- With the ubiquity of the coronavirus in the media and discussions, it is advisable to speak with children about this new disease.
- To avoid worrying them, it is better to answer their questions in simple terms, without lying and daring to say that there are still a lot of questions.
- Avoid stigmatization, adopt useful barrier gestures to fight against other epidemics, make the constraints fun… Several caregivers have given us some advice.
"Why is my school closed? "Why don't we go on vacation after all?" »« Why do we meet people with masks in the street? Already that adults find it difficult to follow the coronavirus saga, the youngest are even more likely to feel lost and anxious in this period when this new disease has imposed itself in many discussions and programs. Mias how to talk to children about coronavirus?
Explain in simple words
As with any unpredictable and media event, it is better to accompany, explain without lying and without waiting for the child to be bloodied. And choose simple words, depending on his age and maturity. Especially since we risk hearing about this virus for a while longer… We can therefore start by saying that a new disease has appeared in the world and in France. It is important to describe the symptoms so that the child can alert an adult if he or she experiences them.
“You have to stay smiling, positive in the speech. It is an aggressive virus, but most people do not die from it, underlines Aline Nativel Id Hammou, clinical psychologist. We can go through the drawing, tell a story: "The virus king, with his crown, who wants to conquer the world ..." "Without hiding that there is currently no treatment or vaccine. While insisting on the fact that “scientists and doctors are looking for a solution, a vaccine. If mom or you get sick, we will take good care of us, ”illustrates the psychologist. "Our country has a good health system, there is no reason to worry," adds François Vié Le Sage, pediatrician and member of the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics (AFPA).
The psychologist also advises to base yourself on what the child has understood, to ask him what he heard at school. “It is essential to correct when there are false ideas, to reassure when anxiety is important, but also to answer all questions…. And dare to say that we don't know. This is not always easy for some parents who want to be confident.
Above all, Aline Nativel Id Hammou advises to do everything to make the constraints fun. "We can customize a bottle of hydroalcoholic gel with stickers, buy colored soaps or with funny shapes, draw on the mask if someone has to wear one ..." Unlike a terrorist attack, "children understand the disease well, they've already been sick, says the psychologist. What they understand less is the agitation of adults… ”
Limit anxiety
Parents must therefore keep a cool head (at least in front of their offspring ...). Indeed, children are built by mimicry and are emotion sponges. "Maybe we can talk about it without being in a psychosis, not discuss it all the time, do not listen to the information all the time," advises Jimmy Mohamed, doctor at SOS Doctor and columnist on the radio.
The choice of words is therefore important. “The child's brain is plastic. If you shape it with the anguish of a virus that doesn't threaten many people, it can become hypochondriac, he warns. It is up to us to protect them from the coronavirus and the anxiety it generates. Another risk: that children used for months to wash their hands 12 times a day will adopt obsessive-compulsive disorder…
What can reassure parents, and in turn their offspring, is that this virus does little to attack children. Indeed, according to a Chinese study conducted on 45,000 patients with coronavirus, only 1% was under 9 years old. Parents can therefore insist on the fact that “few children get this disease and that if it does, it will not be a serious form. On the other hand, it is important to explain to them that it is rather their grandparents who are likely to be in difficulty ”, adds the pediatrician. So it is better to go see them when you feel fit. Especially since children can be "healthy carriers" of the virus, a concept that is not easy to handle. "We can tell them that they can be sick without knowing it, without any problem, but that they can then transmit the virus," said the pediatrician.
Take good habits
"It is important that parents transmit the precautionary messages: you have to wash your hands very regularly, with soap or hydroalcoholic gel, cough in your elbow, blow your nose with a single handkerchief that you immediately put on the trash, avoid hugs and kisses, especially if you have a cold, ”says Jimmy Mohamed. Not easy to explain to a 3-year-old brat for whom tenderness and snot are daily benchmarks ... But from this age, we can explain that the disease is not transmitted when you stay within 1 m - including a big step - of his friends . “Explaining why we take these precautions also means arousing empathy: you take care of yourself and others. An idea to which children are quite receptive ”, underlines Aline Nativel Id Hammou. And when the school is closed? "We can insist on the fact that these closings affect not only the school, but also the football stadiums, the theaters", specifies the doctor for SOS doctor.
"This epidemic is going to be a good opportunity to give them good hygiene rules," said the doctor. Which are also valid for all diseases, says Jimmy Mohamed.
Beware of discrimination
"Adults must be careful not to look for the culprits, as this can lead to situations of discrimination," warns Aline Nativel Id Hammou. Especially since the schoolyard can be a high place of cruelty.
"The adverse effect of this disease, the worst I have seen, was in a child of Vietnamese origin humiliated by his comrades," says the pediatrician. She suffered from severe depression and dropped out of school. That is why it must be emphasized that it is not anyone's fault, that everyone can have this disease. And instead of making fun, we help a sick person. "
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