Experts encourage parents to be compassionate when talking to children about wildfires

Over the last few days, thousands of Nova Scotia families have been displaced from their homes, leaving parents full of uncertainty and stress.

While families try to understand their next move as wildfires continue to burn, experts are urging parents to tread carefully and compassionately when speaking to their kids about the fires.

“This is a sudden unexpected and overwhelming stressor and that time of stress is going to play out with intense feelings. It’s going to have major impacts,” said Simon Sherry, psychology professor at Dalhousie University.

While parents should be open with their children about their circumstances, they need to consider the child’s age when discussing the wildfires, Sherry said.

“You have to target the information you reveal to the child’s developmental stage. What you tell a three-year-old is different to what you tell a 15-year-old.”

Sherry recommends that parents minimize their children’s screen time and maximize family time. “It’s a great time to be available for your children and make sure they have a routine schedule they can follow,” he said.

The psychology professor said this is important to ensure that kids are not spending time on social media watching videos of homes damaged or destroyed by the fire.

“This can have long-term impacts. They don’t need unrestricted 24/7 micro-level details of this tragedy. It’s a good time to have some boundaries,” he said.

It's not just children that need special attention, Sherry said, and parents should also be patient with themselves.

“It’s important to be social at this time. Spend time with family and friends and seek help from those closest to you.”

Hui Liuo has been housing her friends and their three children since they evacuated Lucasville Sunday night.

All three kids are younger than 10. Liuo said the children don’t know much about the situation.

“They’re pretty excited with the house and stay with friends but we don’t explain too much about what’s happening,” she said.

What the children do know is that there is a fire, though they are unfamiliar with what that means.

“They’ve never seen it or heard of the word before. I don’t know how to explain [the] situation for kids [that are] too young to understand what’s happening,” Liuo said.

During this time, Sherry is encouraging people to take care of their mental health.

“The distress people are feeling, research suggests it’s likely to subside in a few weeks and in a few months,” he said.

While this situation is stressful, Sherry said it is important for people to realize that this is temporary and survivable. 

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