Explaining Death To a Child

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Explaining death to a child can be a tricky topic. I believe the key to explaining any topic to children is to be as honest as possible and to use as simple language as possible. With death this is especially true. Also important to keep in mind is that you may have to explain things more than once, as this is a topic that is hard to grasp. Young children especially do not always have the capacity to understand the finality of death. Don’t be surprised when the young child wakes up in the morning a month or so after the death, looking for his or her mommy. In addition, children must understand and be reminded that they have no responsibility for the death in any way. This is especially true since we learned that children believe the world is centered around them. This self centered notion puts them at a higher risk of self blame. Another issue that should be covered is that the person who died, did not die because they wanted to leave the child behind. A death by suicide would be especially tricky and depending on the age of the child, should not be broached in specific detail, until such time as the child is emotionally mature enough to signifigantly handle the subject. It is important the child be given an open forum to speak their concerns. The parent also must face the reality that even though they are the parent and probably know their child better than anyone else, they may not be the best choice to speak to the child. This may be especially true if the death was a spouse, (the other parent), as the left behind parent may have many of their own underlying resentments. Support groups are a great option for the child or family that may be trying to overcome the death of a close family member. A councilor that specializes in children is another option for a child trying to work out feelings they cannot understand on their own. Never under
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