The events of September 11, 2001, will stay with all of us forever. We’ll remember where we were when we heard the news, and remember who we were with, clinging to one another wondering what had happened. Ten years later, the wounds are still very real.
Since my child is still very young, I didn’t expect questions this year, but found myself caught off guard while driving in the car yesterday. A local radio station was playing a montage of news reports and children saying goodbye to their lost loved ones.
A little voice from the backseat said, “Mommy, why are the kids crying?” All I could tell her was that they missed their mommies and daddies. That answer was satisfactory for now; we’ll readdress it another time.
But for many of you, your children are a little older. They may see news reports, some may even remember the attacks. What do you say to them?
- Limit their exposure by television. Dr. Elisa Brown, who provided counseling for children nearby Ground Zero told my parents right after the attacks to limit televsion, and certainly news because children have a hard time dealing with the concept of videotaped footage and my think the attacks are currently happening.
- Keep lines of communication open. Allow them to ask questions and keep your answers age appropriate. Let their questions guide the conversation.
- Don’t overwhelm them. They don’t need to know everything about the events all at once.
- Don’t be afraid to talk about it. Sadly, the events are a part of reality and not talking about it doesn’t make it better because they will hear about it somewhere.
- Mention the positives — although many lives were lost, mention how many inspiring stories of survival there are, talk about great things people that survived the attacks are doing, and how it brought people together.
