January 2023

Updates

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April 2020

 And when the Coronavirus crisis is over…writing a brief diary to help young people move forward with resilience

We will get to the other side of this Coronavirus crisis and, for most children/young people (“CYP”), their lives will not have been struck by disaster. This article suggests using a very brief diary to help that majority move forward afterwards – to use the experience to become stronger.

CYP often adapt well at times of adult stress and can seem unbothered. But later, when things are getting back to normal, more complicated feelings and concerns then come to the surface – and that is a great time to help them unburden themselves, make some sense of what has happened, and then get on with ordinary life. We can start preparing for that now.

I am not suggesting that all CYP will be damaged by current events, though the lives of a small number may, sadly, be changed. But once things start settling, many may express things – questions, worries, needs - that we didn’t even know were there. They may express them directly, for example, by talking; less obviously, for example, by getting very upset over small things; or, even more indirectly, for example, by being difficult with the adults they love most.

Even very young children, who might seem unaware of changes around them, may want to know in the future more about how it was for them. It will be part of their history. And we definitely should not forget adolescents, for whom life, in/dependence and education were already complicated, even before the coronavirus spanner was thrown into the works. Adolescents are often a lot more sensitive than they appear on the surface. 

Here is one simple but surprisingly helpful thing we can do now to help our CYP for the future: 

Keep a very simple diary.

·       Keep a very simple diary – a couple of sentences a day would be fine. Some CYP may want to join in or just make a drawing. 

·       Add an occasional photograph as they can be powerful reminders.

·       Older CYP might want to keep theirs private.

·       Grandparents and parents who are living elsewhere could add something or write their own. 

·       Or just the parent/s could do it.

·       What you write should be realistic but not over-dramatic.

·       The diary should contain ordinary daily things that are unchanged by the virus. 

·       There might be things that children are pleased about in the new situation, such as spending more time with their parents – include those.

·       The diary will be about how life was for your family (there will be no shortage of information about the national picture elsewhere).

·       It is often the very ordinary things that help us understand and remember: a home-made birthday card because the usual shop was shut; the new way we wash our hands; or what we had for dinner. 

·       The diary could follow a daily structure of: one thing that we had to do differently today; one thing that was the same as usual; and one thing that was particularly nice. 

·       It could be on paper or electronic.

·       Adults might share some thoughts with their CYP now but keep other bits back for when they are older.

·       Then keep these diaries somewhere safe for future discussions when your CYP are ready – maybe in a couple of months, years or further into the future.