to car accidents, homicide, and suicide (Corr, Nabe, & Corr, 1994). In 2002 alone, for example, 2,443,387 people died (National Center for Health Statistics, 2005). Those people were mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, teachers, pastors, and little league coaches.
