FOCUS ON CHILDREN

Posted: Saturday, September 3 at 06:40 pm CT by Mike Brunker

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- In what could be an indication that life is slowly creeping toward normal, the well-being of kids is a growing concern in the shelter.

There are more than 100 children among the roughly 1,100 evacuees waiting in this metal-topped arena, and they have been getting much more attention over the last few days than they did early in the week.

Now a big pile of toys deposited on one end of the of the main floor is getting a workout from the youngest refugees, tricycles and push scooters tear back and forth across the arena at the peril of any oblivious pedestrians and several computer game stations have appeared in some of the more elaborate encampments (apparently private purchases).

But many parents we talked to today expressed concern that their kids should be in school by now instead of playing the long days away.

"They need to be learning, not just laying around counting the minutes," says Louis Joseph of New Orleans, who said she worries that her children could miss weeks of school before she is able to take them home.

A few local educators had the same idea, and turned up at the center on Saturday to try and engage kids with puzzles and crafts projects.

While most of the kids at the shelter are well-behaved, some have been growing increasingly boisterous as their virtual incarceration in the center and surrounding grounds has lengthened.

Tamara Branch of Avondale, La., said she was upset with the parents who were letting their kids run around past 11:30 p.m. on Friday night, when the shelter’s lights were dimmed to signal it was time for bed.

“My children go to bed at 8 each night and they’re going to keep on going to bed at 8,” she says.

Red Cross officials also have taken notice, and have been given lately to broadcasting this warning on the P.A: “Please keep your children under control. Parents are responsible for their children.”

Postscript: Branch and her husband Stephen Nichelson, pictured in an earlier posting by Andrew, benefited further from having access to text messaging and left tonight with their young children for a less-crowded church-run shelter in Lafayette, La. We wish them well.

A VISIT FROM FEMA

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