The uncertainty that comes with a global pandemic, which has shut down schools and most person-to-person interaction for the foreseeable future, means children will look to their parents for guidance and answers to their inevitable questions, Starkville mental health counselor Karla Morgan said.
“They get cues, both verbally and nonverbally, from us,” she said.
Morgan, owner of Seeds Counseling and Wellness in Starkville, and Joshua McElroy, a children’s counselor with the Starkville branch of Community Counseling Services, both said parents should keep discussions with their children about the COVID-19 coronavirus developmentally appropriate.
“(It’s) on a case-by-case basis,” McElroy said. “Each parent knows their child and the ways they think, and if a kid has anxiety issues already, talking about this stuff can exacerbate it.”
Parents should be honest with their children and acknowledge the problem instead of sugarcoating it, Morgan said.
“Try to avoid telling them it’s no big deal and everything’s fine, because they know that it’s not,” she said. “Schools are closed and they can’t go on playdates or do the things they normally do.”
McElroy suggests using past experiences with illness as points of reference to help younger children understand contagion and why it’s best to avoid contact with elderly individuals, such as their grandparents, since they are at a particular risk if exposed to the respiratory disease.
Older children might have more questions since they are privy to more information, Morgan said.
“It’s important to make them feel like they can come to you, (but also) check in, and if they haven’t brought it up in a while, ask them about it,” she said. “They might be getting some misinformation from friends. Make sure you’re helping them get accurate information. Try to maybe limit how much news they’re having access to, so they’re not just bombarded and overwhelmed with it all the time.”
Morgan urged parents to get their information from the most trustworthy sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
McElroy agreed that children pick up pieces of information from others and might not have an accurate idea of the issue. He said parents should not give children more information than they need and should find a balance between keeping them informed and making sure the information does not become a form of trauma.
“I’m also reminding parents to tell their kids that pandemics do come to an end,” he said. “It’s important to show them that this will be over (even though) we don’t have a timeline for it.”
One of the best things parents can do for their children during this time is focus on what they can control instead of on what they can’t, both Morgan and McElroy said.
“Remind them of why we’re staying home, why we’re washing our hands, why we’re trying to keep our distance from others,” Morgan said. “Those are the things we can do to stay healthy and help other people stay healthy.”
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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