Talking About Tragedy
Whether it’s a global disaster, a school shooting, finding out a friend has cancer, or the death of a friend, there’s nothing fun about tragedy. It can make us feel like we’re walking around in total darkness—where nothing seems quite right and there are more questions than answers.
What do we say? What do we do? What happens next? And, how long will it take before things go back to normal? At some point, we‘ll all find ourselves in or around a tragedy, but being there doesn’t mean we have to stay there. There’s a way through the darkness to the other side, to healing—and we’ll get there by trusting the One who is leading us.
In light of some of the tragedies that have gone on the last few weeks in our community we have decided to stop our “make it a habit” series and take on a new 3 week series on “through the darkness”. We want to help your child walk through these hard times and walk alongside of you as parents to guide them through these tragedies that they may be facing now or someday face.
LINK TO BLOG – HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT TRAGEDY – CAREY NIEUWHOF
Parents Resources
AFFIRM THEIR ABILITY TO THRIVE
Even though their journey through adolescence can be a crisis all by itself, it doesn’t mean you can’t support and affirm their ability to thrive through the difficult things they might experience. We want to help you by giving you some words to say and not to say.
What TO say
• “I hear you. Keep talking.”
• “When you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”
• “I’m trying to understand.” Or, “Help me understand.”
• “What do you wish I knew about all of this?”
• “This really sucks. It’s bad. I’m sorry.”
• “I’m not trying to fix it. I just want to be here for you.”
• “This is hard for me. I imagine it must be hard for you, but in a different way. Want to tell me about it?”
• “I don’t think I have an answer, but I can sit here with you.”
• “I believe you have what it takes to get through this, and I’ll help you.”
What NOT to say
• “It’s not as bad as you think it is.”
• “Let’s get to the bottom of it now.”
• “Let me fix it.”
• “There’s a reason for everything.”
• “Here’s why this happened . . .”