With the events in Ukraine dominating the headlines, war and conflict are impossible topics to avoid in the current climate. According to a review in JAMA Pediatrics, anxiety and depression in children around the world has doubled since the start of the pandemic, highlighting how important it is to broach the topic of the conflict in Ukraine carefully with children.
It can be a daunting conversation for parents to have, which is why War Child ’s Child Protection Adviser, Katie Seaborne, has put together tips on how parents can talk to their children about conflict, and how to give them a practical way to help by supporting charity initiatives such as War Child’s.
The charity War Child aims to educate and empower UK schoolchildren to understand the difficult experiences facing millions of children living in conflict across the world. War Child’s annual Peace Band Challenge encourages people of all ages, including schoolchildren, to take on a physical challenge symbolising the difficult journeys children make to escape conflict. While this year’s Peace Band Challenge has just finished, the charity is urging people across the country to support those who took part to make a difference.
You can either make a donation through their page or even donate to War Child’s celebrity ambassadors, the singer Jack Savoretti and footballer Rinsola Babajide via
All donations made until 31st May 2022 will be doubled by the UK government, as part of Aid Match.
Top tips on talking to children about conflict from War Child’s Child Protection Adviser Katie Seaborne
1. Be honest and if you feel unsure about the topic, do a little online research. If you don’t know the answer, it’s ok to say you don’t know. Sometimes there are no easy answers to issues around conflict. It’s ok to also explain this too.
2. Remind them there are lots of kind people and organisations such as War Child trying to help each other and people affected by conflict around the world. They too can also play a part in helping other children. You may want to decide together to read some books together on this topic, or support a charity that can make a difference with a donation to War Child’s Peace Band Challenge.
3. You know your child best, so tailor your approach based on your individual child. Think about whether more information might make them more confused or worried, or less. It may be best to answer questions but not provide more information than necessary.
4. To start, you may want to ask your child what they know or learned this week. You can be led by them and try to answer their questions. You may want to encourage children to share what they think are the answers (age and individual child pending) before responding.
5. Consider when you want to raise it as a topic to discuss. Try and find a time when you can be a bit quieter and without disruptions, though probably not before bed if you think it might worry them.
6. Hearing about conflict or children at risk may make them worry that there will be conflict here, or they will be unsafe. You may want to get a globe or map and show them that the war is far away, and they are safe.
Age-appropriate information to share about conflict zones:
In some countries different people want to be in charge and there is fighting. For children, this can mean schools are closed, there is nowhere to play, and it is not easy to find food or clean water. This can be scary and confusing.
Some conflicts can last only a short time and others can last much longer. Even if they last a long time that does not mean fighting is happening all the time. It can be calm for quite long periods, even if things are not normal.
Children and their families may leave their homes to find a safe place to live and work and go to school/nursery in a different village/town or even country.
But there are lots of people who work very hard to care for those children and their families to be safe and help the children to play and learn. These can be teachers, or doctors, or people who work for a charity, like War Child. You, and me can do things to help children and families around the world who are not as lucky as us, such as raise money/ give money to charities to help children where there is fighting.
