Comments on: Do You Shield Your Kids From Tragedies Like The Aurora Shootings?

By: Ana Flores

Ana Flores — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:20:41 +0000

I agree that we should prepare them, but I definitely don’t want to expose her to unnecessary fears at her age.
Would love to find a class or tips on how to help them be prepared, but without fear.

By: Casey

Casey — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:59:58 +0000

I think that while we would like to shelter our children from violence and tragedies, we might be better serving them to prepare them on how to deal with it, both emotionally and logistically.

My in-laws did that with my husband and his siblings. They grew up in a country with a pretty high level of violence knowing what to do if one of their parents was kidnapped, whose house to go to if a bomb went off in the city, etc. It might not be the best case scenario, but I think that preparation is all we can realistically give our kids. The whole world is uncertain even in the Global North.

By: Ana Flores

Ana Flores — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 05:16:34 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing that article, Tonya. I agree that we won’t be able to shield them from what they learn outside, and if/when that does happen I’ll make sure to follow a tip I was just given to focus on the people who are helping during the tragedy. There’s always someone helping. I thought that was a great perspective!

By: Tonya

Tonya — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 17:30:14 +0000

My daughter is 5 and I won’t tell her about the Autora shooting and I am trying to protect her from hearing about the Aurora shooting. She’s a naturally anxious kid and I just don’t think she’s ready to deal with this kind of news. Of course we can’t always control what she might overhear from other children or adults. Here’s a great article from Kidpower on how to have these kinds of conversations with children.. http://kidpower.org/library/article/regain-emotional-safety/