Growing Up Between Earthquake and War: War Metaphors of Border Province Children

Abstract

This study aims to explore how children aged 9–12, residing in a region heavily affected by both earthquakes and the presence of refugees, perceive the concept of war and express these perceptions through metaphors. Employing a qualitative research design, the study adopts a metaphor analysis approach. The sample consists of 300 children who directly experienced the earthquakes on February 6, 2023, live in a province near the Syrian border, and whose parents provided informed consent for participation. Data were collected through the prompt: ‘War is like … because …’. The metaphors generated were analysed and grouped into five overarching thematic categories based on semantic similarity: emotions; violence and destruction; natural and social disasters; death and loss; and fictional or symbolic elements. The findings reveal that children's perceptions of war are shaped not only by media exposure but also by direct or indirect traumatic experiences such as displacement and natural disasters. These results underscore that the psychosocial impact of war is not limited to direct exposure, and that children's broader environmental context plays a critical role in shaping their understanding of war. The findings may guide the development of context-sensitive educational materials, psychosocial support programmes and parental communication strategies that foster emotional resilience, constructive meaning-making and coping skills in children living in trauma-affected settings.