Disasters can strike anywhere, any time, putting your children at risk. You must teach them emergency preparedness to stay safe. Unfortunately, kids can find these topics terrifying. After all, these are scary situations that require proper planning to survive.
How can you talk to your children about creating an emergency plan? You must be sensitive to their cognitive skills and emotional intelligence. You have to present age-appropriate information.
Let’s learn how to speak to your children about emergency preparedness to put them at ease.
Preparing Your Child’s Emotional State
Before sitting down for this discussion, prepare your child’s mind. One way to set them up for emotional stability is by teaching them grit. Grit is the ability to persevere through many obstacles to attain a goal. Today it is often associated with a passion or career goal. However, true grit can provide the mental toughness kids need to survive disaster scenarios.
Raise your child to achieve grit. Teach him to overcome challenges that seem too difficult. Repeatedly going after a tough goal will help him develop perseverance. When he fails, encourage him to get up and try again. Kids who learn to deal with this type of frustration develop resilience.
With a healthy dose of encouragement from you, your child can build the character that will get him through any hardship. The more preparation the better.
However, don’t wait too long to talk to your child about emergency preparedness. Danger can strike at any time.
Preparing for Age-Appropriate Discussions
Before the discussion, you must understand what your child can handle emotionally and intellectually. As you prepare your kids for emergencies, you will notice different responses from different ages. If there is an age gap in your family, you may want to speak to toddlers and teens individually.
Here’s what to expect from each age group:
- Children under 5 can do the basics. Teach them to dial 911 or memorize their address. You can program a speed dial for a small list of emergency contacts. Teach your child how to access it.
- Kids aged 6-12 can be more involved in the planning. Teach them to get to a trusted home.
- Teens can handle more responsibilities. Be aware of their ability to handle this topic. Maturity can vary greatly at this age.
You can broach the topic by calling a family event to build an emergency preparedness plan. Work together to develop what you need: checklists, must-have supplies, escape routes, a plan to meet, etc. As you approach the day of this event, talk to your kids.
Talking to Kids About Disasters
Preface your discussion by talking about emergencies in general. Review the different disasters that can strike your home. Ready.gov has a complete list of potential disasters. It includes the likelihood of experiencing them in your area and the best tips for navigating them.
Gauge the responses of your children. Younger kids might be visibly scared. School-aged children may be less nervous thanks to fire drills and other emergency practices at school. Develop good communication with your teen because they may not be forthcoming about their emotions.
If your child has a learning, intellectual, or speech disorder, you may need to present the information differently. Make sure they understand it. Take a creative approach with this information, using fun worksheets, games, or crafts.
Once you have an idea of what your children can handle, write up some notes about what you’ll say. Your plans to handle different types of emergencies may look the same. If that’s the case, it’s best to discuss the overall plan with them first. You can address any specifics for certain incidents separately. Don’t overwhelm your kids with more than 1 or 2 scenarios or you may cause them anxiety.
How can you explain what to do? Start with a checklist of must-know safety tips. Write down steps and items required to get to safety. Review how everyone will get or stay connected. Be sure that younger or cognitively disabled children are assigned a buddy to stick with the whole time.
There are several tools you can use to explain your plan. Images, hand-drawn maps of escape routes, and checklists are a few. For slightly older kids, websites are helpful to learn how to navigate an emergency as well as the science behind what’s happening.
If you are not already teaching your kids about survival, this is a good time to start. Knowing the basics such as first aid or situational awareness better prepares them for disasters. As they acquire survival skills, they will develop the confidence they need to handle any event.
Delivering Your Message Calmly
No matter what age your child is, it’s critical to teach them emergency preparedness calmly. If you are emotional about this topic, you will trigger their emotions. When kids see that grown-ups are afraid, they become afraid.
On the other hand, children can sense dishonesty. If you lie or sugarcoat things, they will not listen to you. Practice talking about this topic with other adults until you can discuss it clearly and objectively.
Tell your children that there is no guarantee that they will experience a disaster. They are relatively uncommon. Many, such as hurricanes, have advanced warning systems. That said, reinforce the idea that preparation is still important in case they do. It’s simply the best way to stay safe in any event.
The most important thing to remember is that your children need to be assured that they can handle and survive these scenarios. As a parent, you have to believe that as well.
Assigning Disaster Responsibilities
The scariest part about some disasters can be the confusion around the event. And while the emergency itself can be frightening, performing tasks can distract your children from paralyzing fears. This helps them move forward to safety and eases their minds.
To do this, assign each of them a responsibility to handle during the emergency. You can even create titles for your kids such as “Director of Flashlights” or “Emergency Checklist Coordinator.” This works best if you create additional chores around the tasks that need to be regularly maintained before a crisis. Examples include ensuring the flashlight batteries work and monitoring the locations of objects on the checklist. Make these part of their weekly chores.
