No, there is not a threat to your child because of their participation in QUEST.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I can get on to the reason I chose this topic. If your children are anything like mine, and based on any number of conversations I’ve had with many of you over the last several years I know that they are, your kids have been asking about the Swine Flu, now being referred to by the WHO as H1N1 influenza A. It’s hard to miss hearing or reading something about the topic in recent days, and coverage is only seeming to intensify as news of possible cases in this area has been reported. Talk of a pandemic can be emotionally stressful to all of us, but highly capable kids can be particularly vulnerable.
SENG, a national organization dedicated to Supporting the Emotional Needs of Gifted, can be an excellent resource for parents in times like this. Last year, ABC helped to coordinate and sponsor a SENG group in Puyallup, and we may consider doing that again in the future. Among the many topics that were discussed was the increased sensitivity our children may have to events like those in today’s headlines. The SENG website has many resources available to parents, and one such resource is an article on “Troubling Times: How Parents and Teachers Can Help Children Understand and Confront Adversity.”
As parents, we may not have all the answers that our children want. We can, however, provide our children the emotional support they need in times of stress. If you’d like to discuss this, or any other issue relating to parenting your highly capable child with other parents in the same situation, ABC has created a new resource for you. Please register for our new forum where highly capable parents can communicate with other highly capable parents about the sorts of issues that make parenting our children different.
