When a tragedy happens like the one that happened in Paris last Friday, the media are flooded with very impressive images, which children inevitably see. At home we usually watch the news as a family and answer the questions that arise to our daughters. Although we don't know how to give them all the answers, I think it's better to try to explain them instead of isolating children from the reality around us.
Surely these images of the attacks will have motivated talks with your children. Today it is believed that in French schools, and most likely also in other countries, there will be debates about the attacks in Paris. But, How to explain to children what terrorism is? How to get them to understand what many adults do not understand? How to avoid being afraid of something that terrifies us all?
Explain them according to their ability to understand
As we have explained at the time why a drowned baby dies trying to escape from a country at war, and other unfair news, this time we tried to explain why some terrorists indiscriminately execute innocent people while attending a concert or having dinner in a bar.
How difficult to talk with children about these issues! How to explain them without feeling fear? We all feel somewhat vulnerable to these indiscriminate attacks, and children are no exception.
The first thing they ask is if that can also happen where we live. We have explained to you that this is precisely the terrorists' way of acting: that of causing fear in society, the feeling that it can touch anyone anywhere. We also remind you of other attacks, of which we had already spoken on occasion, such as the attack on the Twin Towers or the Atocha trains.
We have explained briefly that behind there are religious and political reasons, but without going into complicated details that they at their age could not understand. We have told you that a group of people worthless of life driven by hate and fanaticism have killed more than a hundred people leaving children without parents, parents without children and many people without their loved ones.
They wondered why people went outside instead of staying in their homes safely in case the "bad guys" attacked again. We explain that You can not live with fear. That would be a way to show the "bad guys" that they have won.
He also talked about people who have managed to save themselves and the anonymous heroes of the tragedy such as security agents, firefighters, toilets, taxi drivers, or neighbors who went out to assist the injured.
To reassure them, we have told you that among all, to the extent that everyone can, we must unite to fight terrorism. Seeing the reactions of people from different cities who paid tribute to those killed in the attack, we took the opportunity to talk about values such as peace, tolerance, solidarity and of course, freedom.
Move them away from tragedies or explain them?
I definitely think that it is not positive to isolate children from the news. They have to be aware of today, but always through our filter so that they do not make fantasies or draw erroneous conclusions that can confuse them even more.
I do not say what should be done, it is simply what we do at home because we believe that It is good that our daughters are informed and develop a critical attitude to events. Always functioning as a link, or rather, filtering the explanations according to their age so that they can understand them.
My daughters, it really has been a tragedy what happened last Friday. An aberration that your innocent little heads surely are not yet able to understand.
In your homes there has also been a talk this weekend? Have you talked to your children about the terrorist attacks in Paris?
Photos | iStockphoto
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