Due to COVID-19, this past year has been an especially difficult time for everyone. Death seems to be all around us; on the news; in our emails, and splashed across the pages of the newspaper. Children and their families are losing thousands of loved ones daily.
The pain is difficult for everyone! Children may experience grief even more intensely than adults. They look to the adults in their life for support and reassurance. Kids struggle finding the words to express their inner thoughts and feelings. Many adults find it difficult to help their children when they too are mourning.
As a Communication Expert and Educator, I want to offer a concrete way to provide some support to children, whether young or old, who have lost a loved one; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even friends.
Writing in a journal can be a way to address grief and ‘talk’ to the person who has died. Due to COVID 19, many families didn’t have a chance to ‘say good-bye.’ This can be very painful and writing can be a form of catharsis.
Many adults keep journals. Now is the time to teach children the power of recording their feelings in a journal. Give a notebook to a child who has lost a loved one. The journal will be a place for them to talk to the person they lost. Whether by drawing a picture, creating a poem or writing a note, it will be a venue for releasing their grief. Parents may want to do this with a young child.
If you know a child who has lost someone special, my advice is to give them a notebook or journal. Encourage them to write or draw about their feelings.
I would like to suggest they begin each page with Dear…. And end it by saying With Love…
To all who are reading this Blog, I wish you good health. I hope 2021 will be a better year for all of us. Stay safe! Wear your mask. Social distance. Wash your hands.