If you keep checking your phone and talking about coronavirus (COVID-19), chances are your child(ren) have noticed. Some children may have a lot of questions or some may be quieter than normal. Either way, discussing coronavirus (COVID-19) can help calm their fears and answer their questions.
Choose the Right Time to Talk
Choose a time when you and your child can focus on the discussion without distractions. Is there a time each day when you check in with your child (in the car, during dinner, etc.) and ask how their day is going? Use this time to have a calm, child-led discussion about coronavirus (COVID-19).
Let Your Child Guide the Conversation
Be prepared for kids to ask questions, but don't offer information before they ask. It is better to have a series of shorter talks over time than to overwhelm your child with information.
Find Out What Your Child Already Knows
Ask questions geared to your child's age level. This allows you to learn how much your child knows and if he/she has heard wrong information.
- For older kids, you might ask, "Are people in school talking about coronavirus? What are they saying?"
- For younger children, you could say, "Have you heard grownups talking about a new sickness that's going around?”
Offer Comfort and Honesty
- Focus on helping your children feel safe, but be truthful. Don't offer more detail than your children are interested in.
- If your children ask about something and you don't know the answer, say so. Use the question as a chance to find out together. Check the CDC website for up-to-date information about COVID-19.
- Speak calmly and reassuringly. Kids pick up on it when parents worry.
- Give kids the space to share their fears. It is natural for kids to worry. Let your child know that kids don't seem to get as sick as adults.
- Let them know they can always come to you for answers or to talk about what scares them.
- Know when they need guidance. Be aware of how your kids get news and information, especially older kids who go online.
- Point them to age-appropriate content so they don't end up finding news shows or outlets that scare them or have incorrect information.
Help Kids Feel in Control
- Discuss Best Hygiene Practices (listed above).
- Watch the news with your child in order to give context to news stories. If they ask, share that deaths related to this virus are rare, especially in children.
- Children often worry about others more than themselves. Allow them to Skype with their grandparents and relatives to keep them connected.
- Let your children know that it is ok to feel stressed out at times. Recognizing these feelings and knowing that stressful times pass and life gets back to normal can help children build resilience.
Keep the Conversation Going
- Continue to check in with your children. Use talking about coronavirus (COVID-19) as a way to help kids learn about their bodies, like how the immune system fights off disease.
- Talk about current events with your kids. Ask questions: What do you think about these events? How do you think these things happen? Such questions also encourage conversation about non-news topics.
Adapted From kidshealth.org.
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