Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > July > 27 > Entry
What to tell the kids?
During the Iraq War, the news junkie in me just took over. I watched CNN nearly every waking, non-working moment. Inevitably, my then five-year-old daughter would plop down in the chair next to me.
And the question was, what to do? Turn the war off or try to explain what was going on? And if you explain, how honest should you be?
I decided then on a policy of honesty in nearly all circumstances. It was the route that made me feel most comfortable. But I’m not always sure I made the right choice.
She had lots of questions and for the most part, she did not seem especially freaked out. But then Sadaam Hussein disappeared. I kept telling her not to worry, that eventually we’d capture him. But she seemed overly concerned. One day she asked, “if they can’t find him in Iraq, could he be in Ohio?” Absolutely not, I said. “What about California?” she asked.
It was then I realized that in her world, there really were just three places — Her home (Ohio), Her grandparents’ home (California) and the place she watched on TV (Iraq). If Sadaam couldn’t be found in Iraq, to her it seemed perfectly rational that he might be hiding out in Ohio or California.
I thought about this issue today as I read a post by my colleague Margo Rutledge Kissell, who writes about military life both in the paper and her blog On the Homefront.
Margo discusses the struggles of explaining events on the news to her four-year-old son. She also points us to some useful tips for talking to kids about war and terrorism from New York University.
I still like my honest policy, although sometimes explaining events on the news can be tricky. And I do censor the worst stories. On the other hand, I’m a firm believer that talking to kids about the world, current events and history can help them learn.
What’s your strategy in these situations?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Young Children
Comments
By Ms. Cornelius
July 27, 2006 6:00 PM | Link to this
Make sure you know exactly what your little one is asking (sometimes, what you understand the question to mean is different from what he or she understands it to be). Be truthful. Build an analogy from something your little one knows. Only give as many details as will satisfy your little one.