Preparing Kids for Emergencies

There is increased interest in Concord about Y2K due to the neighborhood  initiativearound preparedness. With neighbors meeting together all over town, kids are noticingtheir interest. It is therefore vital parents and children talk about the subject.

Older kids, say 8-15 years old, may respond with pure delight to the possibility that inan emergency school could be closed. Younger children may simply be anxious about Y2K assomething they do not understand. As in any time of uncertainty, it is best to try andexplain
what it is all about. Involve your children in all that you do to prepare to help toalleviate their fears.

The following are tips on what you can do to involve all members of the family before andduring any emergency situation, be it Y2K, a hurricane, blizzard, or something else.

For older kids (8-15)
•Kids often know more than their parents do about computers. Ask them to explain Y2Kto you! •Involve them intimately in preparedness activities. Ask them to assist youwith research on the Internet into alternative heating, storing water, cooking with asolar oven. Use this research to help make decisions about the level of preparedness yourfamily feels
comfortable with and the development of a family emergency plan. •Assign familymembers different tasks in the emergency plan. •Have children make lists of what youmight want to have on hand in an emergency and agree on a place to keep these items.•Take a class together that could help you prepare: hearthside cooking at the ConcordMuseum, Emergency Preparedness or Health and Wellness classes at Concord’s Adult andcommunity Ed. •Have them make a list of the things the family would need to take to ashelter if the need arose. •Empower your children by asking them to think of waysthey could help neighbors in an emergency situation. •Kids and parents can look atthe Federal Government’s Y2K Youth Education site.

For younger children (2-7)
•Play “Black Out” one evening. Turn out all the lights in the house justbefore sunset and get out flashlights and battery powered radios. Make up games to playwith the flashlights and radio. Spend at least two hours with all lights and the TV turnedoff. •Ask the kids what they
would do first if the power ceased. Then have everyone act that out. •Try a daywithout electricity in your house. This requires forethought and is a good exercise foranyone. Plan alternatives to TV and electricity dependent cooking. •Help you childprepare a list of foods
they like that do not need refrigeration. Afterwards, have them help you prepare a snackor meal containing some of those foods.

During an Emergency
•Acknowledge your child’s fears if they are anxious. •Have a few new inexpensivetoys, books, and craft supplies put away in a closet in a plastic storage bin. Should theelectricity go out for an extended period or school be closed it could be very helpful tohave a few new distractions. •If your neighbors do the same thing you can each switchthese boxes between households every day or two for a whole new set of toys! •Keep onhand a copy of a book that describes the life of children in the 18th or 19th centurybefore electricity. Have your child read the book while they are experiencing the samethings these kids lived
through. Orchard House and the Concord Museum Gift Shops have such books.

Be creative and remember that situations stressful to you can be hard on children as well.Try and find out what their concerns are –sometimes just hearing what’s on their mindscan make their anxiety level drop. Help them remember you and they are not helpless in theface of an emergency and it will be a lesson remembered for a lifetime.

Click here: Preparing Kids for Emergencies
http://www.concordma.com/magazine/octnov99/kidsy2k.html