Discuss ways to help children cope with stress.?

Answer 1

Try to give them tips on how to get their mind off it by finding something to do that is positive and allows them to occupy their mind with the positive/pleasant activity.

Try to teach them how to sort out what is something they can do something about to make it better, what is something they may be able to do something about later but may have to wait for a while, and what is something they need to get their mind off until they can accept it because nothing can be done about.

Try to help them know exactly who/what is to blame, so they don't blame themselves for things that other people have created.

Try to keep some humor and help them see the humor in the situation.

Try to point out when it is something that most people of their age grow through, and point out how it will pass in the not-to-distant future.

Try to understand that children have far more stress than adults often realize, that children often don't feel free to talk about what the real problem is, and that children often don't have the ability to put things in the right perspective.

If at all possible, when a child is going through one type of stress find ways to take some of the other stresses he may have off him by offering to give him a break or help in some way.

Try to think up things to do that will give the child some bright spot here or there - a particularly nice time out, bringing home a little something to brighten his day, having a friend come over and doing something like making a special meal or getting them whatever take-out they love, etc. When children (or anyone) have a situation which makes them have a whole lot of negative and stress in their mind without having a few bright, positive, pleasant things they can run out of "emotional steam" from lack of positive, bright, things to think about. Some small, bright, experiences over a period of time can help a person "rebuild emotional energy" enough to be able to better deal with stresses.

Answer 2

Knowledge is power but a lot of coping with stress comes down to experience and obviously children are limited with this. Give them a lot of love at home and maintain a reassuring and safe home environment. Humour can help, as can visualisation techniques to help them calm down in a stressful situation. It also depends on what is stressing the child as to how it should be dealt with.

Answer 3

the kids must have clear mind. it is like hereditary. if parents are confused then you cannot help the kids. If the grand mother and grand fathers or simply elder relatives are around, the kids have good observation and they learn from the elders. this cannot happen in west and rich homes where everybody is after money. there is no use of money when kids live some what secluded and lot wold. it is the parents WHO are responsible for good mental health of kids.

Answer 4

Check these sites out for excellent tips to help kids deal with stress :
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/stress_coping.html
and
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/index.html

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

help to point out the positive, not the negative, so that they don't feel overwhelmed. It would be good to know the age range of said children.