Please note: this post contains discussion of difficult topics. For immediate assistance during a crisis, call 911. You can also text CLUB to 741-741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor with Crisis Text Line for free support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
When a celebrity passes away, it can create complicated feelings for young people. While this has always been the case, the loss of a celebrity may hit particularly close for today’s youth, who often feel more connected to their favorite actors, musicians, or sports stars because of the intimacy of social media. Additionally, the community that springs up online in the immediate wake of a tragic death can feel overwhelming and all-encompassing. As Boys & Girls Club staff, we can play an important role in supporting young people when hard things are in the news, but it can be confusing to know what to say or do.
First, take care of you. As Club staff, you have to remember to take care of your own mental, physical and emotional well-being. Grieving members will do better when they have a healthy adult providing a supportive relationship.
Don’t minimize grieving the death of a celebrity. This excellent article from Teen Vogue explains why celebrity deaths affect us. According to a therapist quoted in the piece: “They made us laugh, they made us cry, but most importantly, they helped us forget about our difficult moments when we needed it most.” If youth are experiencing grief, acknowledge those feelings as real, and don’t dismiss them as unimportant.
Create safe space for youth to process their feelings. To do this, provide a dedicated quiet space in your Club for youth to share their feelings with trusted staff and friends. This will allow them the time they may need to work through their complicated emotions around the loss. If you know that a celebrity death may be particularly meaningful for your members, take a pause to check in before program. Ask open-ended questions about how they are feeling. Open-ended questions are those that encourage conversation, and can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. This will allow youth to process their emotions and make meaning out of the experience.
Share your own experiences of grief. In some cases, you may also be experiencing a deep sense of loss about the celebrity that has passed, or you may be able to draw from other times in your life you’ve felt grief. Don’t be afraid to share how you are feeling, while being mindful not to overpower the conversation. While our focus is on helping youth to process their own thoughts and emotions, your empathy and lessons you’ve learned can let youth know that these feelings are normal.
When talking with youth about how they are feeling about a celebrity death, here are some questions you can ask:
- How are you feeling about this?
- What are some ways that they inspired you?
- Have you had someone you cared about pass away? What were some things that made you feel better then?
- How can you apply lessons you’ve learned from their life to yours?
- How can you support your friends who are also sad about this?
- What can I do to support you?
Also recognize that youth may not be ready to talk about their emotions right away. In that case, assure them that you are there for them when they are ready, and ask what you can do to support them in the meantime.
When the celebrity death is the result of suicide, special considerations for discussion may be appropriate. Learn more about having difficult conversations on mental health and handling youth disclosures in this ClubX Blog post:
If a young person shares that they have suicidal thoughts or intentions, your priority is to keep them safe. For immediate safety and life-threatening mental health concerns, call 911, and contact a parent or caregiver. If the youth is not in immediate danger of suicide, but might benefit from speaking to a trained crisis professional, consider using the Crisis Text Line by texting “Club” to 741-741 and contacting a parent or caregiver.
To learn more about how to support youth who are grieving, Boys & Girls Club staff can access resources in our Be There initiative, a comprehensive approach to help Clubs support grieving youth.
If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the current state of the world or fearful about what the future holds, text “Club” to 741741 for immediate, confidential, 24 hour support from trained crisis counselors from our friends at Crisis Text Line.
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