The people who play the most significant role in the process of understanding grief among children are their parents. Children learn from their parents how to react to death and what it is. The definition of grief is determined by how the parents deal with it themselves. Most parents often fear talking to their children about death and grief. Some believe that children will not understand.
Parents often become anxious when kids bring up death.
All of this avoidance and secrecy can lead to confusion about death and grieving for children. Children begin to assume that grown ups do not like to talk about death. Children are very perceptive to changes that occur in the daily routines of life. When their parents are upset they pick up on those cues and can identify that something is wrong. Children will attempt to understand death and grief even if the parent is not verbally saying anything.