September 2020 National Preparedness Month – Week #4

9/20/2020 (Permalink)

September 2020 National Preparedness Month – Week #4

Week #4 – September 20^th-26^th, Goal: Teach Youth About Preparedness

Through the month, we have encouraged families to work through activities together, and make sure that your children have been exposed to what you are doing. While it is very important to include them, you may want to take note if anyone gets upset or scared. The goal of being prepared is to help everyone feel more at ease, not scared of anything that could happen. Taking the time and note any negative feelings surfacing, and addressing those could make the difference for your children. One of the best/easiest ways to help ease their nerves is to make sure they understand what to do, and where to find you in any situation. Another plus of working through any scared or negative feelings is that once they are comfortable, they are a lot less likely to freeze up during a real emergency.

Making sure your entire family is comfortable and confident is the goal of this week!

Another great resource to help young children all the way up through the teenage years is www.ready.gov/kids. They not only have a lot of great information for the while family, but they also have age appropriate games for younger children that can help ease nerves. For your older children, they have ways to be involved with the community and get hands on experience for any future disasters. There are also activities for the entire family to do together, which may be a great way to break the ice when talking about these tough topics!

If you are a teacher and are looking for ways to talk to your students about being prepared, use ready.gov as a resource!  

Thank you for joining us during National Preparedness Month! Remember to continually update your plans, be proactive, and join us again next year!