Spend more quality time with your children.
This was the advice given by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) to parents to help safeguard their children’s mental health during this time of pandemic.
“When we talk about mental health, it is really no longer healthy even for us to not be able to do our usual practices. This is more true especially for children because they are more impatient than us,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said per a report by Manila Bulletin.
“They are looking for something they can do, something that will be fun for them,” she added.
Vergeire pointed out that the children must realize the importance of staying at home amid the pandemic.
“Parents need to explain well what is happening—why kids cannot go out, why they need to study at home instead of going to school. These have to be explained to the kids so that they will better understand,” she said.
To encourage their children to stay at home, parents were encouraged to give their kids activities apart from doing schoolwork.
“There should be something that can take their minds off their anxieties. It can be storytelling with parents, continuous communication with them, always talking with them, always calling them for family activities,” she said.
“If possible, let them go out and get some sun within the backyard. If not possible, accompany them in seeing outside surroundings even for a while,” she added.
