When Explaining Earthquakes to Children, Avoid Creating Anxiety

Explaining Earthquakes to Children Without Creating Anxiety Parents want to keep children away from news, yet children are still confronted with the reality of earthquakes. Experts emphasize that earthquakes should be explained to children in a manner appropriate to their age and developmental stage, noting that attempting to create earthquake awareness in children aged 2-7 years, whose logical thinking skills are not yet developed, can lead to anxiety disorders. Expert Clinical Psychologist Eda Ergür, who says earthquakes can be explained to children through play, states: "Children should first be told and made to feel by parents that they are safe. Parents should be careful with their comments when children are present and should give children the opportunity to express their feelings. Daily life routines should be maintained and constructive options should be offered by telling them they can send help if they wish." Eda Ergür, Expert Clinical Psychologist at Üsküdar University NPİSTANBUL Hospital, shared methods for explaining earthquakes to children and advice to prevent children from becoming anxious about earthquake news.

Explanations should be age and developmentally appropriate

While efforts are made to keep children away from such information, Expert Clinical Psychologist Eda Ergür notes that everyone is confronted with the reality of earthquakes and states: "It is the responsibility of adults to approach this by behaving according to children's cognitive development. For this reason, it would be appropriate to share the situation with children in a manner suitable to their age and developmental stage. When news channels are open in the home and the entire family is sharing information obtained with concern with those close to them, it becomes difficult to keep our children outside this situation," she said.

Anxiety disorders can develop in the 2-7 age group

Expert Clinical Psychologist Eda Ergür, recalling that logical thinking skills are not yet developed in children in the early period between ages 2-7, states: "For this reason, if a child in this age group has not been exposed to the situation, is not aware of it, providing detailed information about earthquakes and what has happened and attempting to create awareness can lead to anxiety disorders in this age group of children, who will not yet be able to process and make sense of the information they have acquired," she said.

Earthquakes can be explained with toys

Expert Clinical Psychologist Eda Ergür states that a child who has been exposed to earthquakes, earthquake images, videos or news needs to make sense of this situation and continues: "In this case, it would be helpful to explain this concept concretely to children whose abstract reasoning is not at a sufficient level. Play is the fastest and most effective way to reach children; therefore, using toys and blocks like lego to simply explain the formation and effects of an earthquake to the child helps the child understand the situation. Using simple language and exemplifying natural phenomena in our world such as sunrise, lightning, snow and rain, it can be explained that earthquakes are natural occurrences of vibrations that occur on Earth. Just as in all of us, uncertainty gives anxiety to our children; the more we make the situation known, the safer our children will feel."

Children should be given the opportunity to express their feelings

Emphasizing that children who are experiencing worry and fear in response to what they have heard and witnessed should be given the opportunity to experience their feelings, Ergür states: "It is important that we understand our child's feelings and help them realize that what they are feeling is normal, and also share our own feelings. Sharing that we are sad about what has happened will reassure our child rather than worry them. Sharing with them that we are by their side as parents, that we can protect them, the precautions we have taken to be safe, that our home is sturdy and durable, and that we are safe will be reassuring and calming for children," she said.

Constructive options can be offered to children

While we want to protect our children from every negative situation, Expert Psychologist Ergür notes that it is impossible and unrealistic to keep especially older children completely unaware of such a large disaster and states: "Taking into account the age of our children, it would be appropriate to convey the situation briefly and concisely. In this way, our children will not only be aware of the existence of pain, but will also learn healthy ways to cope with pain. We can offer constructive options within our means and implement them together, such as sharing that we are sad for the people who were harmed, that we can pray for them, and that we can send them help," she said.

Parents should be careful with their comments

Emphasizing that the most basic need of our children is to feel safe, Expert Clinical Psychologist Eda Ergür states: "For this reason, it is even more important that parents or caregiving adults who are present with children and whom children need to help regulate their emotions pay attention to their own reactions. Our ability as adults to regulate our own emotions is of great importance both for our children and for ourselves. After this difficult disaster we have experienced, all of our hearts are with this region, but when we are with our children, it would be appropriate to limit news and prevent our children from being exposed to such news. Additionally, we need to be careful about our comments regarding what has happened when we are with our children and how we are reflecting our own anxieties," she said.

Routines should be maintained and children should feel safe

Emphasizing that we should try to maintain routines for children of all age groups as much as possible, Expert Clinical Psychologist Eda Ergür states: "A child who does not feel safe may exhibit crying or unexpected irritability in routines such as eating, sleeping, playing, and situations where they need to be separated from their parents—these should be interpreted as signals that warrant family attention. To support the sense of security that is a basic need of our children, we as parents should strive to maintain our calm and provide reassuring support. If we allow our children to face difficulties that they can handle, wrap them in our love, and make them feel safe, help them develop coping skills and prepare them for life, we will have done so. Getting professional support in situations that are not properly managed will allow us to quickly prevent larger problems that might arise," she said.