I've heard a lot of crying because of grief but the sound of one mournful cry is unforgettable.
Her uncle was holding this little girl just after her adoptive mother and only parent had just died from cancer.  I was the hospice chaplain attending this death. She has experienced too much loss. The shrill cry, almost a squeal, came from a tightness in her chest and throat.  The emotional pain was so severe that she could not weep, scream or barely breathe.

There are resources for supporting children in grief.

You can go the the web site for the National Alliance for Children's Grief (https://nacg.org/find-support/). You will be able to find a grief group near you. Most hospices have groups for children. Some churches and Griefshare groups do too.

Children need healthy grieving too.

This extreme situation and mournful cry brought the need of children to my attention. The losses children experience cause grief too. But, they don't know how or what to do, as resilient as they appear to be.  Early losses will affect their emotions for a lifetime. Children present special opportunities and needs that everyone, especially children's ministry workers, should know about.

Children fall between the cracks when a parent, grandparent or sibling dies. Everyone around them is dealing with their own pain. Unintentionally it is an "every man for himself" scenario.

Today's child hears more about peer suicide, school shootings, terrorism, wars and national disasters than any previous generation. TV and the internet is not their friend. They are bombarded with images of loss.

I am not skilled to connect the drug abuse and the spike in child and teen suicide to grief. But we all know that those actions usually happen because young people are sad, hopeless and weak in their abilities and relationships to deal with problems.

Noticing the need is the beginning. Having resources available and helping children grieve is always valuable and the benefits will be beyond measure.