Supporting Your Child

Supporting Your Child

Children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events.  The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has offered a series of specific guidelines for parents to consider as they support their children during the COVID-19 outbreak.  NASP’s resource is a helpful guide for parents to use to ease their children’s minds and educate them in a safe and thoughtful way. The full parent resource is available here.

Give your child factual, age-appropriate information about the potential seriousness of the virus.  Talk with your child about their fears and teach them preventative measures to give them a sense of control over their risk of infection, which can help reduce their worries.  Preventative measures include hand-washing, sneezing or coughing into their elbow, and staying home when they are sick.  

Remain calm and reassuring.  Make yourself available for your child’s questions and concerns.  Give thoughtful, accurate answers that are appropriate for their age.  Also, reassure your child of their health and that of their family; however, also be truthful in the case someone in your family becomes sick with COVID-19.   

Avoid watching or listening to information that may be upsetting when your child is present.  Constantly watching updates on the status of COVID-19 can increase anxiety and expose children to developmentally inappropriate information.

If your child(ren) is having difficulties as a result of anxiety or stress related to COVID-19, reach out to your child’s school counselor for guidance and support.