By Peapodsquadmom | Leave A Comment
The heartbreaking images we’re seeing in Japan are difficult for adults to handle. They are terrifying for our children. Media coverage of the devastation is raw. It’s real. It’s impossible to ignore.
Even if you’re trying to keep the television on happier news at home (because knowing there has been an earthquake and tsunami in Japan is very different than seeing the frightening images), there is a good chance that children are hearing about what’s going on and may be seeing pictures/footage elsewhere. So the questions will be coming.
While we may be tempted to just tell our children that there’s nothing to worry about or that everything will be fine, those things are not entirely true. Natural disasters DO happen. Many, many people in Japan are NOT fine. And lying to our children now will only make them trust us less when we try to reassure them in the future.
So we are left with a precarious balancing game. We want to answer their questions as honestly as possible without leaving them petrified of a tsunami every time it rains.
- Get out a map to show them where you live in relation to Japan. The visual of that distance can be comforting.
- Answer their questions in an age-appropriate way. You know your child. Don’t give more details than he/she can handle.
- Try to keep your own emotions in check as you talk to your children. If they sense you’re overly worried, they will absolutely pull that into their own little minds.
- Reassure your children that your family has plans in place for the kinds of things that could happen where you live (be sure that you DO have plans). Make sure they know they are being taken care of.
- Encourage them to find ways to help. Children feel empowered by opportunities to help others…especially other children. Considering helping them write messages on Hope Letters. Their messages will be translated into Japanese and delivered to students there. Pray together for the victims there.
- If you sense your children are worrying excessively about this or any other such disaster, talk to your pediatrician about other options for helping them through the process.
- Check out the American Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s site for additional resources.
ABOUT Peapodsquadmom
Monica is an elementary school music teacher, mom of 6-year-old triplets and wife to daddy extraordi{read more}
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Thanks for posting this Monica, we’ve been avoiding the news because we weren’t quite sure how to speak on this topic, but I love your tips. Thank you!
Brilliant post! My 4 year old came home from school yesterday and absolutely blew me away by saying “Mommy, did you know that there was an earthquake in Japan?” I said yes and asked her what had happened. She said that a lot of people had died and were missing and that some people’s houses were knocked down. We talked a little more about it and looked at where Japan was on a map, (the other side of the world since we live in the UK!) and I put it into perspective for her by showing her where my family live in the US, she’s made the flight a few times and knows how far that is!
She then asked what an earthquake looks like and if it has big eyes. This was a little harder to explain… so I told her that an earthquake was a little bit like the wind. You can’t see it and it’s something under the ground that makes the ground shake. Sometimes it shakes so little that you can’t even feel it and sometimes it shakes a lot. She seemed satisfied with that but I’m not convinced that she still doesn’t think that the earthquake is a monster with big eyes!
These are great tips. We were watching the news when our 9-year-old came in and saw the images of the waves crushing houses. He has asked almost daily, “Mom, what is a tsunami again?” I think it’s his way of asking, “Are you SURE that won’t happen here?”
I am from America. I temporarily live in Japan. I watched Japanese coverage of this and I watched American coverage of this. And I try to say this politely about America because I love America- America sensationalizes the news ssssoooooooo much that no wonder kids are scared watching this! “Disaster Pacific” really news channel?? You are titling this event that? Even the first heavy rain storms of the season in Los Angeles gets a title of outrageous proportions. Urks me if you can’t tell.
There is a tactful, non scary way to handle this topic and American news is not the source for your child to be physically hearing the story from. Yes, kids can hear the underlying tones of people/s voices and the current/minute to minute news is not the place to hear it from. Send them out of the room, record it, get photographs then show the kids what you know they can handle seeing.
Thank you for bringing this up Monica!