It’s been nearly a year since COVID-19 barreled through all of our lives. Since then, cities issued stay at home orders, schools were closed, millions of Americans lost their jobs and more than 2 million people have died from COVID worldwide. A vaccine and slowly declining numbers are offering a glimmer of hope. However, daily life has not gone back to normal. All of this information is difficult to comprehend for parents so what do we tell kids about COVID when, after all this time, there is still so much uncertainty?
How to talk to younger kids about COVID
How to explain to kids why we’re still taking COVID precautions|How to explain to kids why we’re still taking COVID precautions
Each state is handling the crisis differently. In some areas, kids have not been to school since last spring, while others have ping-ponged out of school because of the surge in positive COVID cases and deaths after the holidays. Plus, a new strain of the virus is popping up all over the world and is said to be more contagious. Explaining to kids why they still have to wear masks, can’t go to school and see friends can be painful for everyone involved.
It’s important to realize when talking to kids that a parent’s job is not to make their kids happy, but to give them the tools to navigate through life’s challenges, Stiffelman said.
If parents give kids those tools and it’s handled well, “which will be easier on some days than others, our kids can come through with an internal knowing that they can get through tough times, that they have stretched their capacity to cope with adversity,” she said.
To do that, start conversations with an acknowledgement that what is happening is not great. For example, when talking about school closures, say to your child that you have news they may not want to hear and you don’t want to be telling them, but it’s happening. When they respond that it isn’t fair, you answer simply with, “I know,” Stiffelman said. And you don’t follow it with “but…”
“When we scramble to justify something that our kids don’t want to do or hear, our own scrambling conveys to them, ‘I’m worried that you won’t be able to handle this,’" Stiffelman said. "Whereas when we say ‘I know,' there’s this implicit, subtle communication that says, ‘yeah, that stinks, but I’m not panicking over here in my parent chair, that I really know we’re going to be okay.’”
It’s been heartbreaking for Guerrieri to hear her daughters say they miss hugging their grandparents. But she and her family take COVID precautions and guidelines seriously and she communicates to her girls that it’s not just for their family, but for everyone in the community.
“Now that there is a vaccine we have explained the importance of science, trusting doctors, and how this will help protect us moving forward," Guerrieri said. "I make sure they understand that life will not always be like this and this time in our lives has made us stronger and more resilient.”
