It's always a dilemma, as either a parent or a teacher, how much to tell the child in your care about Covid and its effects.
Children are naturally curious and with the saturation of TV, youtube, various other platforms such as snapchat (which I don't recommend for children under 16 anyway) and of course facebook its difficult for children to filter out what is real information and what is scary hype. That's where you come in! As an adult you have the life experience and maturity to know what is real or fake news, but how much to tell your child?
I guess you've noticed how bad news travels lightning fast, especially on social media. With every new variant of the Corona virus our tech companions have flooded us with information, some of it helpful, some just sheer sensationalism. I find it worrying just how much wrong information is out there, which is why we don't have the TV connected. There's news, and then there's the overly dramatic. I find I have little patience with it these days!
Firstly, before you inform your child, make sure you have good, solid, scientific evidenced based information yourself. (ie: not facebook). Government websites, the World health Organisation, the Mayo Clinic, Infectious Disease Control etc. Whatever is relevant in your country.
So, how much to tell your child?
Of course it depends on their age and sensitivity. Children under 5 need only know that germs are invisible things which make us sick and to avoid that we wear a mask, wash our hands and avoid large crowds or close physical contact with strangers and people we know are sick with it. True, the symptoms are most often like the flu, but for some people Covic 19 is deadly. Let's not forget that. And one of those people could be your child. It's best I think to focus upon basic hygiene as a matter of course. This is behaviour and habits which we want our kids to develop for their entire life, not just during a pandemic. Modelling how to wash your hands, blow your nose, and keep your own germs away from others is part of this. Children as young as 3 can learn to wash their hands properly, with soap and all over the skin surface of their hands. Covering their mouth when they sneeze or cough is also very important. You could make this an activity by getting out the pencils and textas and paper and drawing pictures of people doing the right thing and not doing the right thing. Let their creativity loose by asking what they thing covid germs look like and draw them! You could also tell it as a story, illustrating it together, or your child could record the story onto your phone. It's a lot of fun for kids to hear themselves speaking!
Children who are very anxious tend to magnify the danger and ruminate over the possibilities until they can't sleep or struggle to control their fears at school and home. It's wise not to burden them with too many details, but if they are school aged, say 6-12 years old, a good idea is to create a little project together, with basic information, pictures, drawings to illustrate and diagrams, of the human body for instance. You could even discuss the body's natural immune system and how it protects us. Positive aspects of disease management are vital for anxious kids. It shouldn't be all bad news. There are actually things we can do to minimise our exposure and therefore have a measure of control over it. Make a video together giving practical advice to children. Also, keep the social aspects of your child's life open by inviting a friend over, one whom you know is low risk and has parents with a similar philosophy. They could put on a play or perform a song for you!
Of course you should immunise your child, (unless specifically instructed not to by your General Practitioner).
So, to sum up:
children aged 2-5 years -
- discuss germs as little creatures we can't see that make us sick.
- draw them! And make it a fun activity.
- model hygienic behaviours
- record a verbal story about covid creatures or hygiene etc.
Children aged 6-12 -
- create a project together with diagrams, drawings, basic information and prevention tips.
- discuss the body's natural immune system and how it works to keep us safe
- discuss how to minimise exposure
- make a video together for other children
- encourage socialising with low risk children
- encourage putting on activities like a play or performing a song about covid germs etc.
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