You may not be able to prevent the flow of information from having any short-term impact on your child. But there are ways to help keep it to a minimum:
- Answer kids’ questions. Be honest, but don’t share more information than they can handle.
- Help them understand. Kids often need more information or context to make sense of what they’re hearing and seeing.
- Acknowledge fears. Help kids talk about fears, and talk together about what would make things better.
- Give kids a sense of control. Talk about what you’re already doing to stay safe and ways you can help others.
- Stick to routines as much as possible. They give kids a sense of security and normalcy.
- Limit exposure. Do your best to turn off the news and stay off your phone around kids. And be sure to talk about other topics that are less stressful.
