Abstract
This is a frightening time for all of us, but especially for children. Children are living through COVID‐19 and the traumatic changes the virus has had on the routine and schedule of their daily lives. School is a primary source of structure and socialization for most youngsters. As the pandemic continues to unfold, children are experiencing unprecedented shifts in school openings, learning models, extracurricular activities, and even access to play dates and other socialization venues. Without teachers, friends, coaches, or even time outside of the home, children are experiencing tremendous loss and are struggling to understand their new reality.
This is a frightening time for all of us, but especially for children. Children are living through COVID‐19 and the traumatic changes the virus has had on the routine and schedule of their daily lives. School is a primary source of structure and socialization for most youngsters. As the pandemic continues to unfold, children are experiencing unprecedented shifts in school openings, learning models, extracurricular activities, and even access to play dates and other socialization venues. Without teachers, friends, coaches, or even time outside of the home, children are experiencing tremendous loss and are struggling to understand their new reality.
It is imperative that children's unique sense of loss and expressions of that grief are recognized and addressed. Children need to feel safe, secure, and positive about their present and future, even though they may have lost the normalcy of their lives. We need to provide children with reassurance and resiliency‐building opportunities to sustain them through these challenging experiences.
One strategy that is supportive to children during difficult times is storytelling. Storytelling is the oldest form of teaching, with multiple benefits, including identifying emotional states, developing of a vocabulary of feelings, encouraging the use of strategy, and promoting resilience and hope. Additionally, characters model a positive psychological attitude that reduces stress and diverts attention to more productive and positive directions. Stories are powerful tools and convey thoughts, ideas, and values while they inspire purposeful talking.
Storytelling allows a child to gain an understanding of emotional reactions. In a story, the character's responses allow children to gather insight into the way others might feel in uncertain times. Using their imagination, children can put themselves in the character's place and develop a concept of the emotions the story evokes. It provides a safe framework and opportunity to explore feelings and positive ways to respond to stress. These empathetic aspects of storytelling help a child gain an understanding of a wide array of emotions and allow them to imagine and reflect on how they might react in different scenarios. When an emotionally charged situation arises, these feelings will be familiar and less overwhelming. Being aware of emotional states can help children engage in self‐advocacy, avoid or resolve conflict, and move past difficult feelings more easily.
In the act of telling a story, the use of words to express emotions is highlighted. Children deal with many of the same emotions adults do. They experience anger, sadness, frustration, and anxiety, but they often do not have the words to talk about how they are feeling. In storytelling, the words to express emotional states are foundational. Terms such as sad, lonely, afraid, worried, and nervous are integral to the tale. As the child learns different terms, they are building a vocabulary to express their own feelings more precisely. This enriched vocabulary enhances a child's ability to communicate what they are feeling, and in so doing, seek more targeted support.
Being prepared is a major part of successful coping. Stories that focus on how people come together, find creative solutions to difficult problems, and overcome adversity are reassuring to children. Highlighting how characters found a different approach or thought of a new idea gives children a sense of control that increases psychological health and well‐being. When children understand that people have been through crises before, it increases a sense of resilience and hope. Satisfying conclusions, as in overcoming difficult challenges, demonstrate that people can change their situation and impact their own story. In turn, this helps children build a sense of mastery and confidence.
We know that children rely on their imagination to make sense of the world. When children are dealing with loss, storytelling helps them understand their emotions, gives them words to express their feelings, provides avenues to overcome barriers, and instills optimism. Such tools are invaluable during COVID‐19 and its aftermath.
The American fantasy and science fiction author Ursula K. LeGuin reminds us: “The story — from Rumpelstiltskin to War and Peace — is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”
Mary A. Sullivan, Ph.D., M.A., B.S.N. (masullivan@lifespan.org), is chief nursing officer at Bradley Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Margaret Paccione‐Dyszlewski, Ph.D., is director of clinical innovation at Bradley Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.