Lori Peek and Alice Fothergill interview a kindergarten class in New Orleans. (Photo credit: Jennifer Tobin-Gurley)
In this provocation, Prof Lori Peek, co-director of the Center for Disaster and Risk Analysis at Colorado State University, draws on her work following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 where she interviewed disaster-affected children and youth across the United States. She found: “that by helping others, children and youth are able to contribute to their own recovery, as well as the recovery of those around them. Children, like adults, need to regain a sense of control in the face of environmental threats, and chronic and acute disasters. One of the best ways they can do this is through being actively engaged in the places where they live, go to school, work, and play.”
Please read the full paper here.
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This essay was commissioned for the FDSD and forms part of our Spring-newsletter on “Democracy & Disaster”, paying particular attention to the importance of youth engagement.
