#HPCMonth: Supporting young people through grief

Categories: Care.

I certainly used to. When the first Hunger Games movie came out, my unsuspecting husband took me to the movies as a distraction from a little life ended too soon, only to witness 142 minutes of ugly crying because ‘We should be protecting them – they’re just kids.’ But I’ve accepted the defeat of it – sometimes we cannot protect them, and there is no fairness to it.

At the moment my attention turns to supporting the people left behind, her friends, who are similarly too young to be dealing with this, but are left no option.

This early interaction with death is overwhelming, but a pivotal point for learning. This grief acts as a blueprint for not just how these young people process death, but their approach to the many challenges they will face in life.

If you are struggling to know how to help a teenager with their grief, know that your concern is evidence of your care. There is nothing that can make this not awful, so don’t make your aim to stop the tears, but rather to support them in what they need. Respecting their needs shows them that you believe in their ability to know what’s best for themselves. You’re doing good.

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