Children: don’t cover up the truth

Children: don’t cover up the truth

We don’t want children to be afraid but there are things they should be afraid of and we have to be truthful about that.

So says Debbie Duncan, an advanced nurse practitioner and lecturer in nursing, in her CRE At Home 2020 seminar Supporting emotional wellbeing in children. Highlighting some of the important problems to overcome – particularly children under nine – Debbie calls for our conversations to be honest, transparent and open.

She also encourages us to use the Bible as a guidebook, pointing to passages that are helpful in explaining some of life’s problems and calls for a positive approach. 

‘It is necessary to help youngsters identify who they can trust, bearing in mind that parents are not always the first choice when children want to talk through a problem,’ says Debbie, who is married to Rev Malcolm Duncan. ‘They need godly people they can trust to give good advice.

‘They might be concerned because they are not allowed to play with friends or because they have to wear face masks but these are problems which can be talked through. We don’t want children to be afraid, but there are things they should be afraid of and we have to be truthful about that.’

Debbie is author of Brave, The Art of Daily Resilience and The God Cares series from Lion Hudson. She has also authored more than 50 professional nursing journal articles and two textbooks in nursing.

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• Lion Hudson are exhibiting at CRE National 2021 (12-14 Oct, Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey)

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