Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, most adults try to live their lives on shaky ground. There’s too much anxiety to deal with and a lot of stress that takes up their everyday struggle. Often, the pressure of the situation that adults feel disrupts their ability to concentrate. So imagine how much more this pandemic situation is affecting the kids more than the adults.
As an adult and a parent, dealing with things in this global crisis is complicated. That is if you are also trying to look after your children. The pressure of staying attentive not only for your sake but for your kids as well is twice the burden. But if you are one of those parents that experience difficulty in explaining children about what is going on in the world today, you might not need to worry. Here are some guides that can help you make the children understand the situation.
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Be Honest About What’s Going On
Some parents want to protect their kids’ emotional and mental health by not telling them about the real health situation of the world. That is understandable at some point. Kids are vulnerable in terms of accepting the danger and complication of the situation. Some of them can quickly feel scared and threatened by the disease. However, though their level of anxiety and stress is different from adults, you should at least be honest with them about the global crisis. You need to explain that the world is suffering from the uncertainties of the Coronavirus. No, the purpose of telling the truth is not to input negative thoughts in their heads. Instead, explaining to them the real status of what’s going on will help them realize the importance of taking safety measures.
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Discuss The Possibility Of Death
As previously mentioned, sugarcoating about the situation will not help the children understand the crisis. Therefore, it is better to allow them to feel the emotional and mental pain because they need those to develop both of its stability. You need to talk to the children about the possibility of death due to the disease as well. Allow the kids to accept death as a normal circumstance, so they will not get a heightened level of fear towards it during this pandemic time. Ensure that you allow your children to process thoughts and emotions aligning with acceptance and acknowledgment too. That will help in preparing them for what might happen in the worst case possible.
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Never Force Them To Understand
It might be necessary to let your kids know about their responsibilities during this time of crisis, but you have to make an exemption somehow. Not all kids are alike, and some of them cannot quickly grasp the pressure of the situation. Therefore, never force them to understand everything as it will cause damage to their mental and emotional health. Instead, give children time to think and process the things they see, hear, and experience so that they can find a better way to deal with the situation independently. The pandemic crisis is too much to handle for you, so consider how stressful it is for the kids.
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Takeaway
These guidelines in explaining your kids the Coronavirus situation is essential. However, you must not forget to give kids the assurance of you always being there for them. You have to make the children feel that they are safe with you and that you won’t allow anything to happen to them. That way, despite the kids having to go through the process of painfully understanding the situation, they can still handle themselves well.