First Childhood Death Experiences

Abstract

A child's first experience with death may be met with a variety of responses. The objective of this research was to determine what adults remember about these early death experiences. Students in college death-and-dying classes were asked to write an essay about their first death experience. The average age of the respondents (N = 440) was 23.79 years, and their average age at the time of their first death experience was 7.95 years. Content analysis was used to analyze the essays. Over half of all first experiences with death involved relatives, 28 percent involved a pet. Children's responses to death showed emotions similar to those expressed by adults. Over one-third mentioned that crying occurred. Details of the funeral were remembered by many respondents some sixteen years later. Adults need to be sensitive to the needs of children when a significant other or pet dies. It is clear that childhood experiences flavored with death, loss, or separation can become important influences on the way one sees life and copes with death.