Of course, younger children shouldn't be exposed to any more of this in the news than is possible. What about teenagers? older adolescents? You can't usually shield them from the news that is out there. With social media they are exposed as soon as we are. They know before they ever get home! Since we don't even know where this attack came from, we can't assure them that there won't be any more.
Older teenagers are also affect by these events, sometimes more than parents know. Here is the text I received from my son yesterday. He has baseball after school so this was early evening.
Son: Did you hear about the bombs that went off at the Boston Marathon?
Mom: Yes, they don't know who is responsible. (Trying to deflect the thought of mass terrorism!)
Son What is this world coming too?
Mom: Bad things have always happened. We just hear about them quicker and they have access to things that do more destruction. (Saying the world is just as safe as it was yesterday)
Son: Yeah true but people are messed up doing this kinda stuff.
Mom: Oh yes they are. Just remember that we love you. We'll be leaving to head home soon. Grandma was a little bit more aware today, but they wanted to move her so they gave her more medicine and she is out now. ( Yes, the people who commit this kind of act are messed up, but you have people who still love you and you have a stable atmosphere.)
Son: Love you too! Okay see you when you get home!
So many of our connections are through text and not voice anymore. We were at the hospital with my husband's mother so we couldn't really talk to him on the phone. I didn't want her exposed to what is going on. It would have been upsetting to her. She spends so much time watching TV anymore, and these kind of reports stress her out too!! This was just a parent trying to reassure her child. He is an adult now at the age of 18, but he is still in school and he is still affected by this as we all are.
I have been doing research for my family history for a while now and reading newspapers. I have been putting newspapers on a blog for a few months. Those papers are from 1897 and 1919.
The biggest surprise that I found was that there were bad things going on at that time. I always thought those were the "good old days", but it seems the "good old days" had their share of bad things going on. Of course, we have many more people and access to more advanced weapons, but the people really haven't changed as much as we think. They even had drug problems back then!! Terrorism seems to be a new problem.
If you are interested in reading some of the news reports they are at Indiana News From the Past. They are obituaries mainly, but they are very open about the causes of death. Apparently, they could say anything they wanted in the newspaper back then.
Here a a couple of news story: The first is from 1897 and the second from 1919. There are many more is you would like to see them.
MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE VICTIMS OF THE INCIDENT YESTERDAY IN BOSTON. MY HEARTFELT SYMPATHIES GO OUT TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO PERISHED AND THOSE WHO ARE SEVERELY INJURED.
What a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers join with yours and those of others.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, though, that we need to reassure our children (and parents!) and make our homes places of refuge.
It is hard to explain to kids why things like the Boston bombing happen. The hardest to talk about with the kids was the Connecticut shooting, but we made a point to find out how the kids were taking it and what they were thinking, without talking about it so much that we terrified them. It is a balancing act.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe there were ever any good old days when horrible people did not exist. There are just more weapons available to them now, and faster ways to spread the story.
Bad things have always happened, you are right. I didn't talk much to my kids about yesterday's tragedy; they are young and I don't have the news on at home much, if ever. I did talk to my son about the Newtown shootings because he heard something on the radio that day before we even knew what was going on; my husband was driving him home from school and hadn't heard the news yet. So we did talk to him so he could understand what he had heard. I'm glad I didn't have kids yet on 9/11, that must have been very hard. I was a high school teacher at the time and was in my classroom with kids watching it all unfold on TV. That was a horrible day to be with kids. It was very difficult. Kids need reassurance and support but sometimes it's hard to offer it when we feel unsure and scared ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your children don't have to know about these things yet! My son was in first grade when 9/11 happened. We had the tv on listening to the morning news when the planes crashed into the World Trade Centers. I took him to school that morning not knowing what was happening to our country, but I wanted him to go about routine. When I picked him up after school he said, "Mom, there are terrorists"". That was the first time he had ever heard or spoken that word. Too bad, it has become a part of our everyday language.
Delete