Communicating with Children

Here are some suggestion to help your conversation about AIDS go more easily.

• Stay calm. Keep your tone simple and direct.

• Use specific, dear terms. Ask questions to make sure he or she understands what you are saying.

• If you feel uncomfortable, say so. Let them know that AIDS is too important not to talk about, even if talking's not easy or comfortable.

• Listen carefully to any questions the children might ask. These may be a clue to specific fears or areas of misinformation that you can dear up. Understanding AIDS makes it less frightening.

• If you don't know the answer, maybe you can find out together. The facts about AIDS can be confusing and working together may help your communication.

• Use the children's age and development and your own feeling as a guide about how much information to present.

• Be careful not to preach. Because AIDS is so frightening, parents and educators may be tempted to use scare tactics. Your conversation will be more successful if you simply explain your concerns and then listen to what they have to say.

• Be clear about the values you want to present.

• Make sure you talk more than once. You'll do a better job if you continue to talk about AIDS often, as the topic comes up.