How to talk to your children about coronavirus issues
As calls to Childline about the coronavirus have trebled in the last week, I want provide some advice on how we can be talking to kids about the virus.
It’s important to keep a balance of helping children understand the facts, as well as providing emotional support, and keeping ourselves afloat too. There have been over 900 counselling sessions with children and young people about Coronavirus so far, nearly two thirds of which took place between the March 16 and 22 as parents started working from home and school closures were announced.
Support for children worried about the pandemic hit a peak on Wednesday March 18 – the day the Prime Minister confirmed UK schools would shut – with
Childline delivering 121 counselling sessions on the issue in just one day. With news channels showing pictures of empty shops and charts of death rates, it is not surprising that young people are picking up on the situation and worrying. As I’ll discuss later, this makes it more important for us to respond to their concerns in a calm and collected manner. It’s important not to shy away from talking about the coronavirus with your children.
It is important to be calm, honest and informed when talking to them about news related to the coronavirus. Begin the conversation by asking them what they already know about it. Reassure them that you are going to listen to them, remove any distractions, and mute any sounds so that you can give your full attention. Try not to interrupt when they talk to you about it, just let them say what they need to say. If they address fears, be sure not to dismiss them. Children will be taking in a lot of information now, and anxious minds can create a variety of worries. When they’ve finished, calmly explain the facts of the situation. You can find these through NHS and World Health Organisation sites, with advice on what we know about Covid-19 and how to help protect yourself from it. It’s important to be honest and tailor what you say to their maturity. We recommend that you encourage them to use Childline’s online message boards to talk to other young people about how they’re feeling. Our counsellors are trained to support children and they can speak to us for free using the Childline website, or by calling 0800 1111. We have more than a thousand volunteers ready to help.