As news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine escalates, concerns about the situation grow, hundreds of Ukrainians fear losing their lives.
For children who have no idea what is going on, this can be even more frightening to them. Hearing words like “bombing”, “invasion” and “World War III”, without fully understanding what is going on, is troubling to all of us, and it does not “get away with it” Our young children."
According to Metro, it is very likely that very young children are more aware of what war is than we might realize, as many children have been exposed to adults or older siblings playing war-type computer games or watching YouTube influencers play such games on their friend's mobile phone or tablet.
How do you deal with the matter?
Parents should feel what we should do is provide them with all the facts and keep them informed, but if they ask or feel they need some explanation or reassurance, it is important that you think about how they feel.
Tanya suggests that you might want to start with a non-specific question, such as "Did you learn about wars in school?" , then listening to your child's response, stating, "What you're doing here gives your child an opportunity to talk about something they may not realize they can talk about."
If your child is not interested they will let you know, there is no need to push the conversation, but if they respond it is always a good idea to let the children know that if they have any questions they can ask you.
What can parents do and say?
Talking about the distance between Cairo and current events can be helpful, knowing this can help reassure your child that the chance of him being directly affected is very slim.
Although they may want to talk to you about people directly affected, make the language appropriate for their age
Active listening
A technique called "active listening" should be used, which you can use if your child is interested and wants to learn more. What you are doing here is paying full attention to your child during the entire conversation, ignoring distractions, and putting all of your focus on listening to your child's words.
And if you don't know all the answers to their questions, don't be afraid to say you don't, maybe spend some time looking up the information together, or maybe you feel more comfortable saying you'll find out and let them know later.