There are tragedies in our world. It’s a fact. But how do we talk to our children about such tragedies without confusing them or upsetting them too much.
Trying to make sense of the recent tragedies, especially the Oklahoma City Tornadoes is hard for us adults to comprehend let alone our children. My daughter kept asking questions about which children died or if that child’s mommy died. It was very sad to hear her ask these questions.
There are obviously good answers and bad answers depending on the age of your child. There is a new resource for kids aged 7-10 called Press4Kids developed by News-O-Matic. News-O-Matic is an educational news app that covers breaking news, sports, science and much more in an accessible and kid-friendly way. It’s a week day newspaper app that includes 5 daily stories, images and videos, as well as games and more.
See more information at http://www.press4kids.com/, Facebook and Twitter. Available at the App Store.
Created by a skilled team—including child experts, designers and entrepreneurs—News-O-Matic aims to transform the news experience for children in a safe, interactive environment while encouraging them to become knowledgeable, productive members of society.
Please see below for some tips from Dr. Phyllis Ohr, Child Psychologist for Press4Kids, on how parents can address news issues with children and what children can do to feel better:
1.When the event does not personally affect the child, reassure them that everything is okay with the people they love and that nothing has changed for them.
2. Be sure to stress to children that if they do have questions to ask parents, teachers as well as friends. Other children having the same feelings may be comforting.
3. Begin by giving the child a brief synopsis of what happened by using age appropriate language. Ask if there is something they want to know more about or if they need something explained further. If so, stick to pointedly answering their question or clarifying. Do not add on or digress.
4. Do not assume the news will make children feel a certain way. Ask if they know how they feel, but stress that kids feel all different ways when they hear important news and sometimes do not know how they feel or do not feel anything which is okay. However, if children are affected by it, it is their own feeling. Reassure children that no matter what they are feeling, their feelings are okay.
5. If they are upset but don’t want to talk, suggest a fun activity for distraction or help them use calming skills like playing, drawing a picture or writing a story. These activities help release any upset feelings and make children feel better. Dr. Ohr is available to discuss these tips in further detail, as well as address any additional questions on how to talk to your children.
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Looks like a great resource for parents!
I love this idea! This is a great way to use technology to help talk about current events while working on reading comprehension! Thanks for sharing!
That’s neat.
I love the idea of this!
Love the idea behind this! I definitely think it is important for children to stay up to date with current events.
I like that it’s keeping the kids informed of recent events, that’s something they need more of.
I like this
I love this idea!
What a neat idea!
Oh, wow — LOVE the idea behind this app!
I think this is a great app for kids.
I love this idea.
This is a really neat concept!
This is such a great idea
What a wonderful idea!
It’s so important that we are able to inform our kids of news in a kid friendly way. I think this app has perfect timing too.
This is wonderful to keep the kids updated with key happenings in the world.
Great way to get kids accustomed to staying up to date, but in an appropriate level.
Great idea. Especially since the news these days is a bit too graphic.
Thanks for sharing! My son loves keeping up with the news.
This is great! I have never heard of this app before.
Thanks, I’m bookmarking that.
My kids love News-O-Matic, and as a parent I really love the *free* teacher guide that comes with each issue. It has great discussion questions and topics so we can learn about the news together.