BACK 2 SCHOOL: Helping kids cope with a sense of loss

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - As children face an unconventional school year, they may be feeling a sense of loss.

Prevea Health Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Lisa Tutskey says families have back-to-school rituals. That includes shopping, meeting the teacher and picking out a first-day outfit. That’s different for some this year as they start with virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kids may have lost out on a chance to participate in activities and play with their friends.

Tutskey says it is natural for children to grieve those losses in their own way.

“And allow for the different emotions that come with that. Sometimes people are sad, but grief doesn’t always look like sad,” says Tutskey. “Sometimes it looks like anger or irritability or coulda, shoulda, woulda sort of things -- like why can’t it be this way? Or why does it have to be this way?”

Tutskey says talk to your children and show empathy. Let them know you have similar feelings.

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