Rather than leaving it up to the media, friends or other people in their lives, you can choose to be the go-to source of information for your children when discussing COVID-19. Here’s how to help kids understand what’s going on — without scaring them.
Provide Enough Information, but Don’t Overload – Volunteering too much information may overwhelm your child. Pay attention to your children’s cues and emotional responses.
Be Calm and Reassuring - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you remain calm and reassuring while talking with your children about coronavirus. Remember that they will pick up cues from you as to how to react emotionally.
Scrub Up on Safety Precautions - So focusing on things like proper handwashing hygiene and social distancing, including quarantining, can help reduce stress by increasing our feelings of control over coronavirus.
Share Facts and Support Your Children at Their Level - The conversation you have with your 12-year-old son may not help your five-year-old daughter. Customize the information you share based on your children’s ages and developmental stages. Use words and concepts they can easily understand.
Be Truthful – It is important that your children can trust you to tell them the truth and reassure them in the future.
Limit Exposure to News and Frightening Images - While you’ll need to take in the news yourself, consider screening it so that your children aren’t exposed to it as well.
These tips, provided by our research partner, AdventHealth, are available to you and others in the Lake Nona community to help make positive impacts on our health.
Another way you can make a difference is by taking the Lake Nona Life Project survey. We can’t do it alone. We need partners like you. Take the survey today.