Kids’ response to violence and community unrest
Like many voluntary organisations operating in communities across England, Kids has been affected by the racial and hate-motivated violence. We are troubled by the abhorrent actions causing unrest across towns and cities in England.
At Kids, we live by our core values which include celebrating individuality and speaking up, so it is during times like these that we – like many charities – want to reinforce our position against actions that cause devastating division and hatred.
We stand in solidarity with all individuals who have been impacted, including all disabled children, young people and their families, Kids colleagues and partners who have been made to feel unsafe in their own communities.
All children and young people need to be able to go out and feel safe, and given the particular barriers children and young people with SEND face, we want to reiterate that we are here for you and that we hope to see an end to this turmoil soon.
What is Kids doing?
The safety of the children and young people who we support is central to everything we do and we are working hard to continue to safely deliver our services for children and young people with SEND and their families.
We are keeping a close eye on locally planned events, protests or counter protests and making adaptations where necessary. For children, young people and families who use Kids’ services – we will tell you if we need to make any temporary changes to the services you use. For example, in some instances, we’ll be delivering face-to-face services virtually to ensure the safety of our colleagues and service users and we will be in touch if that applies to you. Or, we understand that you may experience difficulty in dropping off or collecting your child, due to safety concerns or travel disruptions. We have clear policies and procedures in place for handover, collection and uncollected children which we will follow and if we have to adapt them we will let you know.
We will continue to monitor the situation and follow guidance from organisations like the charity commission and others.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about our services during this difficult time or if you need to make any changes to your use of our services. Our usual information and advice is also available at kids.org.uk
Tips for communicating with children and young people
We appreciate that the children and young people using our services may have feelings such as fear, sadness and anxiety. Children and young people may want to talk about the current situation or display differences in their usual behaviour. We are supporting Kids colleagues on how to communicate with children and young people regarding conflict and community unrest. Our advice is to:
- Be led by the child or young person: what do they already know about the situation, and how have they found out about it? Reinforce the importance of getting news from a reputable source.
- Encourage young people to access a range of media content that they normally enjoy and discourage overexposure to news and ‘doom-scrolling’.
- Children may be exposed to explicit images that can trigger fear responses. Let them know that you are open to talking about what they have seen or heard.
- Be open to talking with children about conflict and say that you may not have all the answers. If you are unsure, say that you don’t know. Acknowledge uncertainty and validate the feelings that arise from uncertainty. For example, “It sounds like you are unsure and are worried about what could happen next”.
- Some children may not talk directly about conflict and their fears might come out in their behaviour.
- Ask children about their feelings. For example, they may feel worried, frightened, angry or confused or a whole range of other emotions. Listen to their feelings and acknowledge them as valid, rather than minimising or dismissing them.
- At the same time, reassure the child that parents, carers and other adults in their lives, are there to keep them safe
- Encourage children to think about the things they can be more certain about and influence, and to look after their own wellbeing. For example, they can still play, learn, be with their friends, listen to music, play sport etc.
- Children’s ability to cope is influenced by their parents, carers and important adults in their lives. It is important that you look after your own mental health and seek support if you feel overwhelmed
Useful resources
Here are some links to other organisations that you may find useful.
- Mental Health Foundation: Talking to children about scary world events.
- NSPCC: Talking to children about racism.
- Mind: Racism and mental health