Navigating Uncertain Times with Kids

By Teddy Kellam 

Children tether us to the future. And children of today have a future that is being shaped by the polycrisis - an intertwining of climate & ecological, social, structural, political, geopolitical and economic predicaments happening all at once. 

Mental health responses to the overlapping crises include heightened fear, worry, discomfort, guilt, anger, outrage and despair and numbness among adults, and increasingly among young people.  In fact, a 2021 study of 10,000 youth across ten countries found 84% of young people to be moderately worried about the climate crisis, and 45% reporting that climate anxiety negatively affects their daily lives and functioning (Marks et al.). 

During these unprecedented times, it helps to turn to the work of eco-philosopher Joanna Macy. Joanna, the founder of Work That Reconnects who recently became an ancestor, who has been beloved worldwide for decades. Dr. Macy explained that with all we’re facing,  climate distress or world grief is actually a healthy response to the predicaments we face and to the suffering we are witnessing or learning about. It’s a symptom of sanity. Our worries grow out of our deep love for the world. 

Unsurprisingly, those worries also stem from our deep love for our children. Yet when we have unspoken and unacknowledged emotions about the world or the future, we stay stuck in some version of flight, flight or freeze: overwhelm, emotional paralysis, avoidance, outrage without forward motion, denial or other unhelpful states. When we don’t do our inner work, it makes it hard to really show up for kids the way we would want to.

With that in mind, parents, grandparents, caregivers and educators often ask: What should I do? Here are some time-tested strategies for doing your own work as an adult, in order to better show up for the kids in your life during uncertain times. Some are more inward-focused for increased resilience, and others are more outward-focused for community-building and action.  

1. Name your Feelings. Putting feelings into words produces  therapeutic effects on the brain: it calms the amygdala-the alarm system in the brain-and opens access to the prefrontal cortex where we find wisdom and clarity (Lieberman et al, UCLA). We also become more spacious - a better refuge for the children and teens in our lives who need to process their own feelings about the world. 

2. Build solidarity. We cannot do this kind of work alone. Sharing your emotions in a heartfelt way with someone who cares invites positive outcomes: becoming more flexible and less reactive in stressful situations, increasing tolerance for difficult feelings in self and others, reminders that we are not alone in our distress, and a lowered risk for burnout - all powerful outcomes for people with kids in their lives. It requires courage to be vulnerable with others in a group, and at the same time it can be a life-changing way to support your mental health (and therefore the children in your life) in these uncertain times. As humans we are not wired to carry the weight of the future by ourselves. We need community and connection. And social solidarity is linked to collective action. 

3. Nourish Yourself. Resource your resilience with grounding, gratitude, beauty, rest and joy. These are not fluffy pursuits during uncertain times - they are protective and essential. Because our biological makeup has us wired to scan our environment for what’s wrong, it takes effort to settle the body, to notice what we are grateful for, to seek beauty, take breaks and to find delight these days. When we put more ease into our nervous systems with these enlivening practices, we are better prepared to navigate the hard things that come, and to take meaningful action.

4. Take Meaningful Action. Dr. Joanna Macy recommended that we try to take action on an ongoing basis in each of three areas: slowing down or stopping harm (protecting the environment, vulnerable humans, and the more than human world), building what we need more of in the world (primarily community & connection), and shifting values & perceptions (realizing how we are all connected). There is so much family-friendly, age-appropriate action we can take-and have fun while we’re at it.

Naming feelings. Building solidarity. Nourishing yourself. Taking Meaningful Action. It’s a road map for uncertain times. 

If these ideas are inspiring you to learn more, you are invited to explore up upcoming offerings in collaboration with the Parent Engagement Network: 

Supporting Youth in Uncertain Times: A Talk about the Basics
Free Webinar

Looking for climate action that makes sense for your family? As trusted adults, we want to help kids feel safe and hopeful. In the face of climate uncertainty, how do we offer a sense of security? Do you want to inspire hope in children, but struggle with it yourself? Are you unsure how to talk to children about the climate crisis in a way that’s honest and age-appropriate? Are you wondering how to nurture resilience so they’re prepared for changes ahead?

This 75-minute virtual discussion will cover the basics of building climate resilience in your family. What you will learn:

• Grounding practices to share with your kids

• An understanding of how to have the hard conversations

• Support in taking meaningful action

Rootstock Training
Free Program

In this 3-week workshop series focused on supporting youth in uncertain times, the Climate Emotional Resilience Institute (CERI) team will slow down and take a deeper dive into building climate resilience. Together, you’ll explore undoing aloneness, tolerating difficult emotions, holding gratitude amidst uncertainty, and finding purpose in these times. Using a blend of grounding practices, evocative writing prompts, heart-centered sharing, poetry, neuroscience-backed approaches and well-curated resources, you will build inner capacity that supports resilience in children.

• You will take home:

  • Skills & scripts for ongoing climate conversations with kids of all ages

  • Developmental approach that meets kids by age and stage

  • Ideas for family-friendly activism

  • Develop a focus for your own unique path in climate action

  • Neuroscience-backed practices to promote emotional resilience

  • Grounding exercises to share with children

  • Opportunities to metabolize climate distress and build adult resilience