June 23, 1999

Much was publicized about eerie images created by the two teens who committed the Columbine High School massacre... violent films made for a school class, a website filled with vicious rantings.

But for parents who might be concerned about their own children's artwork, experts on the psychology of art say it can be easy to find out what their drawings mean.

Cathy Malchiodi, an art therapist and editor of the scholarly Art Therapy Journal, works with children who've been traumatized by violence, a major loss or a serious illness like cancer.

She says her work has taught her some clues parents can use to decipher their child's artwork.

There are no common themes to look for, but one clue to a problem is art that is not appropriately created for the child's age - like in the drawing of a seven-year-old girl who's father committed suicide.

Malchiodi explains, "When the incident happens they start to draw like a younger child. They regress to younger behavior. So in this one she regressed to that younger four-year-old. And in some sense I think they want to be taken care of as a younger child."

A child drawing a scary picture doesn't mean they're violent, it may mean they are working through a problem - like one drawn by an eight-year-old girl who has leukemia - of a snake carrying a rainbow on its back.

"The snake is on a journey in this picture, and also a spiritual journey, because a rainbow is often a symbol of the spiritual," Malchiodi says.

She says the best method to avoid a misunderstanding is to ask the child to tell the story of the art.

Malchiodi has been working with some of the counselors at Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado, teaching them how to use art as a therapeutic tool for the students, and themselves.

Artwork, she says, should be encouraged because it's naturally therapeutic.