SAN ANTONIO – The City of San Antonio want to help parents talk with their children about dealing with tragedy and grief amid the school shooting in Uvalde.

Weeks after the Robb Elementary shooting, many parents or guardians may still be struggling to talk with their kids about what happened.

“No child is born with an instruction manual. There’s no book you get at the hospital that says, ‘this is what you do in all these different situations,]” said Brea Moore, a Triple P Parenting specialist.

San Antonio Metro Health and the Triple P parenting program will host two free virtual seminars this week in hopes of helping parents communicate with their children about tragic events.

“Parents are always looking for more information about how to build resilience. Even before the shooting in Uvalde, there were kiddos losing their loved ones to COVID,” Moore said.

The seminars are called “After the Tragedy.” They provide parents with concrete information for answering children’s hard questions, making sense of their children’s reactions, and helping their children resolve their distress.

“To navigate those hard conversations, resolve their kiddos distress, and also be able to identify what grieving can look like in children,” Moore said.

The seminar is open to all families, especially parents, guardians, and caregivers of children age 0-12. Moore said trained counselors will run the seminars and answer parents’ questions. A seminar in English will be held Tuesday and one in Spanish on Wednesday, both from 6-8 p.m.

“It helps with social skill development, emotional skill development, but if a parent is able to create a positive learning environment, then their child is better able to develop other skills,” Moore said. With many children returning to school soon, Moore said now is a good time to have difficult conversations.

“We definitely wanted to get this information to parents before the kids went back to school so that parents can feel confident, and they can feel safe being able to have these conversations with their children,” Moore said. “As kids are back in school, just to keep that open line of communication so that parents know what they can do to help their kids feel safe.”

The Triple P parenting program supports all parents in learning skills to make parenting easier so families can spend more time enjoying each other and less time managing behavior challenges.

Parents are the first to teach about healthy relationships, set boundaries, and learn how to recognize our emotions.

“If a parent is able to create a positive learning environment, then their child is better able to develop other skills because they feel safe. It’s a safe environment to grow and to experiment, to be curious about the world,” said Moore. “We really talk a lot about building that relationship and making sure that parents are focusing in on meeting their child wherever they are.”

Click here for more information on how to register for this week’s “After the Tragedy” seminars.

Also on KSAT.com:

• Texas state police launch internal review of Uvalde response
• FULL REPORT: Read the Texas House report on Uvalde school shooting, failed police response
• Remember Their Names: KSAT honors victims of Uvalde shooting