The lasting effects of war trauma on children
JVL Introduction
Renowned BBC reporter Fergal Keane looks at the effects of war and conflict on children in Gaza and elsewhere as he writes about the “traumatised children I’ve met in my nearly four decades of reporting on conflicts”.
Eritrea, Northern Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, South Sudan and more – Keane has been in some of the darkest places and witnessed the most cruel and shattering of wars.
We are facing the largest humanitarian disaster since World War Two, with a Save the Children estimate of 520 million children living in conflict zones in 2024, the highest number ever recorded.
Here Keane looks at the lasting impacts of such traumatic experiences which can the developing architecture of the brain in young children…
It is harrowing stuff and there is no end in sight.
RK
This article was originally published by BBC News on Tue 30 Dec 2025. Read the original here.
What growing up in war does to a child's brain - and how it really affects them years later
Content warning: this article includes details about the impact of conflict on children in war zones and descriptions of injuries that some readers may find distressing.
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