35 per cent of Australian kids list war and terrorism as their biggest fear

For Australian kids, the days of worrying about monsters under the bed are long gone.

A report by World Vision has looked into what children worry about. Safety is the biggest concern, with 35% listing war and terrorism as their biggest fear.

Speaking on 3AW Mornings, child psychologist, Sally-Anne McCormack is not surprised.

‘I see a lot of children in my practice, and the things they worry about the most would be being kidnapped, dying, either themselves or others’

Ms McCormack said children see these issues everywhere, on the news and on social media.

‘They’re absorbing this information, they have no way of generalising it…children don’t have that ability to realise it’s news because it’s news…what we hear is things that are extremely rare such as kidnappings or murders…so we worry about those’

Ms McCormack said parents need to take some control and discuss their children’s fears with them.

‘Never dismiss their fears, acknowledge them, congratulate them for speaking about them, let’s get them talking rather than just thinking and worrying about these things.’

Click PLAY to hear the full discussion