Table 1.

Children’s understanding of death

Concept of Death	Definition	Questions Youth Ask
Universality	All living things die	Does everyone die? Can anyone not die?
Irreversibility	Once dead, dead is forever	Does everyone have to die? How long do you stay dead? Do you/I have to die? What can I/we do to avoid death? When will you die? At any time?
Nonfunctionality	All functions of the body stop	What do you do when you are dead? Do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel?
Causality	What causes death	Why do people die? What caused my pet to die? Can you wish someone dead? “When mom said, ‘you’ll be the death of me one day’, is that why she died?
Afterwards		What happens next? Where does the soul go? My spirit? Will I come back to life again? Will I have hair in heaven?