Dr. Sanjay Gupta is great. I love listening to his podcast, Chasing Life. But, he misses the main point in the episode “Paging Dr. Gupta: How to Cope with The Current News Cycle.”
How to talk to your kids about the Hamas war
In the episode, Dr. Gupta and Dr. Gail Saltz from the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill-Cornell Medical College, talk about how to manage stress and anxiety and mitigate the damage from the endless stream of violent images and videos.
They get some aspects right, but they miss the main point. They miss what it means to be a parent or an educator.
What Chasing Life gets right
The podcast episode talks a lot about the role of parents in reducing stress and anxiety.
As a parent, you want to open the conversation. You want to be a trusted source. You want to help your kids, adolescents, or teens make sense of a torrent of information. You want your kids to to talk to you about their feelings.
There is also a need for “parental presence” in the conversation. You also want to set limits on their news consumption. You need to turn or pause social media. The TV does not need to be blasting non-stop.
What Chasing Life gets wrong
Keeping a handle on anxiety is vital for all of us, kids and adults. But, as a parent or an educator, your main goal is not anxiety reduction.
Your main goal is raising healthy adults who have a moral sense. Will your children be able to distinguish good from evil?
What you can do with your children
- Helping. It might be preparing packages, raising money, or writing to your Senator. Helping is empowering.
- Talking about the difference between good and evil. There is evil, but there is also good. Embracing meaning is empowering.
- Pride. Jewish people can be stubborn and should be proud. This means asserting yourself in public spaces. Standing tall is empowering.
- Being with Jewish families and in Jewish spaces. Community is empowering.
- Learning and deepening your knowledge. Are Jews indigenous to the Land of Israel? Why do Jews speak Hebrew? Knowledge is empowering.
Katriel Reichman
Working hard to match clients and therapists (therapyeverywhere.com, psychologyeverywhere.com), and enthusiastic advocate for nuanced thinking.
