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Remember the days when there were books for children on “difficult” topics such as divorce or puberty (you know the ones I’m talking about: “Where do Babies Come From”, “Why is Mommy’s New Friend Sleeping Over”) – those books. They were pretty good, had some decent cartoons, and for the most part did what they were supposed to do - help parents avoid awkward conversations with their children.
But divorce is not something you can just sweep under the carpet and hope will go away. According to a recent British survey, only 1 in 20 children of divorce believed that it was properly explained to them, while one-fourth of the children feel that no one had talked to them at all about the reasons for their parents’ separation.
Israeli company, Zipland Interactive, realized that a book just wasn’t gonna cut it anymore and has recently released “Earthquake in Zipland“: the world’s first research-based psychological computer game designed to help kids cope indirectly with divorce and separation.
“The benefits of this sort of game are numerous”, says Chaya Harash, MSW Family Therapist and CEO of Zipland Interactive, “For the children, it’s the first attempt at talking to them in their own language, dealing with a severe subject through humor and wit. For the parents, the game broadens their understanding of the impact of the separation on their child, and offers a way to communicate and talk about painful issues the child might be otherwise reluctant to express. For therapists and helping professions it can be used to get children to participate more actively in the therapy process, used either in the clinic or as a home ‘assignment’.”
With the increasing number of divorces each year, was it just a matter of time before divorce help went cyber? Their research says it works. We say: it’s worth a shot.
2 Comments
I can see how this might be helpful as a form of play therapy. And a computer game would probably interest the child more than other common techniques.
Most of the time, kids have to be told why Daddy lives somewhere else and only (sometimes) comes to visit on weekends; or takes them
when Mommy wants to be alone with “Uncle Bill”.
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