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Indiana Frenchman said:
To help overcome their fear of storms, children should first know that parents are prepared for bad weather, a Cincinnati psychologist said Thursday.
“Some people can be exceedingly frightened of storms,” said Dr. David Zucker of the Behavioral Science Center in Walnut Hills. “You don’t want to ignore it.”
He advises parents to let their children know that the family has a weather radio and a tornado or storm plan.
“Kids will see that you are doing something,” he said.
For children in Xenia, where tornadoes have severely ripped the community twice in 26 years, the fear of bad weather is real because its damage is so ingrained in the community’s mind.
“It happened twice in 25 years, and that’s a lot,” Dr. Zucker said. “Children should know, however, that it’s not likely to happen again. They should understand that it’s not an everyday occurrence.”
He recommends deep-breathing exercises and meditation for people — adults included — who are extremely fearful of storms.
Laurie Arshonsky knows what he means.
Having gone through the April 9, 1999, tornado in Montgomery, Mrs. Arshonsky was apprehensive Wednesday night when she heard reports of bad weather.
“I was at a meeting, and I asked a woman, “Is there a basement in this building?’” she said. “The woman said no. I thought, “Oh, no, what are we going to do?’ But she assured me we could take cover in a room with no windows. I felt better.”
After the 1999 disaster, she and her husband decided to move from Montgomery. They now live in Symmes Township in Hamilton County.
“A couple of weeks ago, I saw lightning and it was like April all over again for me,” she said. “I’m having therapy to relax the trauma. My husband’s doing fine. He’s not as anxious as I am. The kids are OK, too. One daughter’s more anxious, but she’s moved on with it.”
That doesn’t surprise Dr. Zucker, who says children are resilient and “pretty good at recognizing the facts.”
When a devastating tornado strikes, as it did in Xenia, people react differently, Dr. Zucker said.
Some people move away from the community. Others help their neighbors and develop a sense of brotherhood, he said.
“We want to be careful that we don’t prescribe how people should feel,” he said. “There is no one way for people to react.”
# 13 July 2010 at 5:53 pm

Chuck P said:
Well it’s funny you ask about the heredity, is he getting this fear from you? As for him watching the weather channel he may be getting this fear because they tend to show a lot of weather related catastrophe’s and how to protect yourself from them. He may not be ready emotionally to watch these things. It’s like watching a horror movie and thinking Freddy is going to get you in your sleep. Cut him off the weather channel until he can come to grips with it. I would also point out to him that it is a integral part of nature to rain and snow and hail, the more he knows of that part of it the less he will fear it. Good luck
# 14 July 2010 at 5:50 pm

