But how should you talk to children about this topic? How can you explain the incomprehensible to them? With a lot of time and empathy.
Children are curious and ask many questions. It is precisely these that need to be answered in an understandable but also age-appropriate way. Because often children cannot classify and communicate their fears and have different levels of knowledge.
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Small and elementary school children in particular usually react very emotionally. It is not always easy for them to separate fantasy and reality. They relate the situation to themselves: are my family and I in danger? What if something like this happens to us? This is exactly what adults should respond to, convey to the child that they are doing everything they can to protect them.
Furthermore, children of this age should never see reports of acts of war alone. Coloring and picture books can also help to gain age-appropriate access to fears. In children between the ages of eight and twelve, such messages primarily leave a feeling of helplessness and being at the mercy of others. They must also be able to express this feeling. Under no circumstances should it be pushed aside by parents’ shyness, for example by switching over to brutal reports on TV. There needs to be room to come to terms with clarifying but child-friendly conversations. Children’s books are also suitable here, as are children’s films or plays.
The older children get, the more they read themselves. Young people mostly obtain their information themselves and want to discuss it. Adults become interlocutors, but they should also admit that they don’t know something. And offer suitable sources, but beware of fake news.
Source: Nachrichten
