Children’s knowledge and altruistic behaviors in COVID-19:; disaster literacy through lived experience
Journal Article
Overview
abstract
This article explores children’s experiences, knowledge, and altruistic; behaviors in the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team sought to answer the following; research questions: What did children do to help others during the pandemic? Who; did they assist? Why were they motivated to act? We compiled and coded 115 news; articles focused on U.S. children’s actions in the pandemic. Our analyses; identified eight types of altruistic behaviors that children engaged in, which; we grouped into two categories. The first category encompassed children; providing material resources such as: making, collecting, or distributing; supplies; raising and donating money; and cooking or distributing food. The; second category involved children mobilizing to advance well-being by: creating; art; offering social and emotional support; providing tutoring or developing; other educational services; participating in public health campaigns or; vaccination efforts; and conducting or taking part in research. Children sought; to help many different people, ranging from family members and friends to; at-risk professionals, such as frontline workers and healthcare providers. They; were also attuned to the needs of socially or economically marginalized groups,; such as older adults, low-income families, and unhoused people. Different; factors motivated children to act, including personal experiences, connections; to others, and more abstract empathy for those suffering disparate effects in; the pandemic. This research found that the pandemic may have enhanced; children’s disaster literacy through increasing their recognition of; disaster injustice. Children understood the myriad threats associated with the; pandemic and acted altruistically in response. Their actions were motivated in; part by their recognition of the deeply unequal effects of the pandemic, thus; suggesting the potential for a liberatory disaster literacy that is attentive to; structural inequalities. Ultimately, this study suggests that experiencing the; pandemic may have planted some seeds for growing a more disaster-literate group; of young people in the future.
