PROTECTING CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK. Recursos para reducir la violencia y el abuso.

RESOURCES TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AND ABUSE.

Hay traducción automática al Español.

COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. As we continue to navigate this rapidly evolving situation, it is essential to stay informed on the latest news, updates and resources around the virus and its effect on children. As a global partnership, we are here to share the latest evidence, data and information to protect children from COVID-19 and the related risk of violence.
COVID-19 is having both short-term and far-reaching implications for our families, friends and colleagues. It also has an impact on our work, and will affect the achievement of our shared vision of a world without violence against children. As the virus continues to spread across the world, we are all facing multiple new stresses, including physical and psychological health risks, school and business closures, family confinement, isolation and economic vulnerability. Through all of that, children are particularly vulnerable.
For example, high-stress home environments will increase the likelihood of domestic violence and abuse that children either experience or observe. As children continue to spend time at home, they will undoubtedly live more of their lives online -- and adults working remotely could more easily connect with children and consume child sexual abuse material. In addition, over time, economic vulnerability may lead to increases in child labour, child marriage and many other child protection issues. 
Below, you will find resources to protect children, protect yourself, and stay informed of the latest information on COVID-19. Please check this page regularly to access a continued stream of resources as the situation evolves, and view and use our social media kit to share messages widely with your audiences. Both of these resources will be updated daily as the situation evolves. 
If you would like to share resources with the End Violence community, please send them to Elissa at elissa.miolene@end-violence.org.

Children       Adults       Learn      Respond

Childen:
Practice healthy parenting to get through the crisis. To help parents interact constructively with their children during this time of confinement, these six one-page tips for parents cover planning one-on-one time, staying positive, creating a daily routine, avoiding bad behaviour, managing stress, and talking about COVID-19.

• One-on-one time: School shutdown is also a chance to make better relationships with our children and teenagers. One-on-One time is free and fun. It makes children feel loved and secure and shows them that they are important.
• Keeping positive: It's hard to feel positive when our kids or teenagers are driving us crazy. We often end up saying “Stop doing that!” But children are much more likely to do what we ask if we give them positive instructions and lots of praise for what they do right.
• Structure up: COVID-19 has taken away our daily work, home and school routines. This is hard for children, teenagers and for you. Making new routines can help.
• Bad behaviour: All children misbehave. It is normal when children are tired, hungry, afraid, or learning independence. And they can drive us crazy when stuck at home.
• Keep calm and manage stress: This is a stressful time. Take care of yourself so you can support your children.
• Talking about COVID-19: Be willing to talk. They will already have heard something. Silence and secrets do not protect our children. Honesty and openness do. Think about how much they will understand. You know them best.

Share these tips widely with your social channels by using our social media messages, which can be downloaded on the sidebar to the right of this text. 
Talk to children about COVID-19. Use this guide, which was developed by UNICEF, and this guide, which was developed by the WHO and partners, to speak to children about the virus and its current and potential impact. 

• Use this new comic book produced by National Public Radio to help children understand the outbreak and how it is affecting those they love. Available in both English and Chinese (simplified). 
• Print out this colouring book, which your children can colour while they learn about COVID-19. It was created by Together at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Keep positive by showing your children how other young people are coping with isolation. On this page, you can see how young people are continuing to learn, hope and grow amidst the crisis. 
Cope with stress during the outbreak. The WHO has released two helpful resources for coping with stress regarding COVID-19: one for adults and another for children.

• Help children cope with the outbreak by using this brief, created by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. It lays out how to help children of various ages, including pre-school aged children, ages 6-12, and ages 13-18. 

Protect children's safety online with resources from:

• Thinkuknow, including parent helpsheets for both primary- and secondary-aged children.
• The FBI's Safe Online Surfing (SOS) programme teaches students in grades 3 to 8 how to navigate the web safely. It is available in English and Spanish.
• The Family Online Safety Institute's tool for good digital parenting. 
• This article from Australia's eSafety Commissioner, which provides guidance on protecting children from online threats during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Solve for school closures by accessing distance learning solutions. UNESCO has a list of up-to-date educational applications and platforms to facilitate student learning at home or away from school. For more resources:

• Access hundreds of free animated lessons for children from TED-Ed. If you're an educator, learn more about how to create your own TED-Ed lessons. And check out this helpful round-up of TED-Ed lessons about understanding the outbreak of a virus.
• PBS Kids is offering resources for online learning targeting children from age 2-8.
• National Geographic Kids provides learning experiences for children of all ages. 
• Khan Academy has created schedules for parents to support their children at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. Visit their website for resources and schedules for children of all ages. 
• Scholastic is offering day-by-day projects to keep children learning and growing at home. There are various activities by age, from children in preschool to those in ninth grade. 
• TypingClub offers free activities for children age 7 and up to improve their typing abilities.

Entertain your children through Education for Justice (E4J), UNODC's initiative to help parents support and entertain their children at home. UNODC has launched programming for children, al lof which is available in a multitude of languages. This package includes: 

• The Zorbs, an animated video series that tells the story of an imaginary planet and its inhabitants who overcome a range of challenges thanks to core values and skills promoted under E4J.
• Zorbify, a comic creator tool that encourages children to build meaningful stories in an engaging, creative way. 
• The Zorbs lesson plans, which include family activities to do together with children
• the Zorbs comic books, colouring books, and a children's book
• Chuka, a mobile game addressing gender-based violence, along with an accompaniying parents' guide and comic book
• The Online Zoo, a book on online safety for children

Keep children active and physically healthy through virtual resources, including:

• GoNoodle, which offers free movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. 
• Review and add to this shared list of activities compiled by parents, for parents. This list can be sorted by age, degree of parental involvement, educational benefit, screen time, cost and more. 

Know who to call for help. Stress, health outcomes and economic pressure could lead to an increase in domestic violence and child abuse. Child Helpline International is a worldwide network of 173 helplines across the world. On their website, you can search for the helpline in your country and call to raise child protection issues with national authorities.