NORFOLK, Va. — For kids and adults alike, it's not easy to avoid the rumors about some of the recent threats involving schools around Hampton Roads.
Dr. Kristie Norwood, a local licensed clinical psychologist, said while it's important to address those rumors, it's all a balancing act.
First, Dr. Norwood said to assess where the child is developmentally and think about how much new information they can handle.
Watch: Superintendent of VBCPS addresses 'rash' of social media threats on schools
Next—address the rumors and correct the misinformation. This is where the balancing act comes in.
"When we think about isolated situations, even though they may be cropping up more frequently globally, when we look at children going to school, typically this is not happening, and so it's helping our children not function from a place of solely fear, but also balancing that with the reality of these experiences do happen," Dr. Norwood told News 3's Jay Greene. "But they're not happening every single day. And these are the parameters that we can put in place and that we have put in place to keep you safe, to keep you well as you go forth with your education."
Watch: Teens murders, school threats highlighted during Newport News school board meeting
Dr. Norwood said it's normal—for kids and adults—to have heightened levels of fear or anxiety when something scary happens at school. But it's healthy for parents, teachers and the community to talk to kids about how they're doing using questions that are open-ended yet specific.
"So not just 'How was your day?' but 'Tell me about your day'. 'What emotions came up for you today? What happened today that brought you joy? What happened today that brought you discomfort?' Norwood said. "That way, you open the door for kids to learn that it's okay to have these emotions and we can sort of navigate them together."
Watch: How to talk with your kids about possible threats and how to stay safe at school
Too much anxiety, Dr. Norwood said, could lead to restless nights or could contribute to lower grades.
"Are they typically consistently engaged in the group chat with their friends, and all of a sudden they're pretty isolated and disconnected?" Dr. Norwood said. "We want to look at that as a week time span, a two week time span, so we can start to see is this kind of their shift in functioning, or is this just sort of an off day."
