Dear Editor,
With the COVID-19 emergency measures taking effect for at least the rest of this month, children, and in some cases parents, will remain at home. This may give rise to tensions and frustrations in the home with both parents and children needing emotional support and guidance to learn to cope with this prolonged situation. ChildLinK has been engaging families and providing online and in some cases telephone sessions with parents and children to give guidance to support families to remain safe and reduce any form of abuse within families. We have outlined some guidance that has been useful for families.
Take some time to focus on yourself. In Guyana, parents tend to rise earlier than their children. This is useful in parenting because it allows parents the opportunity to be up before your children and think through tasks that you would like to complete for the day and how you can make it a good day for the family. At the beginning of each day, set aside a thirty minutes period where you can spend some ‘alone time’, perhaps sipping quietly on a warm cup of tea to mentally prepare yourself for the challenge of the new day or any other activity that works best for you. Set a schedule for the day. It gives you some control over what happens in your daily activities and can make things around your home less hectic and stressful. Setting a schedule and taking control can bring about a sense of calmness to families. Take time to talk to your children about your childhood memories and family history. Also, take time to listen to your children to better understand how they and their friends view the world around them. Talk about current changes and movies you may have looked at together. These are conversations that will be helpful now and in your future relationship with your family members. We may have been too busy to have these conversations together before the pandemic, but we now have the time to connect with our children and their interests. You are bound to find out more things about your children and even recognize some new things like their growing appetite. That is normal. You can include them in preparing meals and where possible snacks. Try some simple snacks such as ‘chicken foot’ which may not be too much for your budget. Allow them to be creative and make some adjustments to the ingredients. Perhaps you can use this opportunity to start a family recipe book and maybe name it after the child.
The partial lockdown allows us to engage in family projects that are both fun and beneficial for our physical and emotional wellbeing. One suggestion is to start a family kitchen garden. You and your children can enjoy wholesome physical activity in nature while sharing a few laughs in the process. Your family will also enjoy the rewards that come from reaping what you planted and also eating healthy foods. Another suggestion is to start a family exercise programme. In the coolness of the afternoon, go into the yard and have a family Zumba workout. These are only suggestions; you can think of more creative ones and share them with other families. It will help to take a lot of stress from your day and strengthen our immune system as we continue to battle this pandemic.
As adults you can tell when you need some time for yourself. This can be done by reflecting on your mood and the volume of your voice. It’s okay to take a few mental timeouts to regain your composure if a situation becomes frustrating. Make the effort to let your family conversations be enjoyable rather than confrontational. As the parent, it is you who will have to set the tone for the atmosphere in your home. Don’t focus your time on COVID-19 and all the “hearsays”, circulating on the internet and do not spend most of your time on WhatsApp and other social media. It will drain you mentally and emotionally. A positive home environment is good for your physical and emotional health. Make every effort to make this time with your family a good family time.
ChildLinK is working to create a Guyanese society where every child grows up in a loving, safe, and secure family and community. The Recovery, Safeguarding, and Reintegration initiative is supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Guyana and partners with the CPA and several agencies to reintegrate children to safe families and educate the wider society on the prevention of child abuse. Please write us with your comments and questions. Let us know how you would like to get involved in protecting children in your community by emailing us at admin@childlinkgy.org. Report child abuse by calling the CPA on 227-0979, the closest Police station, or ChildLinK on 233-3500 or email: admin@childlinkgy.org.
Yours faithfully,
Shaquita Thomas
Communications Officer
ChildLinK Inc.