Why kids need to talk about their stress

What stress?

Adults do not have a monopoly on stress. Kids may not have bills to pay, a job to get to, or a broken down car to fix, but they still feel worry and overwhelm from events, challenges, and even from within. 

Stress can come from outside sources like a demanding parent or teacher, or being too busy to relax and enjoy some playtime. Any changes that happen to a child’s life can be very stressful as well, such as an illness in the family, divorce, or moving to a new school. Stress can also come from expectations kids place on themselves like getting straight A’s or being popular. Kids may also take on their parents’ stress or troubling stories they hear and see on TV and radio. 

As parents and caregivers, it’s important for us to earnestly listen, empathize, and understand the stressful issues that surface for our kids. It’s important to remember that kids and adults have different perspectives. A child’s stressful situation may look very minor and unimportant to us, but kids need us to engage and allow them to tell us what they need to get back to being happy and healthy.

Can we talk?

It can be difficult to recognize when your child is stressed. There are many symptoms that could be clues to a stressed out child including:

• Mood swings
• Acting out
• Trouble sleeping, or sleeping more than usual
• Bed wetting
• Frequent stomachaches or headaches
• New nervous habits like picking at their skin, twirling their hair, or thumb-sucking
• Over reacting to minor situations
• Changes in school participation or performance 
• Being scared or excessively clingy

Depending on their age, kids may lack the words to describe what is bothering them. Sitting them down and asking “What is the matter?” will often yield meaningless answers. Showing an interest in them is a good start. KidsHealth.org recommends parents “notice out loud” that a child may be processing negative feelings as in, “It seems like you might still be worried about ______”. This is a good way to open a conversation without putting your child on the spot. It also shows you are paying attention and you are interested and ready to listen.

Rocketoons to the rescue!

Kids may not feel comfortable coming right out and talking about themselves. They will have a much easier time talking about Charlie the Pumpkin’s stress when he was the last picked pumpkin in the patch. Rocketoons cover fifteen different stressful topics:

1. Being over scheduled
2. Moving to a new school
3. Bullying
4. Using social media
5. Being the last one picked
6. Cyberbullying
7. Skipping school
8. Being resilient and not giving up
9. Talking about mental health
10. Learning how to be assertive
11. Dealing with negative social media
12. Dealing with the loss of a loved one
13. Dealing with divorce
14. Practicing mindfulness
15. Healthy eating

Charlie and Stella from Episode 5

The short four-minute cartoon introduces the topic, giving kids situations to talk about, characters they can relate to, and useful language to start the conversation about the emotions surrounding the topic. Each episode includes a Cartoonversation Card that helps spur the conversation (Cartoonversation) with five thought-provoking questions, five facts on the topic, and five online resources to dig deeper into the topic.

Once the child starts talking, the most important thing we can do is listen to understand. Remember, we can’t fix everything and teaching them to find solutions and process their stress will increase their self-esteem and improve their resilience. With younger children we can also help them improve their understanding of their own feelings by teaching them the words for different emotions and to recognize and distinguish between different emotional states.

​Help your kids/students become better communicators and better stewards of their own emotional states by watching a cartoon and having a Cartoonversation. 

To watch Rocketoons simply enter your county and state (eg. orangeca). 
Rocketoons are available advertisement-free! We use county and state information to effectively honor our generous sponsors who make Rocketoons free for every one in North America!