'A river of emotions': how children navigate disasters

Drawing on a decade of research with young people affected by major disasters across Asia and the Pacific, River of Emotions opens with the devastating 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes across which 185 people died.

Author Carol Mutch, a professor of education at the University of Auckland, quotes a child in Christchurch who describes his feelings after the quakes as being like “sailing on a river of emotions”.

From there, the book follows children’s stories and reactions through subsequent disasters, including the 2011 Japanese triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant accident) and the 2015 Nepal earthquake, concluding with reflections from the Covid-19 years in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Mutch, a leading researcher in disaster education, says the book aims to bring children’s voices to the fore.

“While young people are often portrayed as passive victims, my research reveals a far more complex picture, one that includes vulnerability but also courage, compassion, humour, and remarkable adaptability.”

She says the book, recently published by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), focuses on what families, schools, and youth organisations can learn from children’s own accounts of living through crisis.
 

Mutch argues that while children and young people obviously need care and protection in disasters, they also need their experiences and ideas to be taken seriously.

“From the Student Volunteer Army and budding film makers during the Canterbury earthquakes to young letter writers [children who wrote letters to retirement village residents to help them stay connected during lockdowns] and teenage social activists during Covid-19, they demonstrate that they are not passive victims but actively engaged citizens.”

“Through drawings, writings, interviews, and observations, I wanted to show how young people describe and interpret events that adults often struggle to comprehend themselves.

“These stories highlight not only the emotional toll of disaster but also the ways children support one another, find creative outlets, and develop new understandings of their world," she says.
 

Mutch says the book’s final section also has practical guidance for adults supporting children in traumatic circumstances, emphasising the importance of listening, validating emotions, and recognising the strengths young people bring to recovery.

A second strand, she says, will appeal to researchers and postgraduate students.

“It’s a detailed look at the realities of conducting research in disaster zones, from designing studies and gathering data to interpreting children’s verbal and non verbal expressions.”

The book outlines the range of research approaches and frameworks, providing a valuable resource for anyone wanting to work “ethically and effectively with young participants in both ordinary and extraordinary times,” says Mutch.

Originally from the South Island’s West Coast, Mutch has been a primary school teacher, educational leader and policy adviser for various international organisations, including UNESCO.

River of Emotions, Children and young people making sense of disasters (NZCER, 2025) is available now in both digital and paperback editions.