Children believed that death is more like sleep and the dead may or may not return. Children between five and nine years of age belonged to the second group. Maria observed that children belonging to the second group perceived death as an irreversible phenomenon but still thought of it as an avoidable one. Death for these children represented a certain shadowy or skeletal figure who could possibly be evaded with some luck and intelligence. According to the author only the last group of children representing the ages of ten and above fully understood death as an inevitable eventuality for everyone. Thus Maria Nagy classified children's perception of death as a measure of their age. [Lewis R. Aiken]

However, studies, which were conducted much later in the United States, showed different results. These studies showed that the interpretation of death by children is not limited by their age alone and their...
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