5 Tips to Make Your Children Aware About Covid-19

With quarantine confining your lives within the premises of your home, things aren’t quite as they used to be. If you’re a parent, then things are even tougher. Children tend to get bored quickly and keeping them engaged is just the tip of the iceberg of your troubles. They do not quite understand the concept of a pandemic or that staying indoors and social distancing are the only ways to protect ourselves from it. And then, of course, there is the in-built nature of children which gives them the thrills to do exactly what they have been told not to.

Even when they are behaving well, children flood you with questions like “Why can’t we play outside?” “Why aren’t we going anywhere?” “Why can’t I go to play with my friends?” “Why is the summer vacation so long?” and you just don’t know how to go about answering them without scaring them or causing disappointment.
However, deep inside, you do know that it is important to educate your children about Covid-19. Even when the lockdown is relaxed and people go back to the daily routine per usual, it is important to follow social distancing for safety from trace infections. Children should be made aware of the precautions which they will need to take, but you are in a dilemma about how to break the news to them!

If you can relate to the situation, we have put together for you some tips which might help you talk to your children about Covid-19:

Make Children Feel Safe

We are all anxious about how the things will turn out to be because of coronavirus; will the infection spread more? Will our finances be hit badly? Will our loved ones stay safe through this? However, this anxiety need not be trickled down to our little ones. Stay calm when talking to them. Reassure children that this is temporary and that they, and their caregivers, are going to be just fine.

Keep your child’s age and Temperament in Mind

Depending on their ages, stages and temperaments, your children will respond differently to your conversations. Let’s be honest: Your explorative, tactile kid won’t suddenly start keeping his “hands to home” just because the stakes are higher. Your perpetually forgetful pre-schooler won’t suddenly memorize the steps to correct hand-washing just because you’ve told her in “your serious voice” how to do it. You will need to walk with them as they absorb information about the virus spread and start practicing sanitization and social distancing. Some children will require more reassurance or more time to transition than others. The situation is unique, and so is your child.

Give them facts and let then drive the conversation

Simple and honest answers work best with the children. Avoid hushing your talk when they walk into a room or lie to them to make them feel safer. It will only leave them more curious and confused. Use simple words to explain coronavirus to them. You might say: “The coronavirus is a type of germ. These germs are very, very tiny, and when they get inside your body, they can make you sick. The germs get in your body through your nose, mouth or eyes. When someone coughs and touches a doorknob, and then you touch the doorknob, those germs might get into your body. It’s helpful to wash our hands a lot and try to stay away from big crowds.” See how they absorb this information and let them ask questions to lead the discussion. Answer only what they ask and refrain from using language that blames any race, animal, or culture for the spread of the virus. Remember, too much information may lead to unnecessary anxiety.

Let them know what to expect

We are in tough spot right now because we do not know what to expect in the weeks or months to come. However, there are certain things which are clear to us and we should share them with our children. For instance, we’re going to be seeing a lot less of the people in our lives, we know we will have to find creative ways to spend more time indoors, we know that we will not be able to order in the favourite foods whenever we like, and that we will have to take extra care to keep ourselves cleaner. Have a casual conversation with them about it, or better yet, find a creative way to show them what to expect in the days to come.

Give them the power and responsibility

Kids do better when they have power; it’s one of their emotional needs.Inthis particular situation, their bodies seem to have an extraordinary ability to fight off the coronavirus in ways that many other bodies cannot; let this be known to them, tell them it is their superpower. But, with great power comes great responsibility! Right? Tell them how they can play a major role in keeping people safe by washing their own hands for 20 seconds. You might tell them that hand-washing is like kryptonite to the coronavirus, and hand-sanitizer is a perfectly good stand-in when they can’t find soap and water.More so, introduce the concept of social distancing to them as their way of contributing to the society.