How to Help Our Kids Deal with Fears About the Coronavirus

Did it seem a little odd to you too? When we first heard the advice from public health officials about how to stop the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), did you think, that’s it? Really? Wash our hands? Don’t touch our faces? Social distance? It was hard to believe the initial strategic global plan was one found in our bathroom sinks!

You may think the advice I’m going to give about helping children deal with this season of global panic sounds a little like the spiritual equivalent of “Wash your hands!” But it’s a reminder that there are time-proven ways to help children in scary times.

First, realize that scary times can be much more than scary times.

The “worst of times” can actually be opportunities to establish children’s belief in God by showing them how faith works.

Start by having real, but age-appropriate, talks about COVID-19 with kids. Ask questions to find out what they know or think they know. Correct anything that is untrue or out of proportion. Explain that a virus or pandemic is wide-spread, but it doesn’t mean everyone will get sick. We can reassure children that their health and safety are our most important priority, and that we will do everything to protect them.

But don’t stop there. Be a disciple maker. Besides reassurances, this is the time to share our God stories of how our faith grew strong in a difficult time. Children grow in the soil of our faith. Exposure to real hope and faith from a real person’s life nurtures real faith. Be open. Be real. Be there. Be full of faith. This is child discipleship.

Then we should make sure children have a toolbox of spiritual practices and that they know how to use them.

Assume nothing. Do they understand the gospel and have they put their trust in God for salvation? Do they know how to use the basic tools of the Christian life? Remember: these tools have strengthened generations of believers through other challenging times. For instance:

• I might share about a memory of air raid drills, crouching under our grade school desks because “the Russians are coming,” nuclear war being a distinct possibility, and how praying (and trusting) that God would save us calmed my fears.
• The same basic tools of faith saw the Greatest Generation through two World Wars and a Great Depression.
• These practices helped Baby Boomers face Vietnam and riots that burned up cities like Chicago and Los Angeles in the wake of societal unrest.
• More recently, these spiritual practices steadied younger generations of believers through the AIDS epidemic, the rise in school shootings, and terrorism.

What are these time-tested spiritual tools children need to deal with COVID-19? They are:

• Christian community
• Prayer
• Scripture

Here’s how it works: When I was growing up, my mother used my fears to teach me about faith. After the death of an uncle, I was suddenly afraid of dying in my sleep. My mother began to comfort me by offering community. For several nights she sat on my bed and tried to reassure a very upset four-year-old child that I would live until the morning.

It was not enough.

Next she took my hand and assigned each finger a word. I. Am. Always. With. You. “When you are afraid, Valerie, remember this prayer and that God is always with you.”

I was better, but tears still flowed.

Then for several nights she helped me memorize this comforting passage from the gospel, John 14. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: . . . I go to prepare a place for you . . . that where I am, there ye may be also.”

The crucial night came. Sitting on my bed my mother said, “Valerie you know how to pray. You know the Bible verses by heart. Now when you are afraid, use those tools.”

And then she left me. Yes, my bedroom door was open a crack, but it was up to me now to use the kid-sized spiritual tools she had given me. Now I could fight my own spiritual battles.

Community. Prayer. Scripture.

The spiritual equivalent of hand washing, right?

Except for this: On 9/11, Todd Beamer, a young father and passenger on hijacked United flight 93, joined other passengers in a heroic, but futile take-over attempt. At the words, “Let’s roll!” they resisted the terrorists who responded by grounding the plane in a field in Pennsylvania instead of their intended more-populated target. All were lost.

Todd’s courage is captured in those two words, “Let’s roll!” But most people don’t know what he did to strengthen himself just before he said those last words.

He reached for the most basic Sunday school tools. On his cell phone he called an operator and asked for someone who could pray the Lord’s Prayer with him. A Christian operator prayed with him. He then asked for her to recite Psalm 23 together.

Community. Prayer. Scripture.

That’s it? Yes. Todd Beamer faced terrorism, a national crisis, and death with those very kid-sized tools. We face a different enemy; but the fear of pandemic disease and an uncertain future is no small thing. Community. Prayer. Scripture. That’s where we will find the spiritual strength to face the crises of today. It is more than scary times. There is a comfort that comes from God alone. Make sure your kids have those tools and that they know how to use them.