What to Say When Kids See Something Scary Online - Ep. 12 | Dr. Mari

Season #1 July 09, 2026

Many children are seeing frightening content online, often by accident.
In this episode, Dr. Mari shares a calm, research-informed way to talk with children using honesty, age-appropriate language, and reassurance.

You will learn one practical micro-step you can use right away:
Ask what they saw or heard, listen closely, and help them feel safe while holding both hard realities and everyday goodness.

If you want deeper support, learn more about the Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families program:
https://www.growthafterloss.com/resilient-parenting

To ask about joining:
https://www.growthafterloss.com/contact

You can also explore all resources at:
https://www.growthafterloss.com/

#ParentingTips #OnlineSafety #ChildSafety #ParentingAdvice #GrowthAfterLoss #ResilientParenting #ParentingAfterLoss #GriefSupport #FamilyWellness #ChildDevelopment

00:00 - Introduction: Kids and Scary Content Online
00:45 - Why Honest Presence Matters
01:20 - The Micro-Step: How to Talk to Your Child 01:54 - Building Resilience Together
02:13 - Join the Resilient Parenting Cohort

Episode Transcript

violence, self-harm, and death Many of our children are now seeing very frightening content online, including violent videos, stories about death, and even graphic scenes they were never meant to find? They were not even looking for, and it pops up in their feed. Surveys in the UK and in Canada show that many children and teens are now being exposed to very upsetting material, again, about violence, self-harm, and death in just a single week of scrolling.

Now, as a parent that to me is alarming organizations like the American Psychological Association and Stanford Medicine Children's Health stress that avoiding the topics about these violent things that they're seeing isn't enough. It's actually also needing for us to talk with our children, with honesty, age-appropriate language, and checking what they've already seen and know.

Not only that, we also need to reassure them about their safety to help reduce that anxiety that may up because of what they are seeing online. So here's one micro step that you can actually try as a parent or as a caregiver when scary news or videos come up in your family, in your conversation.

First, you can ask, "What have you seen or heard about this?" If this is something that comes up. And really listen. Listen to what they have to say. Then you can say Yes sometimes very hard and bad things happen in the world. Right now you are safe here with me. And even when hard things happen there are still good people in the world

there's still goodness in our every day life this is important because children need to know that, yes, even though we cannot avoid bad things sometimes, there is also still good in their lives that shows up. So you don't need perfect words. Being calm and having an honest presence that holds both bad things that happened and still good things that exist gives children a much truer less terrifying picture of the world and that's a key part of resilient parenting. in my upcoming Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families cohort, we learn a little bit more of these practices that you can share with your children because it's important for children to know that not only bad things happened, but that goodness also still exists.

you can check out more information at growthafterloss.com for the next cohort.

What to Say When Kids See Something Scary Online - Ep. 12 | Dr. Mari

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