Tell Children the Truth

“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walk in the darkness, nor the destruction that lays waste at noonday.”—Psalm 91:4-6.

Psychologists have long known that when children feel something is being kept secret, they assume that it must be bad and that it must be about them. Otherwise, they think they believe that adults wold tell them. If no one is talking to them about it, it must mean it is their fault. That may be illogical to us but as mentioned in the last insight, this occurs because children see the world revolving around them.

Children know more about what is going on around them than adults realize. But they may not know everything. They will try to fill in missing information in whatever way makes sense to them. When that information is wrong, it can have a negative effect. The information filled in from their imagination may be more damaging than the truth. This wrong information may then be difficult to counter-act.

Of course, not everything needs to be said. We do not need to talk about things they are not concerned about. We just need to answer the questions they are asking at that moment. Keep communication open. When they need to know more, they will ask additional questions.