3 minute read
Finding resilience through lockdown
Helping kids
MAKE SENSE OF THE NEWS With so much happening in the news, how do we protect our children from the tragedy on the screens? By ELLIE GWILLIAM from Parenting Place.
One of our goals as parents is to maintain a safe, secure environment for our kids and to prepare them to face the world confidently. We can control what happens within our homes, but outside of that space, we’re less able to apply our preferred filters. All parents with a radio have been there – that moment when the newsreader announces the latest atrocity, disaster or scandal, straight into the curious ears of our children, and we’re left fumbling for the volume control. Bad news is a fact of life, but how much should we let our kids in on this reality?
PROVIDE SHELTER A valid parenting response is to shelter our children as much as possible. Depending on your family culture and the sensitivity of your children, it can be best to avoid exposing your kids to news broadcasts full stop, especially when you know a disturbing story is unfolding. While it’s good for our children to be aware of current affairs, they’re not missing out on anything developmentally if they don’t watch television news or listen to the radio.
PROVIDE PERSPECTIVE It’s different, of course, if children are directly affected by something, and they need some perspective on it. Just keep in mind that any information should be delivered through an ageappropriate lens. Talk to your kids about relevant news stories and ask what they are afraid of. Their fears might be wildly amplified beyond real risks. Be honest with them about the safety of where you live. The truth might be very reassuring. There is value for older children in seeing how events affect people, and also how humanity responds to good times and bad.
PROVIDE PEACE As sweet as it may seem, it is unrealistic to expect that our children can live in a modern world and be utterly oblivious to pain and suffering. People make mistakes. Nature spontaneously implodes and explodes. But there is also good, beauty and cause for celebration. Our kids will invariably hear bad news, but we can counter this by saturating their hearts and minds with inspirational messages of hope. Tell them all about heroic acts of bravery and rescue, generous acts of philanthropy and the incredible power of small acts of kindness.
Provide your kids with enough age-appropriate information to answer their questions and calm their fears, then direct them to a more peaceful state of mind. Remind them how loved they are by the caring adults in their world.
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GRANDPARENTS RAISING
Grandchildren
Are you raising someone else’s child? Do you need help understanding and coping with their anxiety or their challenging behaviour? Do you need help getting access to financial support entitlements for the child in your care?
If yes, you are not alone. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust NZ (GRG) supports over 5,300 member families nationwide and offers a range of support, information and advice. Also, GRG provides advocacy options, local support groups and caregiver education workshops for full-time grandparents, caregivers and other whānau who are raising someone else’s child. Services are free to members. How Playcentre whānau found resilience during the first COVID-19 lockdown.
For Playcentre parent, Hannah Cox, spending four weeks locked down with her husband and three-year-old, initially appeared somewhat daunting. But what she found was a sense of empowerment.
Playcentre’s central philosophy is that parents are the first educators of their children, and Hannah says that has given her a real belief in just what parents can do.
“During lockdown, I had all I needed so that my daughter didn’t miss out. It was like – yes, I can do it, and I can do it well.”
Playcentre Aotearoa (the national body representing more than 420 Playcentres), set up a Virtual Village on its website, with a comprehensive range of activities for children, as well as resources for parents and caregivers – from looking after mental wellbeing to upskilling online.
Playcentre also kept its education programmes going online, with its baby programmes continuing over Zoom.
Playcentre Aotearoa’s General Manager, Sean McKinley, kept staff and Playcentre whānau in the loop with daily updates.
“It was really good to get feedback, so we knew people were reading the updates and were making use of the resources on our Virtual Village. A sense of community is at the core of Playcentre.”
Hannah agrees, saying, “I think the key thing was the support the Playcentre adults gave each other. It was so valuable being part of a community of parents – we messaged and called each other, and that was good for the children too.”