Through Children's Eyes Tweet

Calls for democracy in Bahrain in early 2011 were met with a violent government crackdown. Dozens of people were killed, and thousands arrested. Today, the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters continues and King Hamad and his unelected government remain in place.

Children have witnessed much of this violence first hand and we asked some of them to draw something from their experience. Many of the drawings feature tents at the 'Pearl Roundabout'—the center of democracy protests in Bahrain during February and March 2011, and also the 'Down Down Hamad' slogan.

We asked clinicians with experience in trauma to look at the drawings and make an assessment—these are also included.

Age: 11 years

Village: Sitra

Case: His 14-year-old brother was killed by riot police while participating in a peaceful protest.

Child's Description: He explains that he drew a tent on Pearl Roundabout for his brother.

Literal Translation of Large Text: We love martyrdom.

Actual Meaning: We are ready to die for our country.

Also: O Martyrs' Square… We are back—more determined… Our martyrs are our heroes/great ones.

Clinician's Comment:
While overtly non-pathological, this drawing indicates that this child is repressing his feelings to a high and very dangerous degree. He has been severely traumatized, but he is denying much of what he has experienced. He appears to have few viable resources he can turn to. He is overly constricted: unable to express his fear, sadness and anger directly. He is already giving in to pressure to adopt adult conflicts and violent values.
—Judith Schaeffer, Ph.D.

Age: 7 years

Village: Sitra

Case: Her uncle was shot in the head by Bahraini security forces. Very disturbing images of him were broadcasted widely.

Child's Description: Me and my sisters are running to help my uncle.

Clinician's Comment:
This drawing is overtly indicative of trauma. This child is experiencing heightened emotions, particularly fear, sorrow and anger. She appears to be in an acute phase of grief. At the same time, she is able to make a healthy attempt to make sense of a catastrophic event. In spite of feeling very vulnerable, she is exhibiting a relatively mature and wholesome problem-solving capacity, an ability to express her emotions in moderation, and a sense of personal power.
-Judith Schaeffer, Ph.D.

Age: 13 years

Village: Demistan

Case: Daughter of political detainee sentenced to three years in prison.

Translation: At Martyrs Square smiling protesters all chant "Down Down Hamad" while a policeman shoots at them.

Clinician's Comment:
The elements that initially struck me about this picture were the size of the guns in proportion to the bodies of the policemen and that the people were smiling and continuing to chant Down Down Hamad while being shot. The statue and the flags reflect the importance of the pro-democracy movement, and for this adolescent, maybe a resolution to keep fighting despite her father's imprisonment. The sun shining and people smiling could also represent a denial (defense) against the tragic consequences of what happened in Bahrain.
–Lavita Nadkarni, PhD

Age: 7 years

Village: Al-Eker

Case: Son of political prisoner sentenced to five years.

Translation: Down Hamad

Clinician's Comment:
Seven year old Murtdha expresses his impotent rage regarding his father's five-year sentence for opposition to the regime. Again and again he writes "down with Hamad" in Arabic and English beside an opposition flag. The stark drawing is devoid of symbolic activity reflecting the emotional exhaustion of a grief stricken little boy.
–Steven A. Luel, Ed.D.M

Age: 10 years

Village: Al-Eker

Case: Daughter of political prisoner sentenced to five years in prison.

Translation: Down Hamad

Clinician's Comment (excerpt):
This drawing seems to reflect the conflict, punishment, injustice, and feelings of powerlessness and inequity that accompany cruel hierarchies. On the left side of the drawing ... The objects she draws appear to be objects of restraint as well as objects of abuse and torture. ... It is possible that she is symbolizing the restrictiveness and limits within the society she lives and how this contrasts with the unbridled and ruthless abuse of power that others have. ...They are powerful objects—but it is power that neither she nor her father can grasp.
–Helen Marlo, PhD

Age: 12 years

Village: Sitra

Case: His brother was killed by security forces.

Translation: Our martyrs are our pride.

Clinician's Comment (excerpt):
The beautifully written and positive words/motto as well as the lack of image seems to distance the viewer from a felt, embodied sense of the pain, loss, tragedy, and lifetime of suffering that these conditions can inflict upon others.
–Helen Marlo, PhD

Age: 11 years

Village: Sitra

Case: His cousin was killed by a direct shot of tear gas during a peaceful protest.

Translation: Smiling protesters surround Pearl Square holding hands. Above them he writes "the people want the fall of the regime." Tents marked "the doctors tent" and "Sitra tent" are also on the roundabout.

Clinician's Comments:
The drawing suggests an internal, psychological schism reflecting the sociocultural divisions in this young artist's life.
–Stuart Lustig, PhD

Age: 8 years

Village: Malchiya

Case: His father was shot while protesting even though he had both hands raised to show that he was peaceful.

Child's Description: All the protesters hold up their arms peacefully as they chant.

Clinician's Comments:
The figures are powerless, plaintive, beautiful, and thinking... tiny creatures in an overwhelming world.
-Michael O'Loughlin, PhD

Age: 10 years

Village: Demistan

Case: His father has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Translation: Down Hamad

Clinician's Comment:
Annihilation, powerlessness, beauty, puny, wiped out.
-Michael O'Loughlin, PhD

Note: Child's full name has been edited out of the drawing to protect his identity.

Age: 11 years

Village: Demistan

Case: Her grandfather was killed by security forces.

Translation: The little girl at top holds sign saying "Down Hamad." Under the Bahraini flag Zainab wrote the slogan of the Arab spring: "The people want the fall of the regime."

