Last night we met the news of terrible earthquake that has shaken Mexico again, leaving more than 200 victims. A few days ago we shuddered with the bleak images that hurricanes left us Irma, Harvey Y Joseph, and with the tropical storm of the Philippines.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes ... Nature sometimes becomes violent and lThe children are no strangers to these events, especially when they live closely. It is normal that they express fear, insecurity and doubts before this type of natural catastrophes, but How can we help you understand it?
A general level, natural catastrophes cause serious damage to society, paralyze cities and alter the rhythm of life of its inhabitants, and on a particular level, they can cause serious personal injury or even cause death due to the consequences.
When such situations are lived closely, it is important to work with children from an emotional point of view; helping them to understand what happened, encouraging them to express what they feel and accompanying them in the manifestations of these feelings.
But, even if we don't live it in the first person, the news that comes to us through the media shakes and saddens us in the same way, and of course, the kids as well. Adults must be prepared to face your doubts and your fears, and know how to convey tranquility.
We give you some guidelines that can help you in these situations.
Avoid exposing them to shocking images
It may seem to us that the children don't find out or they are playing outsiders while adults watch the news in the news. Nothing could be further from the truth. However small they are, they are fully aware of what is happening. They capture fear and anguish in adult conversations and certain images could impact them.
Answer all your questions
Dodge your questions to the belief that our answer could affect them even more, it is not a good method. The children they need to satisfy their curiosity and see their doubts resolved in the best possible way. That will give them peace of mind and help them understand what happened.
They may also ask the same thing more than once, or even do it differently. The important thing is that they realize that dad or mom are there to help them understand and that we let's not end the conversation until you are sure that your doubt has been resolved.
Help him express his feelings
The smaller the children, the more it is difficult for them to express their feelings in words which may even translate into nightmares. But the fact that they do not verbally express their doubts and fears does not mean that they do not have them.
Help him express himself through simple questions that encourage you to express your feelings, or through other resources such as painting or stories about emotions.
What he feels may be fear in case what has happened could affect him and his family. I may be confused by the violence of nature. Or you may feel sadness, anxiety, anger ...
Once your feelings are identified, accompany him in his emotions and help him manage them, clarifying his doubts and instilling tranquility.
Use language according to your age
Caring for this point is essential when talking with children. Although we believe that this or other situations (such as forest fires, violence or terrorism, for example), can be complicated issues to explain, we are sure to find the best way to do it, using expressions, definitions and words according to their age.
Help yourself with resources and games
But if we feel that we find it hard to find the words To explain our children clearly natural disasters, we can use the help of videos, stories or other resources that we will find on the Internet. We must also choose the appropriate resources for the child's age, paying attention to language and the way of communicating.
We have found a guide edited by UNICEF, entitled "Let's learn to prevent disasters", which although it is aimed at schools in Nicaragua, its content can be useful if we have had the misfortune of living this type of situations or if we want to explain them to our children. It contains educational activities, games, stories and a section of questions and answers that can be very useful.
Teach them simple ways of prevention
Experts have been warning about the terrible consequences that the greenhouse effect is having on Earth. And it is undeniable that the hand of man is behind many of the natural phenomena that cause great material and personal damage.
One of the things that parents should do as part of the education of our children, is to involve them from an early age in the care of nature. Teach them to use resources responsibly, love, respect and care for our surroundings From the example, it will help minimize our ecological footprint.
Given the news of a natural catastrophe, it may be a good time to remind our children of the importance of our actions in the environment, and ask them to identify actions and gestures that they can carry out as part of their daily commitment to nature. .
Teach them the value of solidarity
And although as in the previous point, empathy and solidarity is something that we must teach our children from the beginning of their lives, these types of situations can give us on foot to talk about values and offer our help to others.
Let's try to look for the kind face of the situation by showing our children the goodness of the human being, their dedication to others, help to the most needy and the importance of being in solidarity with each other.
IStock photos
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