Reading for survival: how to stabilize children’s psyche with the help of books
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How to read with children who are triggered by every loud sound, should we give them books about the war and where to create a safe space for reading and learning, if libraries and schools are physically destroyed by the Russian army, and billions of dollars are needed to rebuild them?
The answers to these questions were discussed during the discussion about education and reading during the war, which took place within the framework of the All-Ukrainian informational and educational thematic event “National Reading Week” in the village of Bohdanivka in the Kyiv region. During the occupation, the Russian military set up their headquarters in the Bohdaniv school, and while retreating, they burned it down.
The conversation about the impact of the war on education and reading in Ukraine was joined by:
- Lyudmila Deyko, director of Bohdanivska gymnasium;
- Tetyana Stus, writer, founder of the “BaraBooka” children’s reading support project, head of the children’s reading laboratory of the National Academy of Medical Sciences;
- Anna Novosad, CEO of SavED, a foundation that restores access to education in war-torn communities;
- Olga Rusina, children’s writer;
- Yuliya Dychuk, head of the children’s and youth broadcast of the digital platforms of Suspilny.
The recording of the discussion can be viewed at the link.
How to calm an anxious child?
Being parents means taking responsibility not only for the well-being, but also for the psychological stability of children. When a siren sounds or children simply feel anxious, afraid and worried, the task of adults is to stabilize the child’s psyche, to return it to a calm state.
Tatyana Stus advises to do this with the help of a book and shared reading:
“Contact with a book is the safest way to return a child to his usual childhood state. Through a book, you transfer children to a world that will help them remember their stable states: how they laugh, play, have fun. In addition, reading together with children is your special opportunity to just be together, sit next to each other, hug, show your care.”
| Contact with a book is the safest way to return a child to the “state of childhood”. Photo: Wavebreakmedia/Depositphotos |
Interaction with a book can form a positive associative series in a child: “When I am with a book, I feel interesting and safe.” Olga Rusina recalls the story of her reader:
“Last summer, a girl wrote and said that her younger sister was afraid to go to the shelter. Then the older sister started taking a book with her, and the sisters formed an association: now we are going to the shelter, we will read a book there. And the girl stopped being afraid, because she understood that there would be some pleasant and interesting pastime in the basement. Such practice helped this little girl to distract herself from the anxiety of the air and the basement.”
However, parents and teachers should be prepared for the fact that children will ask about the war. Tatyana Stus advises not to keep silent about this topic:
“A siren or any other harsh sound can trigger a child and turn them around in a moment of anxiety. You need to be able to talk to them about it. Explain as much as the child can understand. Read books, there are many freely available. Talk not only about the war, but and about peace. It is better to divert attention with literature that is not related to war.”
How to encourage children to read more and better?
Anna Novosad shared the results of the international study of the quality of education PISA-2022:
“Ukrainian 15-year-olds are 2.5 years behind in reading compared to 15-year-olds in Estonia, Poland or Slovakia. That is, our children need to study for another 2.5 years to reach the results of their peers abroad. This is not an assessment of reading speed, but of ability to understand the main idea, distinguish the judgment of the author, distinguish fact from fiction, etc.
There is a lot of information, we actually only read the headlines. And all this affects the understanding and analysis of information. Remember how many times we talked about an attack from Belarus and a nuclear strike at IPSO. Reading still competes with propaganda stories and Russian content.”
“The extent to which children want to read also depends on what we have in our library. They didn’t come to us before. And when we show the group that we have new pieces of modern literature, the children come and everyone finds something for themselves an interesting book. There was no such thing before, because they did not have modern editions,” – Lyudmila Deyko says.
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| How much children want to read also depends on what we have in our library. Photo: przemekklos/Depositphotos |
For 10 years, the BaraBooka project has been dealing with the issue of how to encourage children to read more and better.
“Despite the cliché that children don’t read, it may turn out that adults just didn’t help them open the right door.” – believes Tatiana Stus.
Read also: 42% of Ukrainian teenagers do not know mathematics at the basic level. What the PISA-2022 results show
Practical advice for parents on how to instill in children a love of books:
- First of all, ask what the child likes. If he says he likes cats, look for books about cats. If dinosaurs – read about dinosaurs. If he asks for literature on economics or psychology, do not limit.
- Let me choose books just by their covers. Trust the child.
- Have fun reading. The moment of interaction with the book should be a moment of rest, relaxation, and not tension.
- Offer modern books. Generations change and perceptions change. It is normal that children do not perceive large arrays of dense texts, it is easier for them to assimilate sparse and visualized information.
- Get interested with beautiful illustrations or a character that the little one can identify with.
- Offer audiobooks. Some children cannot sit quietly with a book in their hands, but can listen to audio while drawing, for example.
In addition, live thematic meetings with librarians or writers help to interest children in book stories. Olga Rusina says that she increasingly receives invitations to participate in such events:
“I think this is how we partially cover children’s need for psychological support. Often parents cannot provide it, because they themselves are traumatized. Meetings should be emotional, interactive. Children should identify with book heroes who have some kind of superpower. This gives children subjectivity back , which is missing. It’s like we’re moving from the paradigm that we have to obey the circumstances to a way of thinking that even in these circumstances, I can do something.
Children have very interesting reasoning: someone says that his superpower is sleeping. It sounds funny at first glance, but the boy explains: “When I sleep well, I recover and wake up stronger.” Such interactive activities restore children’s inner resource.”
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| “Children should identify with book heroes who have some kind of superpower.” Photo: fotosedrik/Depositphotos |
Also, according to Olga, a tool for integrating the book into everyday life can be social networks:
“Teenagers run book blogs, write reviews, argue in the comments. This is good, this is their resource practice.”
Read also: Agents of change. How children who survived the occupation of Kyiv region are reviving school art and printing parts for drones
A few words about rebuilding the space in which children can study
Today, Russia has destroyed every 10th Ukrainian school, and the restoration of access to education is happening more slowly than we would like.
“The issue of schools in populated areas is also a security issue in particular. When children from Bohdanivka are on their way to neighboring Rudna, and an air raid begins, they have nowhere to hide. This is dangerous. Besides, despite the war, the village is developing, children are being born. School we need” – says Lyudmila Deyko.
Anna Novosad is convinced that despite the fact that currently there are not enough funds for this purpose, “there should be quick and cheap solutions so that children can learn already.”
“The worst thing is that the situation with damaged educational institutions can be normalized and forgotten. In Mykolaiv Oblast or Kharkiv Oblast, we are creating digital educational centers, converting cultural centers into schools, and making schools underground. But there is a different context: the scale of the destruction is such that, probably, you won’t rebuild every single school even if all the kids come back to the city.It’s just billions of dollars.
Intermediate solutions are needed. For example, with the support of USAID partners and with the approval of the community leadership, we will establish a good modular school for high school students in Bohdanivka.” – shares Novosad’s plans.
The material has been created Maryana Osadchuk within the framework of the joint project of Ukrainian Pravda and Lviv Bookforum, which is implemented with the support of the project of the United States Agency for International Development USAID “Strengthening Public Trust (UCBI)”.
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