How Conflict Leaves Its Mark on Children and What Parents Can Do
When the World Feels Unsafe
By Hermoine Macura-Noble
Special to The Times Kuwait
Children do not need to live in a conflict zone to be shaped by one. Across the Gulf region, where daily life unfolds at what feels like a safe remove from the conflicts grinding away in neighboring countries, a quieter crisis is taking hold – one measured not in casualties but in sleepless nights, unexplained stomach aches, and small voices asking the same anxious questions over and over again. Experts who work with children say the signs are easy to miss and easier still to misread. What looks like misbehavior, withdrawal, or a sudden drop in school performance may be something else entirely: a child carrying a weight that no one thought to ask about.
Kira Nashed Hanna
Licensed Educational Psychologist
“Even if children are not living in the country where the conflict is happening, they can still feel it,” says Kira Nashed Hanna, a Licensed Educational Psychologist based in the Gulf. “They hear adults talking. They see things on the news. They pick up on their parents’ stress. Sometimes they hear bits and pieces at school or from social media, and they may not fully understand what is going on, but they can still feel that something is wrong.”
Nashed Hanna, who works directly with children navigating anxiety and trauma, says that stress in young people rarely announces itself clearly. “A lot of children will not come out and say, ‘I feel anxious about what is happening.’ With children, stress often comes out through behavior before it comes out through words. So a child who suddenly becomes withdrawn, defiant, tearful, distracted, or extra attached may not just be misbehaving. They may be overwhelmed. Their nervous system is responding.”
This pattern is echoed in global research. Clinical psychologist Dr. Sandra Mattar, an assistant professor at Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, has studied the effects of war trauma extensively. “When you experience these traumatic events, your body is in full shock,” she has said of children struggling with conflict-related stress, noting that children who are affected often exhibit emotional withdrawal and self-imposed isolation. Research shows that individuals exposed to armed conflict are three times as likely to develop PTSD, anxiety disorders, or major depression – with women and children demonstrating increased vulnerability.
For children already dealing with anxiety, sensory sensitivities, or instability at home, the impact can be even more pronounced. Nashed Hanna explains that for these children, distressing news can make their nervous system feel unsafe even when they are physically protected. The challenge for parents, she says, is not to shield children from all knowledge of the world — but to help them hold difficult truths alongside a sense of safety and hope.
One of the most significant and underestimated factors is screen exposure. “Media can make something far away feel very close,” says Nashed Hanna. “For younger children, seeing images of war, destruction, crying families, or injured children can make it feel like danger is right outside their home. They do not always understand geography, distance, or that old clips may be replayed or AI generated.”
Social media compounds the problem for older children and teenagers, who may encounter graphic videos, misinformation, and polarizing opinions before they have the tools to process them. Nashed Hanna advises parents to actively limit exposure and to open a conversation rather than close one. “Ask, ‘What did you see?’ ‘What did you hear?’ and ‘What are you worried about?’ Then correct anything that is not true, answer in an age-appropriate way and remind the child what is being done to keep them safe.”
She also points to one of the most powerful things a parent can do: “It is also powerful for children to see adults put their phone down. That teaches them that we can care about what is happening with boundaries and not let fear take over.”
Many parents fear saying the wrong thing and so say nothing at all – a response that child protection experts warn can backfire. Rebecca Smith, Global Head of Child Protection at Save the Children, has stated clearly: “Ignoring or avoiding the topic of conflict can lead to children feeling lost, alone and scared. It is essential to have open and honest conversations with children to help them process what is happening.”
Nashed Hanna is careful to balance the weight of this topic with an important truth. “Children are resilient. They do not need a perfect world to feel safe. They need safe adults, routine, connection, and a sense of hope.” She describes the emotional skill of holding two things at once – that the world contains pain, but also goodness, helpers, and hope – as one of the most valuable things parents can teach.
“Children need room to grieve what is painful, but they also need permission to keep imagining, hoping, playing, learning, and dreaming…Our role is to help children remain gentle without feeling unsafe, aware without becoming overwhelmed, and strong without becoming hardened by the world,” concludes Nashed Hanna.
By Hermoine Macura-Noble
The first Australian English speaking News Anchor in the Middle East. She is also the Author of Faces of the Middle East and Founder of US-based 501c3 charity – The House of Rest which helps to ease the suffering of victims of war. For more from our Contributing Editor, you can follow her on Instagram, here.
