How to Talk With Children About Coronavirus

The coronavirus response is stressful, and kids can feel the pressure, too. 

Kids may show their stress differently from adults, responding with anger, withdrawal or increased needs from parents, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Parents and caregivers can help by giving kids more time, attention and love — good advice for any stressful situation. 

And, there are some ways to help kids that are specific to COVID-19 stress. 

Provide kids with the facts

Give kids clear information on what’s happening in the world and their community with the coronavirus. In addition, give them information about how they can reduce their chances of getting sick, the WHO recommends. A child’s age should inform your word choice and how much detail to discuss. 

Tell them what might happen, but be reassuring

Kids or their family members might get sick and may need to go to the hospital. And, the WHO says there’s no need to hide that reality from kids. Prepare them with the facts: about 80 percent of cases are mild and only a fraction of cases are fatal or require intensive care. Keep a reassuring tone in these discussions.

Focus on what kids can do to halt the spread of COVID-19

Good hand-washing and coughing into your elbow are germ-reduction strategies kids can understand. They can also understand that rest helps all of us stay healthy and get better when sick. As PBS explains, social distancing is a concept kids can grasp, when it’s explained effectively.

Correct misinformation

With coronavirus dominating headlines and discussion, there is a lot of incorrect and misleading information about the disease spreading around the internet, TV and in-person conversations. As PBS notes, parents and caregivers should step in and share accurate information from credible sources.

Try a children’s podcast

Brains On!, a science podcast for kids and their curious adults, has an episode dedicated to coronavirus education: “It’s impossible to miss the news about coronavirus, but you probably still have lots of questions. What exactly is it? How does it spread? Can I protect myself? In this episode we’ll break down what we know about this new virus and tell you how to stay safe.” We also collaborated with our friends down the hall on a series about feelings, like this useful episode about being Nervous.