The unusual homework given to traumatised children in Japanese earthquake town

Children are asked to hug their parents, sit on a parent’s knee, hold their hands for more than a minute or shake their hands to cope

Children in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, who are still reeling under the trauma of this year’s fatal earthquake, have been asked to hug family members as part of their school homework.

The psychological trauma from a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in January this year can be reversed by parents hugging and assuring their children of safety, doctors and experts have said.

The quake rocked Japan on the first day of the year and caused several severe aftershocks, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency officials. At least 260 people were killed and more than 3,300 were evacuated. The fatalities also included those who died later due to stress, illnesses and other causes linked to the earthquake.

The aftershocks were also felt in June this year.

As a result, the children in the Noto Peninsula’s Wajima have become sensitive to noise, their surroundings, and even dark places as complaints of stress-related physical and mental disorders have trickled in, reported The Japan News.

A woman in her 40s told the paper that her daughter is still afraid of dark places and cannot go to the bathroom alone at night, probably because of memories of the disaster still scarring her. “After the earthquake, she became sensitive to noise and scared of even small tremors,” she told the newspaper.

The family’s house was among more than 40,000 of those destroyed.

The Sanno Elementary School in Ishikawa prefecture’s Nanao has asked students to make physical contact of four types with their family members as part of their “homework”. These include hugging, sitting on a parent’s knee, holding their hands for more than one minute, or shaking hands, the report added.

The school took inspiration from another elementary school’s nurse Kimiko Koura who saw the findings of a survey on trauma in children days after the quake when the school reopened. The affected children were throwing up at the sight of collapsed houses or were unable to leave their parent’s side. Ms Koura thought close contact can help children feel safer.

She said she hoped the unconventional homework gave the affected children a sense of comfort and charged them with energy to move ahead in life.

Some parents have already registered the “homework’s” results on their children. “The hugs made me feel much better,” read one parent’s feedback.

Experts told the newspaper that the move can instill parental comfort in children recovering from the psychological effect.

“It is good for children to have physical contact when they start to feel insecure. Even though children may not like it, I want parents to hug their children and tell them they are on their side,” said Norihiko Kuwayama, a psychiatrist who has looked after children from the previous deadly earthquake in 2011.