(LEX 18) — A Kentucky psychologist is speaking out about the psychological impact bomb threats can have on children and teenagers — and she knows firsthand what it feels like as a parent.
Dr. Christal Badour, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, said her second-grade son's school, Ashland Elementary, received a bomb threat last Friday. She said she picked him up and made time to help him feel safe.
"I picked him up, we had a long conversation and just kind of cleared the decks for the day so that we could spend some...meaningful time together to help him feel like he was safe after that happened," Badour said.
The threat was one of many across Central Kentucky last week. Badour said that whether a threat is credible or not, it is still a frightening experience for young people.
"We want to make sure that we present as adults, calmly and being able to talk to them about that," Badour said. "We don't want to pretend that it wasn't a scary situation."
She said the best approach for parents is to let their child lead the conversation.
"Really letting kids lead the conversation with (asking) what do you know about what happened? How are you feeling about what happened? Answering questions so that they have enough information and so that they can really understand what happened and they can talk to parents and caregivers about how they're feeling and ways that they can feel safe," Badour said.
Badour also encouraged parents to remind their children that school is a safe place.
"What we can do is talk about the fact we do everything we can to prepare for situations that could be dangerous. They do drills in school, the teachers are all prepared, there are often police officers that work at the school, all their job is making sure kids are safe if anything were ever to happen," Badour said.
She said parents should watch for behavioral changes in their children following a threat. Younger children may become clingier, have trouble sleeping, or seem withdrawn, while older kids and teenagers may be less willing to talk openly.
"Certainly in younger kids I see kids being a lot more clingy especially around bedtime and when things get quiet and their thoughts might get going in their mind. They might have a hard time sleeping, they might be a little more withdrawn, not as excited or engaged in things. And when we think about older kids and adolescents, they may have a harder time talking about it and so it might be more important to just kind of monitor their behavior and see if they're willing to talk about it," Badour said.
Badour said it is equally important for parents to be aware of their own emotional responses to these situations.
"Reaching out to people who are close to you, talking with someone, and if you're finding that you're having a hard time sending your kids back to school, that might be something that's worth talking to someone about with a professional or worth seeking help down the road as well," Badour said.
