Friday night, many dinner table conversations around the United States will likely be dominated by the .
But what if the ones asking questions about the violence are the people at the table whose feet barely reach the floor, and who will be off at an elementary school of their own come Monday morning?
The world is a complex place, but parents can take measures to reassure kids who have questions about violent or scary events in the news.
Parents should start by finding out what their kids know and ask questions to gauge their feelings about the news, according to PBS and Parenting Magazine.
Both publications also suggest parents should keep their discussions about scary news simple.
"Give children the information they need to know in a way that makes sense to them," PBS writes on its parenting site. "At times, a few sentences are enough."
Parents should also offer reassurance and use scary news as an experience to teach, PBS and Parenting Magazine report.
Read more:
- PBS: Talking With Kids About News: Strategies for Talking and Listening
- Parenting Magazine: 5 Tips on Talking to Kids About Scary News
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What do you think? If you have young kids, how do you handle the topic of tragic, violent or scary news? Share your strategies in the comments section below.
Can we, as a nation, finally begin the long overdue discussion about compulsatory education in this country? I've been saying it for decades now! It is simply wrong that the government forces parents to send their children to places that are, and have been for a very long time, simply UNSAFE! Aside from the growing trend of mass shootings at schools (this is just the most recent and horrifying), there are literally thousands and thousands of reports of violence at schools in this country every day! These places are poorly equipped to deal with even the simplest types of violence, let alone the frightening reality we just got hit with ... again. I realize that older generations may remember school as some kind of amazing nostalgic wonderland of merriment, but those times are long GONE. These places are violent, bureaucratic, ineffective, underfunded, understaffed, infested with narcotics and sexual assaults (sometimes by staff), and are becoming little more than gladiatorial arenas where people learn to fear and hate each other - a lesson that they will keep throughout their entire lives. And to top it off, we force people to endure it during their most important developing years! To expect this country and/or state to continue shelling out tax dollars for something that requires increasing levels of security (which we cannot afford), is absurd and profoundly stupid.
Your children are not smarter because they go to school under this broken system, they are not becoming more intellectually competitive; they are barely even learning the basic math and language skills. Sciences and art are not even being taught in many schools nowadays, and vital skills like critical thinking and self-reliance are non-existent. Please! Let's stop this foolish course of action. It isn't working. At the very least, let's stop forcing children to endure this twelve+ year nightmare. Do you really believe that this latest tragedy is going to be the last one? This system is broken! Stop clinging to it. 80+ years of this garbage clearly shows that it doesn't work in the modern world. For the sake of your children and the future of this country (which they represent), we need to change it, completely. I know it's not easy to let go of any failed institution, but it is long past due.
I don't know how effective this Whitehouse.gov program is, but please consider signing it, and share it with as many people as you can. Thanks.