How Do You Convince A Thirteen Year Old That The Sky Is Not Falling?
By: Kevin Wanke
Tags: Climate Change, Teenagers, Hope, Family, Coronavirus

The sky is falling. Or at least it appears that way to a 13-year-old.

The amount of strife and conflict and negativity in the world right now is enough to make even the most oblivious hipster millennial pause and consider world events.

In the past few months, there have been rumors that WWIII is kicking off, a US President was impeached, climate change is moving from ominous warnings to statements of dire emergency, and the doomsday clock is officially the closest it has ever been to Armageddon.

Are we really 100 seconds away from the ultimate disaster?

Is it shocking that young people today have more anxiety problems than any other generation before them? This doesn’t even touch on the social pressures that teenagers face today. The WhatsApp Instagram lives that they lead all recorded on brief TikTok videos.

At least they don’t have to worry about Facebook since that is now only for old people. Have fun, Boomers!

The scary reality of the world that we all live in is nowhere more apparent than in the questions asked by a child who just spent all day among their peers at school. That is definitely not an isolated environment.

They hear the news. They pass along rumors. Their world is one of half-truths and hearsay. They even think they are getting drafted.

At the tender age of 13, human beings are just starting to become aware of the outside world. Elections? This is the time they start to listen when their parents discuss candidates and major political issues.

The news? Headlines that are designed to frighten adults now have some sticking power in these young minds instead of just being background noise to ignore.

And on top of this, we all have to deal with the coronavirus.

Having just spent an hour reading news articles and online comments about the spread of this infinitesimally small virus that is threatening humanity, I am scared out of my wits.

While the pandemic is frightening, the thought of having to answer questions and provide reassurance to teenage children is downright terrifying.

How do I as a parent reassure my child that the sun will come up tomorrow and the world is not the grim, dark, and evil place shown on the 6 o’clock news?

Luckily, there are many ways to step back and keep the monsters at bay. The methods described below work great for anyone at any age, whether thirteen or thirty.

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash

Spend More Time Together

With a crazy virus running amok, spending time with others may sound counter-intuitive. Apply this advice to your family. That group of people that when together, you feel the most comfortable.

Guess what? Your thirteen-year-old will also appreciate the time. You both will get to focus on the small stuff, the happy and immediate surroundings. It is easier to forget the troubles in the world when dealing with big arguments like whose turn it is to load the dishwasher.

We need a sense of comfort and safety that the family provides now more than ever. There is no better time than the present to redouble efforts to sit down and eat dinner together or to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie.