Information on the war in Ukraine also reaches boys and girls accompanied by doubts and many whys. Here are some tips to help you explain the war to them with curiosity, security and love in order to avoid them discomfort and fear.
With the Russian advance into Ukraine, newspapers, TV and social media continually update us with very harsh images of what is happening in the area. But all this barrage of information also reaches boys and girls, putting parents in front of the challenge of explaining the war. Though difficult, these conversations offer opportunities to help their children feel safer and understand the world they live in.
Here are some tips to help you talk to the boys and girls of the war, without neglecting hope and the importance of building peace:
Index
Before explaining, you need to listen
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Sometimes, with the intention of helping them understand, we risk adding concerns or information that they have not yet understood or thought about. These are some questions that can help us evaluate what information the boy or girl has and how he has interpreted it, in such a way as to reassure them, if it is necessary to correct them or complete their vision without increasing - if any - fears.
- What did you see?
- Which photo or video caught your attention?
- What do you think happened?
- Do you know what a war is?
- Why do you think there are wars?
- Do you know where what we see is happening?
- Is it near or far from here?
Respond with sincerity and simplicity
Perhaps many "why?" they have already arrived there. To answer this, we use words and concepts that our children can understand. We formulate the explanations in a way that is appropriate to the age and level of understanding of the child, without, however, as explained in the previous point, overloading him with too much information. Some information may be difficult to accept or understand, so be prepared to repeat explanations or have more conversations. They need to know that their questions, feelings and concerns are very important to us.
Create educational paths
Not just to parents. Doubts and questions also come to teachers, offering an important opportunity to create a school that is increasingly a place of citizenship and participation. Courses can be carried out in the classroom, using non-formal methodologies and promoting the protagonism of the students. Save the Children has developed a guide for teachers "Peace beyond war", with three awareness courses.
Books to build peace
©franzidraws/123rf
There are books for boys and girls - but also for adults - who with their images and words are transformed into powerful tools for building peace. Their messages spread the richness of diversity, they tell characters and stories of freedom and, seeking sensitivity, they question the absurdity of war in order to always oppose it firmly.
These are some of the books that, like little seeds, help us reflect and grow by respecting the decisions of others, accepting diversity and promoting tolerance:
► 6 books to educate for peace, to be read today more than ever
Educating for peace every day
Better than words and concepts is the example. The best explanation of peace for boys and girls is the one we can offer with our daily actions. Tolerance, solidarity, respect, empathy and non-violence are values that we can (and must) transmit every day from an early age with our own gestures. On the other hand, if our words are not consistent with our actions, how could we ask them that they are?
We leave you with the words of the artist and illustrator Nikolaj Popov:
If boys and girls can understand the madness of war, if they realize how easy it is to fall into a cycle of violence, perhaps in the future they will become peacemakers "
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READ also:
- 400 children under the crossfire of the war in Ukraine: Save the Children alarms
- Ukrainians fleeing the war bring their animals to safety (while there are those who abandon them for absurd reasons)
- The great escape from the cities, the rush to ATMs and the assault on supermarkets in Ukraine
