UW-Madison Professor Says Control Fear and Uncertainty Regarding Outbreak for Your Kids
Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 -- 8:56 AM
(WRN) -A disease outbreak can be scary for many people, but fear and uncertainty can really harm a child's growth as well.Most of Wisconsin's kids are going to be home from school and handling how to both deal with the COVID-19 outbreak and the sudden amount of free time they have. UW-Madison psychology professor Travis Wright says it's best to focus on what people can do to help each other in a crisis, rather than on the crisis itself.
"These kinds of opportunities are moments that we can frame for children how to think about the world."
Wright says kids can easily pick up on the fears of people around them, so it's good to try and focus on things that they can handle.
"If we frame this as a time of hysteria, as a time of self interest, as a time of fear? I think that's a message that kids are going to internalize about the world."
Wright says this is a chance to help kids better understand and react to crises in the future.
"In every sort of scary moment there's an opportunity to see how strong we are, and I definitely think that's a message we can share with children right now to help them feel safer and also more connected to each other and the world."
Wright says a good idea is to limit social media time, and to present honest facts about the coronavirus, instead of letting misinformation and panic take control.
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