LCSD Excellence March 2020 Special Edition LCSD Excellence March 2020 Issue VIII | Page 30
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COVID-19 PARENTING
Talking about COVID-19
Be willing to talk. They will already have heard something. Silence and secrets do not protect our children.
Honesty and openness do. Think about how much they will understand. You know them best.
Be open and listen
It is OK not to
know the answers
Allow your child to talk freely. Ask them open questions
and find out how much they already know.
It is fine to say “We don’t know,
but we are working on it; or we
don’t know, ‘but we think’.” Use
this as an opportunity to learn
something new with your child!
Be honest
Always answer their questions truthfully. Think about how
old your child is and how much they can understand.
Be supportive
Your child may be scared or confused. Give them space
to share how they are feeling and let them know you are
there for them.
Heroes not
bullies
There are a lot of stories going around
Some may not be true. Use trustworthy sites:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
and
Explain that COVID-19 has nothing to do with
the way someone looks, where they are from, or
what language they speak. Tell your child that
we can be compassionate to people who are
sick and those who are caring for them.
Look for stories of people who are working to
stop the outbreak and are caring for sick people.
https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/covid-19
from WHO and UNICEF.
End on a good note
Check to see if your child is okay. Remind them
that you care and that they can talk to you
anytime. Then do something fun together!
For more information click below links:
Parenting tips
from WHO
Parenting tips
from UNICEF
In worldwide
languages
EVIDENCE-BASE
The mark “CDC” is owned by
the US Dept of Health and
Human Services and is used
with permission. Use of this
logo is not an endorsement
by HHS or CDC of any
particular product, service,
or enterprise.
Parenting for Lifelong Health is supported by the UKRI GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme and the Horizon 2020
Research and Innovation Programme, Oxford University Innovation GCRF Sustainable Impact Fund, UNICEF, the Leverhulme Trust, the Economic and Social Research Council, WHO, CIDA, the National Research Foundation of South Africa,
Ilifa Labantwana, Rand Merchant Bank Fund, the ApexHi Charitable Trust, the John Fell Fund, the Evaluation Fund, the UBS Optimus Foundation, USAID-PEPFAR, the Wellcome Trust, Grand Challenges Canada and Wellspring Advisors.