After Donald Trump won the presidential election, Eddie Slaughter, 37, a barbershop owner, and Trump voter, in Dunedin, Fla., was celebrating. Slaughter is also a father of four.
His two older kids, who are 11 and 13, had a different reaction to the results. They came to him expressing uncertainty. "The questions were like, 'If Trump becomes president, Dad, is the world going to end?' " Slaughter recalled.
He believes social media may have fed into the anxiety. "I think my kids are very concerned about stuff that happens on TikTok," he said. The election season that saw deepening divides and mounting stress to the point of becoming toxic has ended with Trump's election.
But the stress has not ended. And some are still struggling not only to talk with each other about what happened and what's ahead, but parents, especially, are grappling with how, and even whether, to loop in the littlest listeners about the election. And they are listening.
Kids as young as age 5 "are vibing off of what they're feeling in the environment and what they're feeling probably from us, too, as parents," said Dr. Janine Domingues, a senior clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute in New York. She said kids can pick up on political stress from school, social media or television.
"And, so, to not name it and not talk about it actually can increase or heighten the anxiety," Domingues said. She is hearing about election-related stress among her young patients. "I see definitely a level of anxie.