Once you have a plan and assignments, you can now try out your plan.
Calming Your Child With Practice Runs
Practice runs of your emergency plans give your child confidence. He will know what to do when things get scary. For example, all families should have an evacuation plan in the event of a fire. Practice where and how you will travel through your home to get to safety.
You can guide even your youngest children if you get creative. For example, to teach kids that you should never open “hot” doorknobs during a fire emergency, you can tape the word “HOT” on the knob. Make a game of avoiding the “HOT” knobs. Stress that in real life, those would be where the fire likely resides.
For more creative ideas on how to help young and disabled kids prepare for disasters, including games and activities, see the kids section at Ready.gov. The Red Cross also provides a series of free activity books that run through different emergency scenarios (earthquake, flood) and coping skills.
Gauging Your Child’s Understanding and Response
After talking with your children, it’s important to make sure that they have understood everything. Make time for their questions. Again, honestly answer them. If your child seems focused on worst-case scenarios, read survival stories to him. True life tales of people overcoming challenging odds can assure and inspire them in times of disaster.
Your children may still experience emotions after your discussion even if you take great care. Sometimes just thinking about upsetting situations can cause anxiety in children. Experts claim that spirituality, a sense of purpose, and staying connected with others may help reduce this anxiety. Cultivating these things in your home will help alleviate fears in your family.
You can help your kids process their feelings about emergencies. You must take stock of your kids over several weeks to discover their true emotions.
Looking For Anxiety and Trauma In Children
Talking about disasters is not easy. Kids won’t always tell you that they are upset. However, telltale signs can help you determine if they are struggling with this subject. Signs of anxiety in kids include:
- Separation anxiety
- Poor sleep habits or nightmares
- Lost of interest in favorite activities
- Decline in grades
- Irritability, sadness, or other emotions that are uncommon to them
Note that these can crop up at any time. While your initial discussion may not upset your family, subsequent discussions, practices, disasters on the news, and other triggers may impact them later. Check in with them regularly to see if they are demonstrating any of these or other anxiety warning signs.
Dealing With Your Child’s Fears
If your child is experiencing fears related to this topic, help him by teaching him how to cope with fear.
- Make him feel safe. Creating a loving, warm atmosphere in the home provides a feeling of security.
- Teach your family general survival skills. Emergency preparedness and survival training both empower your children to feel like they can handle anything.
- Avoid news coverage of a disaster. The news tends to dramatize the worst of a crisis so limit your child’s exposure.
- As a family, join in relaxing or therapeutic activities together. These can include hikes, yoga, and other healthy endeavors. Or you can simply meditate or pray regularly.
- If your child seems to withdraw more despite your best efforts, it may be time to seek professional help.
We’ve already discussed how to prepare your child, emotionally and physically, before an emergency strikes. How can you help your children recover emotionally during and after a disaster?
Helping Your Child Through an Emergency
To help your child cope during a disaster, you must remain as calm as possible during the crisis. Now is the time to make sure your kids are going through the tasks they were assigned.
Talk them through the situation. Keep things simple so you can stay focused on getting to safety. Now is not the time to either panic or lose your temper.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, here are some things you can do with your family to stay calm:
- Deep breathing
- Prayer
- Speak affirmations
When you arrive at a place of safety, hug your kids. Physical affection is likely just what they need to calm down. Give them some time to catch their breath and decompress from what you’ve been through.
After The Disaster
After the crisis, it’s likely your children will experience some level of trauma. They will need to rebuild a feeling of security. Their trust, as well, may have been eroded. The world now feels like a much scarier place to live.
How can you help kids to cope with these emotions? Give them space to talk about their experience, either with you or other trusted adults. This is also a good time to revisit your emergency plan with your kids. The experience probably highlighted the good and bad points of your plan. Improving it together empowers your kids to feel safer.
It’s more important than ever to be honest with your kids. Recovery is going to take time and effort. Don’t make promises you cannot keep as this will undermine their mindset.
Helping Your Children Get Back Into Life
Your kids need some time and space to grieve any losses or dramatic changes. But they also need to get back on track when the time is right. As soon as they are ready, return to normal activities and routines.
You may no longer be living in your home. Do your best to make your current residence as familiar and welcoming as possible. Give your children a sense of hope by planning for the future together.
Let your kids take action related to what they have just experienced. This is a great way to help them cope. For example, they can encourage their friend’s families to create their own disaster plan. Or, they can talk to their teachers and volunteer to educate the community about this disaster. Make sure that any volunteering they do is safe and age-appropriate.
Emergency preparedness is part of raising a family. Talk to your children about emergencies in a way they can understand. Providing them the right tools to survive and endure crises will help them grow into strong, confident adults who can handle anything.
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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