The current bushfires across Australia have raised anxieties for all Australians about how we will cope, what our lives will look like in the future, and what will happen if they reach us. Smoke from the bushfires has stretched across Victoria, and this in itself is enough to raise the fears of children who have already been over-exposed to information in the media. Media stories have contained graphic, scary and disturbing images of houses, animals and people affected by the fires, and this can cause distress or worry for children and adolescent.<\/p>\n
There is a common misconception that talking with your child may make a trauma or crisis worse, however research suggests that it usually has the opposite effect. For children, not having information is scary, and many children will fill in the blanks with their own imagination \u2013 often imagining something far worse than the truth. For older children, they make take to the internet for their answers, and this can sometimes become overwhelming.<\/p>\n
How can parents help?<\/strong><\/p>\n For further information and support, please visit Better Health Channel<\/a>, the Red Cross<\/a> and Phoenix Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n For information on how to support directly affected children through bushfires please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n