Child health experts: Kids need joy right now - Press Herald

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Nearly a year into the pandemic, it can be hard for anyone to remember what life was like before the isolation, the fear and the stress.

Imagine experiencing all this as a 10-year-old. Or a 6-year-old.

“They might feel like this is the way life will be forever,” said Rebecca Hoffman-Frances, senior director of Clinical Innovation and Training at Maine Behavioral Healthcare.

Hoffman-Frances is an expert on childhood trauma, and a big part of her job right now is helping families understand how the pandemic is affecting Maine children and how to help them through it.

A key partner in that effort is Steve DiGiovanni, a pediatrician and expert on adverse childhood experiences who is medical director for the Maine Medical Center Outpatient Clinics.

And what they are seeing and hearing from Maine families is reason for both concern and hope.

A big concern is the stress level that some families are experiencing.

“If there is a ton of fear and anxiety, … kids are going to feel that, too,” said Hoffman-Frances.

Events related to the pandemic such as job loss and unemployment, homelessness or an illness or death can generate toxic stress in a family, and that can harm a child’s health and brain development.

“The amount of stress that’s injected into a family unit can start to overwhelm,” said DiGiovanni.

What’s hopeful, however, is that children are resilient and can be protected from that kind of stress. And, the experts said, the families they work with are doing many things right to prevent it.

Parents, for example, are countering the isolation by preserving personal connections, and they’re building new routines to replace the old ones, they said.

Hoffman-Frances and DiGiovanni also agreed there is another simple tool that can help children at times like this: joy.

And that’s were the Press Herald Toy Fund comes in.

Making sure children have a holiday gift or a new toy to play with may seem unimportant with so many other needs, but it can make a powerful difference to a child, as well as a family, they said.

“If you are providing toys for these families, it will significantly reduce their stress,” said DiGiovanni.

And a toy is no small thing for 6-year-old or a 10-year-old, especially in the middle of pandemic.

“The biggest job they have is to play and have fun. It’s important to their development,” said Hoffmann Frances.

And, she said, “Kids need joy right now.”

• THE PRESS HERALD TOY FUND in the Spirit of Bruce Roberts uses donations from readers to provide toys to thousands of Maine children who might otherwise not receive holiday gifts because of hardships faced by their parents. Now in its 71st year, the fund is accepting applications for toys from needy families in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Androscoggin, Lincoln and Knox counties.

• DONATIONS to help buy the toys can be made at pressheraldtoyfund.org or by writing checks to the Portland Press Herald Toy Fund and mailing them to the fund at P.O. Box 7310, Portland, ME 04112.

• FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 791-6672 or go to: pressheraldtoyfund.org.

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