I had a busy and productive day at work, I attended meetings, played with kids, checked some things off my list and listen to my Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas music on my ride home. Life is good; I was happy, content and feeling good about the world around me. When I returned home and started dinner I turned on the TV and then the world became a scary place. Another mass shooting had occurred, the second in a week. Right before me, in my living room the search was happening for the third suspect, searching vehicles, buildings etc. As I write this, I don’t know what is happening as I turned the TV off. I am offended and disturbed that the media covers this in this manner and that we expose our children to these images. They are powerful imprints on a child’s brain; they are scary and difficult for a child to understand. Shoot I don’t even understand them. How do we as parents and adults help our children feel safe? First we need to STOP watching the minute by minute coverage of these unfortunately now very common events. The following blog post offers some additional ideas about to talk to your kids about scary news stories.
At the end of the blog post, the author reminds us of this advice from Mr. Rogers “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping.”
Make sure you not only make sure your child can find the helpers, teach him to be one.
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