Clinician's Comment:
Zainab draws the clouds and sun demonstrating that she sees the familiar, normal and everyday occurrence in her environment. This represents her connection to nature and her hope. She seems to feel powerful and comfortable expressing her desire for change. Zainab's large flag hold the items that swim in this red portion of the flag similar to a "sea of blood". Yet the drawing of the two girls are small compared to the size of the flag signifying that she is aware of the magnitude of the problem.
–Julieta Macias, PhD

Age: 8 years

Village: Karzkan

Case: Sister of two political prisoners sentenced to 15 years.

Child's description: Her two brothers are football players, their numbers are 2 and 5 on the field.

Clinician's Comment:

Zahra's drawing demonstrates her awareness of her brothers' situation. She may be confused by the imprisonment as she draws sad faces on the players and smiles on the picture of the men in jail. She seems to have spent time drawing her clouds and sun, objects that demonstrate her need to keep the familiar very detailed and present. This is in contrast to the change she sees in her brothers.
–Julieta Macias, PhD

Age: 5 years

Village: Sitra

Case: Niece of a protester killed by security forces.

Child's Description: The sun is sad because her uncle was killed.

Note: Child's full name has been edited out of the drawing to protect her identity.

Clinician's Comment:
Fear, helplessness, speechless horror and a sense of having no escape from the violence and chaos. Trauma is all pervading. Danger is coming from all over the sky.
–Anna Kotelnikova, PsyD & Nadine Paschzella, MD

Age: 6 years

Village: Al-Eker

Case: Daughter of a prisoner sentenced to five years.

Clinician's Comment:
Fear and horror is a part of daily life. The scary event is part of her identity. Terror occupies the place of her last name. She is asking herself—How can I live a normal life in this place, with no security and this scary thing that happened?
–Anna Kotelnikova, PsyD & Nadine Paschzella, MD

Age: 10 years

Village: Belad Alqadeem

Case: Lost two cousins: One, 5 days-old, died after her parents' home was filled with tear gas shot by security forces; the other, shot and killed by security forces when Pearl Square was attacked.

Child's Description: The Pearl monument is bleeding and "The people want the fall of the regime."

Clinician's Comment:
This drawing demonstrates restricted emotion, the expression of a young man influenced by the adults around him. The political chanting around the drawing present the climate of suppression and pent up frustrations going on in a concrete, practical way. The clear use of red symbolizes the death and murder that he is exposed to on a level that young people cannot rationalize.
–Katie Rosenthal, LCSW

Age: 9 years

Village: Demistan

Case: His grandfather was shot during the attack on Pearl Square.

Description: The child shows the attack on Pearl Square. Tanks, riot police, cars, and helicopters attack protesters who carry signs, one protester with a Bahraini flag tied on his back. A protester, possibly his grandfather, lies next to the Pearl Monument. At the bottom of the drawing he wrote: "Down Hamad."

Clinician's Comment:
This drawing depicts what this young man is seeing, military presence in a dramatic and overwhelming way. The vehicles are large in size, appropriate to the size of the people but clearly the dominate theme. The individuals are exuberant and strong willed, arms in the air, clear in their convictions, but the military is winning the battle. Despite these strong expressions, the giant sun in the upper corner demonstrates hope for the future, a very promising emotion for a traumatic time.
–Katie Rosenthal, LCSW

Age: 11 years

Village: Karzakkan

Case: His brother has been sentenced to death and his uncle was killed during the attack on Pearl Square.

Description: A protester shouts "peaceful, peaceful" and is shot in the head. Underneath is the prison in which Elyass drew his brother behind bars.

Note: Child's full name has been edited out of the drawing to protect his identity.

Clinician's Comment:
This drawing makes me think of a child who has been very traumatized by very graphic scenes of death, destruction and helplessness. The presence of the "killers" is very prominent, in the middle of the picture, and they are active figures who overpower the peaceful protesters, including his brother, all of whom are now helpless.
–Paula Madrid, PsyD

Age: 10 years

Village: Demstan

Case: His grandfather was killed during attack on Pearl Square.

Description: Smiling protesters chant "peaceful, peaceful", "we will be victorious," and "shame shame our own army killing us," while tanks and helicopter are on their way to Pearl Square.

Clinician's Comment:

This child appears to have, rightfully so, mixed feelings about his country. On the one hand, he writes "I love Bahrain" and on the other he is writes "shame, shame, our army is killing us." He is probably suffering a great deal and in particular by the feeling of betrayal.
–Paula Madrid, PsyD

Age: 10 years

Child's Description: Under "freedom for prisoners" she shows masses detained in Bahraini prisons.

Clinician's Comment (excerpt):
This drawing captures the rage and despair of a child who is traumatically bereaved. ... Fatima demands the release of all prisoners while grappling with a sense of despair conveyed via the mass of prisoners locked behind high walls in a concrete cistern of anguish and helplessness. The tiny red flag of the protesters cannot compete with the huge prison block dominating the drawing.
-Steven A. Luel, Ed.D.

Age: 7 years

Translation: "Down Down Hamad" and "People demand the fall of the Regime."

Clinician's Comment (excerpt):
There is much sadness in the picture. The people are all shown with downward expressions on their faces, which for a child at this age, is the way to depict emotion.... It looks like rain is pouring down on them, which may suggest either relief (as in cooling down tensions of war) or determination (we will proceed despite adverse conditions).
-Lavita Nadkarni, PhD

Age: 4 years

Translation of Mother's Description: Ali explains that his drawing shows his mother, his two sisters, and instead of his father he mentions the fourth person is a policeman with a gun.

Clinician's Comment:
The dense, fern-like mesh seemingly dwarfs the human figures as if taking great pains to obscure a reality too horrible to witness.
-Stuart Lustig, PhD