Authors using picture books to help kids process trauma from gun violence
Experts are turning to books to help explain to children how to process their feelings.
NEW YORK (WPVI) -- Children in Philadelphia are no strangers to gun violence.
Now, experts are turning to books to help explain to children how to process their feelings.
"It really impacts kids of color, the community of color. And I tell you it breaks my heart. That's really why I'm doing this," said children's book author Ian Ellis James.
Ellis James, known by his stage name "Electric," is working with kids on gun violence prevention in New York City.
He says his strategy involves using songs, puppets and, of course, picture books to help kids at a very tender age to understand how dangerous and harmful guns really are.
"The challenge has been finding gifted authors who are able to talk about these very challenging topics, such as incidents of violence in schools and in our communities in a way that is psychologically safe, that is trauma-informed, that truly serves our kids, and that it empowers them," said Michele Gay, the mother of a Sandy Hook School shooting victim.
Child psychologists say this method could be very effective in getting kids to become more of a partner in therapy. Children's books have often been so focused on light and happy subjects, but with a national gun crisis and mass shootings becoming more frequent, experts say exposure to trauma is almost no longer preventable.
In fact, publishers say the demand for picture books explaining traumatic events such as school shootings has grown dramatically.
