Family Resources

🙅 Parent Guide for School Refusal and Anxiety 🙅

To Do: 

• Acknowledge that their fear is real: "I know school feels really scary right now."

• Express confidence in their ability to cope: "I believe you can handle this, even when it's hard."

• Maintain the expectation of attendance: "We're going to work together to get you back to school."

To Avoid: 

• Dismissing or minimizing their feelings: "You're fine, stop being dramatic."

• Allowing repeated absences without a plan for return

• Making staying home more rewarding than going to school

Strategies: 

• Practice replacing anxious thoughts with positive affirmations: "No one likes me" becomes "I am an important part of my school!" 

• Pick one or two coping strategies to practice and use at school: deep breaths, grounding, writing a note that your child can keep at their desk. 

• Let your child's counselor know that they are struggling. 

Source: Blackbird Health 

📱💻 Parent Guide for Device Use with Young Kids 📱💻

(Smart phones, tablets, smart watches, gaming consoles, etc.)

Expectations

• Discuss expectations for use before getting your child a device: 

  • When can the device be used?

  • How often will parents check the device? 

  • What circumstances would cause the device to be taken away?

Monitor

• Device use should be frequently monitored by parents. 

• The American Academy of Pediatrics states "the best parental control is you." Your judgment is more reliable than a parental control app or setting.

Safety Practices

• Explain to your child that they should NEVER give any information about themselves to someone online. If someone online asks their name, age, school, etc. your child should tell an adult immediately. 

Cyberbullying

• Discuss what cyberbullying is with your child. 

• Emphasize that your child should NOT say anything online that they wouldn't say to someone's face. 

• Nothing on the internet is ever truly deleted. 

Sources: Contemporary Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics