After the terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Nice, and Munich this year the NSPCC‘s Childline confidential line reports a higher volume of counselling sessions that are related to fear of terrorism; children and young people are mentioning panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia, and nightmares.
This is the first year that Childline has specifically recorded concerns about terrorism after the Paris attacks of November 2015 prompted a surge in contacts.
Between November 2015 and November 2016 Childline provided 660 counselling sessions about terrorism. One in five of the counselling sessions at Childline about terrorism were from young people aged 11 or younger.
As counsellors point out, social media and the TV news make it easy for children and young people to become fearful of potential attacks. And many don’t know where to turn to talk to about their feelings, and families don’t often know how to discuss the topic. Counsellors suggest you could:
– listen and ask them what they know and how they feel about it
– reassure them that adults are doing everything they can to keep them safe
– avoid complicated explanations that could leave a child confused and frightened
– let them know they can always talk to you.
For an advice video visit the NSPCC website.
