In the last few months, the media has been saturated by coverage of the Coronavirus, now known as COVID-19. This is a novel (new) strand of Coronavirus that is rapidly spreading through the globe and causing a lot of issues and fear world-wide. In efforts to help ease the fears of children and parents through these unknown times, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has provided information to help talk your children through this stressful time.
They start by listing a few facts to know:
*This is a new strain of Coronavirus that is a respiratory disease and is spread person-to-person.
*There is no vaccine or cure for it, but luckily children seem to be less affected by COVID-19 (unless they have a preexisting illness).
*They suggest having a family discussion to help your children feel more secure through this time and answer questions such as:
– What is the current disease outbreak?
– How it is contracted?
– What are the possible dangers?
– What protective steps being taken in the community, nation, and global community?
– What protective steps can everyone in the family take?
Encouraging questions through this time is essential, and you may have to help comfort your children by talking about their feelings and validating them:
*Help them express their feelings through drawing or other activities.
*Clarify misinformation or misunderstandings about how the virus is spread and that not every respiratory disease is COVID-19.
*Provide comfort and a bit of extra patience; checking back in with your children on a regular basis or when the situation changes.
This family discussion is also a good time to go over hygiene practices such as how long and how to properly wash hands, how often to clean areas that are touched daily (such as phones, door knobs, laptops, etc.), how far to stay away from people, and always remembering to cover your mouth with coughing or sneezing. It may be necessary to have a separate discussion with younger children so they do not get confused or overly worried about information they hear.
One of the hardest parts of this virus is the fact that most schools have shut down. If this is the case for your school, please remember even if your family is isolated or quarantined, this will be temporary. When doing school work, you may be able to reach out to teachers and administrators if there is something that does not make sense. Please check with your local school to see if this is available.
It is important to try to keep your family’s schedule consistent so there doesn’t seem to be as much change as there is. It is also a good idea to have a lot of do-at-home activities planned since leaving your home is something that should be avoided. Activities such as reading, watching movies, listening to music, playing games, exercising, or engaging in religious activities (prayer, participating in services on the Internet) are important to have ready. Going outside is okay, just make sure to stay at least 6 feet away from others.
Remember, you are a role model for your children. How you handle this stressful situation will affect how your children manage their worries. You may have to help your children cope through this time, so try to stay off the news or social media for long periods of time to keep the worries down and keep your children occupied so they do not grow too anxious.
This is a temporary thing, and we can all make it through. Keeping active and working to keep things as normal as possible is the best thing we can do right now. Stay safe everyone!
To read Part 2 to this story go to https://thesafeplacearkansas.com/parenting-through-a-pandemic-part-2-ami-links-for-area-schools/
If you or anyone you know needs more advice on coping through the pandemic, contact the Child Advocate at The Safe Place at 501-354-1884. You can also call the Crisis Line at 1-888-554-2501 or our Perryville location at 501-889-2030.
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