How do you talk to your children about election anxiety? Baltimore doctor urges healthy conversations.
BALTIMORE -- Even though children can't vote, they can still be impacted by the anxiety of the election and the looming results.
Dr. Matt Edelstein, a clinical psychologist with Kennedy Krieger Institute, says parents should discuss the emotions of election season with their children.
"Acknowledge their stress," Edelstein said. "It validates their feelings and helps them connect what they are feeling to what's really happening in the world."
Edelstein says children can feel stress over the election, especially if they see how their parents handle their emotions.
"We should take that seriously and highlight there are other ways for people to handle stressful situations," Edelstein said.
Edelstein recommends that parents encourage healthy conversations and manage media exposure, which can be overwhelming.
"What's important is that we explain our emotions to our kids and model how we can have emotions and still be regulated and rational," Edelstein said.
Understanding election outcomes is also important, and parents should guide children through results and foster resilience, according to Edelstein.
"There is a lot of polarization happening, but at the end of the day, after the election, these are still our neighbors, friends and classmates, so we have to be able to be upset and displeased for the way they are voting and acknowledge that's not all of who they are," Edelstein said.
