PCAC published a report on the psychological effects on Palestinian children

Friday March 07, 2008 04:19

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

The Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC) published a report on the effects on the ongoing Israeli attacks, especially the latest offensive against the Gaza Strip, on the physiological situation of the children.

The report revealed that clear anxiety and fear was noticed on the children as the face Israeli military invasions, shooting and shelling.

Some of the clear indications of these effects were apparent in the drawings of the children as they all drew scenes of violence, tanks, soldiers, war jets, and bulldozers uprooting trees in addition to drawings representing funerals of residents killed by the army.

The center stated that the children are no longer drawing scenes from nature or scenes that express happiness, and added that art is one of the effective ways that helps the children to express what they face.

Sameeh Abu Zakia, head of the center, a specialist in Child development and an activist defending the rights of children, stated that the “painful scenes that the children see on TV or the events that they witness are negatively affecting them”, and added that these incidents are a direct violation to the rights of the children.

He added that the issue of protecting the children is an essential issue in order to enable them grow in a healthy environment while providing them with their needs in order to maintain a healthy life.

Abu Zakia said that a series of programs is needed to nurture the children and provide them with the needed environment far away from anxiety and fear in order to allow them to maintain a normal life.

Abu Zakia also stated that several health, educational, physiological and social programs should be implemented in order to relief the pressure that the children are subjected to.