Child Bereavement UK estimates that a parent of a child under 18 dies every 22 minutes. This equates to 111 children bereaved every day. If we take a typical school classroom, 1 in 29 has been bereaved of a parent or sibling by the time they are 16.
Childhood bereavement can be especially damaging, which research shows can lead to a range of emotional, physical and social problems and the risk of early death, suicide, developing a psychiatric disorder, offending and leaving school without any qualifications, if bereaved children are not properly supported.Â
Experts are calling for bereavement to be included in the school curriculum whereby talking about death and bereavement of loved ones will help children to cope with loss and better understand the grieving process.
There is a need to find novel ways to address the gap in our culture around dealing with death and grief, especially for the benefit of young people. At Kapshoo we believe that technology should support people through life’s challenges, helping us to form positive connections, enabling safe and open communication, and meeting loss with love.Â