Wellbeing
The Wellbeing team at Elevation has seen the students at Elevation reach many personal goals this term, and we are very proud of all of you for showing resilience and personal growth across the term.
Across the world, young people and their families are being impacted by the conflict in The Middle East. These events, as well as other conflicts globally, are often shown online in vivid detail via news or other social media platforms. Young people can be exposed to quite upsetting images, videos and information about these conflicts, and can require support to reduce the impact on their health and wellbeing. Below are some tips for families to help your young person, and the E-Safety Commissioner website has resources on what to do if you see distressing content online: https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people/disturbing-content
How can I help my children cope after witnessing distressing events?
After distressing events, parents want to support their children in responding to and dealing with the events. Here are some tips.
What might be helpful:
- Make sure you take care of yourself
- Listen to what they have to say. Answer their questions
- Help children understand what happened. Be honest. Use information based on facts, not rumour or hope
- Reassure them about the future
- Re-involve children in chores and responsibilities as soon as they can cope with them again
- Try to keep a regular routine (reading before bed, eating dinner together, watching TV together)
- Encourage play and fun
- Make time for the family to be together and enjoy each other’s company. Laugh
- Be open about your thoughts and feelings. Children will be aware of them anyway
- Allow emotions to be shared in the family but in a way which does not overwhelm
- Let children cry, hang around you or the house, be clinging or physically close
- Praise children when appropriate.
What is less helpful?
- Demand that children be brave or tough
- Expect them to ‘get over it’ quickly
- Expect them to take on responsibilities beyond their capability
- Get angry if they show strong emotions
- Force them to tell their stories or probe for personal details
- Make promises you might not be able to keep
- Bottle things up – try to express emotions openly, without overwhelming children
- Pretend that you are okay
Source: After a distressing event has happened | Australian Red Cross
Hope this helps but feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Regards, ESC Wellbeing Team