Forsythia said:
Kids usually go through fears at different ages. Nine is a big age for fear of thunderstorms (and the lightening), so maybe your son is going through that one a little later or a little longer than most kids (and maybe that’s because he’s been reading up, so he knows more about bad weather than a lot of kids approximately his age).
Also, with the news having so much talk about tornadoes it probably hasn’t helped. Kids can learn about things, but if they’re not emotional mature enough to be able to process the frightening things and put them in the right perspective they can develop more than the usual amount of apprehension about something.
I think for now you should just keep telling him your area is not prone to tornadoes. Tell him how long it has been since a tornado hit your town (if you know) and point out that tornadoes are sometimes so small people aren’t even sure that they were tornadoes at all. Tell him where you and he (and other family members) can go if there ever were a tornado, so he’ll know there’s a place he can go and feel reasonable safe.
Point out to him how many of the houses and trees in your area have been standing for x number of years and how these houses and trees have stood up through whatever bad weather your area gets. Point out that there are houses that were built in the 1700′s that still stand today.
Talk about how even if it rains a lot sometimes there’s only flooding in areas where puddles tend to form or where there are swamps. Point out how even if ponds or lakes overflow there is time to leave the house. In other words, point out that unless you live near the ocean (where there could be a tsunami) there is warning when flooding occurs and time to prepare or leave (whichever you must do).
Point out that most bad weather (ice, rain, wind) doesn’t do much of anything, but even when it does it usually doesn’t mean people being hurt or homes being ruined, and usually its just a matter of losing lights and maybe having to make some home repairs.
Maybe get him some books (or find a website) that talks about being prepared for storms or bad weather. Let him learn about knowing what to do, where to go, and how to stay safe in severe weather. He knows about the storms. Maybe he needs to know how to have some sense of control if one should occur.
If you live in a “regular” house (not a trailer home) point out that so often the serious problems in tornadoes occur in places like Florida and in trailer parks (where the homes aren’t built on foundations like yours is).
Explain to him that children’s fears usually follow a similar thing when it comes to who is afraid of what at what age. Three-year-olds tend to fear things they imagine. Five-year-olds often fear losing their parents. Six-year-olds may fear that the house will catch on fire. Nine- and ten-year-olds often fear lightning and other weather. (They’re old enough to be aware of realities but too emotionally young to be able to put it in perspective or to have lived long enough to see how unusual serious weather damage really is.)
Emphasize that there are ways that anyone who lives where there tends to be any weather can do to be prepared and to reduce the chance that something awful will happen. Tell him how very often when people are hit by lightning its because they’re out on the golf course, holding a metal golf club.
Maybe suggest to him that while he’s still as young as he is maybe he should find something else to be reading about or watching. Tell him how chances are he’ll get past these worries in a couple of years, and for now the best thing may be for him to know where to go if a tornado or other bad weather occurs but otherwise get his mind on something else. If he insists on still focusing on weather tell him, “Well then, you also have to read about how to be prepared – not just how bad weather happens.” Tell him that if he insists on focusing on this he has to focus on the whole picture and not just on the bad stuff.
(He is probably aware of the tragedy that occurred recently when kids in a school were kept there and when the tornado hit. If he brings that up point out that unique situation was a one-time, freak thing that hasn’t occurred before in your life or in his grandparents’ life.)
Finally, try to think of (and help him think of) the fact that he’s afraid of/nervous about bad weather as just something to be accepted and dealt with for now (as if he had a broken leg or chicken pox). Help him see it as just something he has to go through because of his age (and maybe because he does know some of the unpleasant realities) and find ways to help him keep his mind busy or be somewhere where he feels as safe as he can if hail or other bad weather occurs and worries him.
I think, as he gets older, he’ll come around to finding a way to put it all in perspective.
# 15 July 2010 at 5:08 am

Zack H said:
Tell him that everything will be OK when rough weather erupts. He may have read about deadly hailstorms somewhere because some hail storms have killed over 100 people.
# 17 July 2010 at 1:16 pm

bob/ton said:
well i am 23 years old and i am frightened of storms also for the same reasons. we live in Arkansas so we are prone to tornadoes. my daughter who is 7 is absolutely terrified and it is because she has seen me freak out over them so many times that she thinks that is the only way to handle it i guess. my husband is fine through storms can sleep right through them, but me I’m awake if it is raining hard and my daughter she is the same. i have a 3 year old son who is I’m afraid going top be the same way also. so anyways i don’t really think there is anything we can do to help. i hope i helped
# 19 July 2010 at 6:38 pm

STYREE said:
DEAR
PLEASE LET HIM KNOW HE IS NOT A LONG ON THIS ONE ETHER OK I AM SACRED TO DEATH BECAUSE I N IN LA,TX AND WE HAVE TORNADO,S AND
HURRICANE’S THE HURRICANE SEASON STARTS AS OF JUNE (1ST) 2007 AND GOES TO DEC. (1ST) 2007 ALL DUE TO THE CHANGE IN DAY LIGHT SAVINGS TIME LASTING LONGER THEN IT USE TO OK
TAKE CARE
# 22 July 2010 at 3:03 pm

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