How to Talk to Children About the Coronavirus
“If at least ONE student in my ALL school gets sick with coronavirus, they will refuse classes for ALL,” my nine-year-old son announced to me the other day. “Why is everyone talking so much about this?” He’s right for both reasons – they’ll probably close his school (even if the student’s test doesn’t test positive for the disease), and that’s all that’s been talked about wherever we go.
At this point, if you have not already done so, it is important to talk to your children about this coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Their friends talk about it, their sports and activities are canceled because of it, and they hear the latest news about it on TV in the dentist’s office. It’s all around us – literally and figuratively – and even if they don’t ask questions, they most likely have them. And what they hear or imagine on their own may be worse than reality.
“We recommend that parents are the ones who read the news and give their children information that is factual and not so emotional or exaggerated,” says Dr. Jamie Howard, director of trauma and resilience at the Institute of the Child’s Mind, in this video :
How to start a conversation
As with any serious topic, you will want to talk to your children in a sensitive and age appropriate manner. If you’re not sure where to start, just ask them what they’ve heard about the coronavirus (because, again, they’ve heard something ) and if they have any questions. They may have many fears and questions, or they may just be curious.
Follow their example and let them know that they can always come to you later if they think about a question or want more information.
Admit Their Concern
If they seem to be in the least bit worried about the virus, it’s important to acknowledge it and normalize it, writes psychologist and writer Lisa Damour for the New York Times :
Adults can help young people understand that healthy anxiety has a purpose: it warns us of potential threats and helps us move towards safety. “Feeling a little uneasy,” you can say calmly, “makes sense right now. You are reacting correctly to emerging news about the coronavirus. “
From here, we can encourage adolescents to channel their discomfort into beneficial actions.
It’s also important to make sure you deal with your concerns about the coronavirus – your kids will seek clues from you about how worried they are, and you can simulate a healthy balance by taking it seriously and worrying about it while staying calm. … …
Emphasize what you do to stay safe
It is important for children and adults to remember that although this is a highly contagious disease, we can still protect ourselves by doing fairly simple and simple things: washing our hands thoroughly, not touching our faces, disinfecting the shopping trolley. handles or makes frequent contact in our homes, avoiding people who cough or sneeze, and stocking up on some supplies .
Children can feel empowered knowing what precautions the whole family can take to help everyone stay healthy.
Find a way for them to be “ helpers ”
At heart, children are natural helpers, and this coronavirus is not an individual problem, but a community problem. This means that there is something they can do to ease the burden of those most affected by the spread of the disease. When my son and I recently went to dinner, I couldn’t help but think that this might be the last time we ate outside the home for a while, which in turn made me realize that our waiter might be temporarily out of service soon.
I explained to my son how lucky we are that both my husband and I can work from home, but that some people have less flexible work and that some of these people may have to stay unpaid for a while. If you are also in this lucky group, you can show your children how to help by leaving a very large tip. This is a good opportunity to talk about how people in the community can help each other during a crisis.
Children can also give an emotional boost to older relatives who may be quarantined at home, in a nursing home or other facility that does not allow visitors. They can cheer them up with regular phone or video calls to end their day.
And you can also explain that by washing our hands carefully and not touching our faces, we also help others. We are protecting ourselves from the virus, which is great, but we are also helping to stop the spread of the disease, which means that we are protecting those who are more vulnerable to its complications. So every time they wash their hands for 20 seconds, they are actually doing a good deed.