{"id":35691,"date":"2023-03-17T11:15:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T18:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/?p=35691"},"modified":"2025-03-05T14:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T22:42:17","slug":"how-to-talk-kids-global-water-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/clean-water-news-stories\/how-to-talk-kids-global-water-crisis","title":{"rendered":"How to talk to kids about the global water crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Helping our children develop empathy for others is an important part of parenting. According to Harvard researchers<\/a>, identifying feelings and talking about what children deal with in other parts of the world can help our kids develop empathy for people in need. Talking also helps our kids gain an appreciation for the privileges we have simply because we live in a developed country. Get tools and ideas for how to talk to your kids about the global water crisis<\/a> and help them develop empathy for people in need.<\/p>\n

Explaining the global water crisis to my daughter<\/h2>\n
\"African<\/a>
5-year-old Grace walked every day to collect dirty water from this pond. World Vision helped her get access to clean water in 2019. (©2017 World Vision\/photo by Jon Warren)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I remember the day our copy of the Spring 2018 World Vision<\/em> magazine arrived in the mail. The cover showed 5-year-old Grace in Uganda getting water out of a dirty pond<\/a>. My (then) 3-year-old daughter, Ruby, looked at the photo and asked, “What is she doing?” We were standing in our newly remodeled kitchen, where Ruby can get her own cup, and walk over to the refrigerator and get filtered water for herself if she’s thirsty. (And then promptly spill it, but that’s beside the point.)<\/p>\n

“Well,” I explain, “this little girl is just a couple years older than you, and she can’t just walk over to the fridge to get clean water at her house. She has to walk a long way and fill her jug with water from this pond and carry it all the way back to her house. I’ll bet that’s a lot of work.”<\/p>\n

“Yeah,” says Ruby.<\/p>\n

“That water doesn’t look very clean, does it?” I say. “Would you want to drink that water?”<\/p>\n

“No,” she says.<\/p>\n

“That water has some bad bugs in it that make her sick. That makes me feel sad,” I say. “I think that makes God feel sad too.”<\/p>\n

“I feel sad too,” says Ruby.<\/p>\n

“Do you think we should do something to help?” I ask.<\/p>\n

“Yeah,” says Ruby.<\/p>\n

Getting the global water crisis conversation started<\/h2>\n

Start by looking at photos about the water crisis<\/a> and then watching this video with your kids, and then ask them a few questions.<\/p>\n