While we are learning away from campus, members of our WAB Counseling Team are sharing a weekly message with our community. These messages may spotlight resources, offer advice, highlight information, or suggest strategies helpful to you and your family as we face the challenges associated with being away from school.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO), and uncertainty around this can bring about fear and worry for young people. It is important to remember children are looking to the adults in their world for reassurance and cues on how to react and respond.

Here are five strategies to build resilience and have reassuring conversations with children.

Stay Positive: Remember to stay calm. Children are intuitive and can easily pick up on the worries and fears of the adults around them. If you show anxiety or fear, child will mostly likely also feel nervous and afraid. Changes to the environment and routines can create uncertainty. Having calm, open discussions can ease emotions around these changes. Continue to check in with how children are feeling. Acknowledge and address their worries rather than ignoring them.

Stick to the facts: It is important to have thoughtful conversations regarding the coronavirus to distill anxiety, worry, or fear. Examine the facts from a reliable source such as the WHO. Consider the child’s age, processing, and emotions to determine how to frame these conversations to ensure children understand. Let them know that the adults are doing everything they can to contain the spread of the virus and help those that are sick. Reassure children if they have additional questions you can look to find the answers. Check in on what children are thinking and address their worries. Discuss that not everything they hear or see is real. It can also be comforting to be reminded that doctors around the world are looking for ways to address the coronavirus and highlight positive news as well.

Consider Media Consumption: When looking online, consider the source and double-check to prevent fake news, and think before sharing. Be mindful of how much media you are checking and minimize how often you are reading stories. Try to keep a healthy balance (both online and offline) in your daily routines and lifestyle.

Eliminate Stigma:It is important to be aware of how the coronavirus is explained to children to avoid any person/group being blamed. Also, to communicate that if someone has a fever or cough does not mean this person has the coronavirus.

Boost Your Coping Strategies: Change or uncertainty can create some levels of worry or anxiety. When the worry becomes too big it is important to recognize and manage these emotions. There are a variety of strategies to calm emotions or modify thinking to improve outlook and overall well-being. Coping strategies can include: positive self-talk, singing, dancing, reading, drawing, music, movies, creation of a gratitude list, meditation, yoga, coloring, exercise, cooking/baking, talking to a friend or family member, or doing other activities that are fun or provide joy, improving general well-being.

A small dose of worry is a normal. Continue conversations providing care for children. If you find additional support is needed, please reach out to one of the school counselors who can refer you to outside counseling or to schedule time with you or your child to make a plan on how to support them during this time.

Resources on Managing Feelings, Fears and Worries about COVID-19

Here are a few resources around feelings, fears and worries. Some are specifically about the Coronavirus and some are about anxiety in general.

BOOKS

• Something Bad Happened: A Kid’s Guide to Coping with events in the News, Dawn Huebner (Ages 6-12. How to process different world events.)
• What To Do When You’re Scared & Worried: A Guide for Kids, James J Crisis (Ages 9-13. A help guide to processing fears and worries.)
• How are you Peeling: Foods with Moods, Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers (Explores how emotions look through pictures of Foods. A good way to talk about emotions with young kids.)
• The Way I Feel, Janan Cain (A good way to talk about emotions with young kids.)

VIDEOS

• Brain Pop Video - This is a great clip for kids, explaining the virus and how to stay healthy.
• Coronavirus WHO Video from the World Health Organization “What do you know about the novel Coronavirus that is causing a health emergency?

AUDIO

APA audio interview: Coronavirus Anxiety (listen here)
American Psychological Association interviewed Dr. Baruch Fischhoff from Carnegie Mellon University who is an expert on public perception of risk and human judgment and decision-making. He covered mass hysteria, xenophobia, and the psychological effects of being quarantined.

Peace Out releases children-friendly relaxation story each week, focusing on breathing, visualization, and gentle movements. Every episode starts with a child sharing about his/her own safe space. All their episodes are available for free on Apple and Google Podcast. These 2 episodes are worth highlighting:

• Try, try, and try again (15 mins) (listen here) This podcast talks about the importance of trying our best, trying again (or practicing), and pivoting (changing direction/strategy). The aim is to promote grit and resiliency in children.
• Special episode for grown-ups (5 minutes) (listen here) As adults, we’re all busy but it’s so important to take some time for ourselves to rest and recharge so that we can go back and give our best to our family, work, and all the other things that are happening in life. 

GAMES

Family Bonding Games: Five ideas for family games that can help improve open communication, increase awareness of self/family needs, and setting family goals and boundaries together, as we navigate these highly stressful and challenging time.