Many children are afraid right now. Like you, they have ready access to the 24/7 news cycle via their smartphones or their friends or their friends’ parents. Your child probably knows more about what’s going on with the pandemic and political stress than you think, and she is probably afraid.

You may feel helpless in the face of these fears, but you’re not.

I’ve often written about the difference between reactive and proactive parenting. Reactive parenting reacts to a situation at hand and scrambles for a spontaneous answer or solution. Proactive parenting plans ahead so that when a tough moment arises, you are ready with an action plan or words of comfort.

When it comes to your child’s fears, it is best to be proactive rather than reactive. Anticipate your child’s fears and questions and decide how you will respond. Here are a few ways you can do this.
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1. Initiate conversation.

Don’t wait until your child comes to you. As I said, kids are seeing images and updates on social media, and their friends are talking, so they are already thinking about the pandemic or that day’s big news event. Initiating discussion won’t put ideas or fears in their…