After Sea World Tragedy, Helping Kids Cope

Feb. 26, 2010— -- The tragic events at SeaWorld on Wednesday, where trainer Dawn Brancheau was pulled into a tank by a killer whale and drowned, may have shocked many, but few more so than those who saw it in person.

With a multitude of protections in place for parents to keep children from observing violence, whether ratings systems on movies, television or video games, it is seldom that children with protective parents see the most shocking displays of violence in any form, let alone the events that unfolded on Wednesday. It no doubt left many parents wondering about the effects of such an occurrence.

Psychological experts say that how the child reacts will depend in large part on their age. Younger children may not realize what occurred or why, while older children will be thinking about a range of consequences beyond the event itself, explained Dr. Eugene Beresin, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and co-director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Mental Health and Media .

"A 5-year-old who does not appreciate the finality of death, or understand that killer whales may do this for a number of reasons, such as fear, irritation, hunger, et cetera, may not understand why this happened," he said. "Younger children need to feel that they are safe. They need to know that while this is a terrible thing, it will not happen to them, even when they go to the beach or swim in a lake. They need reassurance that their parents will keep them as safe as possible."

Beresin said the situation may be different with older children.

"A 15-year-old on the other hand, may have a much broader understanding of animal behavior, motivation, et cetera," said Beresin. "Older kids may have different concerns: what about this person's relatives? Was she married? Did she have kids? What does this mean about the whale? Will it be killed in response to such an event. So, older teens appreciate much more of the content and consequences of the behavior."