K-State Research and Extension

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Tag: Child and Youth

Helping Children Cope with Tragedy

Posted on by Marci Metz

Natural disasters, family changes such as divorce, death, serious injury, or community violence can be traumatic for both children and adults. Everyone needs time to process traumatic events. Children often experience disasters differently than adults and they need to have developmentally appropriate explanations of them. Engage with children to help them process tragic events, practice coping skills, and build resiliency. Here are some helpful resources:

By:  Nora Rhoades

 

Fathers Matter

Posted on by Nora Rhoades

Research shows that a father’s positive efatherngagement can improve child well-being whether they live full-time with their children or not.

Fathers make important contributions to their kids’ development—and do so in ways that are different from mother’s contributions. Fathers are more likely to use advanced language around young kids, which promotes vocabulary development. Fathers also tend to prioritize rough-and-tumble play, letting kids explore, and playing more than caretaking, which establish independence and positive social skills. Positive father engagement has been linked to better outcomes on measures of child well-being, such as cognitive development, educational achievement, self-esteem, and pro-social behavior.

Positive fatherhood experiences provide great value for kids. Child Trends shares more information explaining why fathers matter at http://bit.ly/1YvwZuz.

By:  Nora Rhoades