Bob Peale
angeli ribelli
- Joined
- Sep 4, 1999
- Posts
- 10,535
Some Might Find This Helpful - How To Talk To Your Kids About Tuesday's Attack
- Thread starter Bob Peale
- Start date
dancinvixen
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2000
- Posts
- 595
I think in a way I was upset yet relieved that my daughter's school told them a little bit about what happened. My daughter is in 1st grade, when she came home I was trying to figure out how to tell her that daddy <who's army medic> might not be coming home that night cause he might be working. And she asked me if it was because the two planes that crashed into the building. I tried to firgure out how much she knew, she understood quite a bit just not why, so I told her it was done by some really mean people.
SimplySouthern
Smooth Up In Ya!
- Joined
- May 29, 2000
- Posts
- 11,775
My 6 year (who we are all convinced is a 40 year old man in a 6 year old body) told ME the whole story when he got home from school.
It seems in an effort to "ease the children's minds" at his school, they had done a "terrorist drill". As far as I can tell all this served to do was scare the children. Perhaps the 5th grade students picked up on it, but I'm afraid the smaller ones are more frightened now than they were to begin with.
For those of you not in the know, (as I was not) what a "terroist" drill consists of :
A systematic plan on what to do if terrorists invade your school. Pretty much what I gather is that the kids were worried about these "bad people" coming to their school and killing them so the administration decided to prove they could keep them safe. They have this message they will announce over the PA system if they are alerted that there are strangers in the building. "the PTA meeting is at 5 oclock" means that they are on the "watch" and that someone who doesn't belong is in the school. "The PTA meeting is at 3 o'clock" means all is well, not to worry about it. "The PTA meeting has been cancelled" means there is a terrorist attack. In the case of a terrorist attack, my son's class is to hide in the batroom and turn off the lights.
I went along with him as this seemed to enthrall him that he was part of this "plan", but I'm wondering if I'm the only one to see the flaws in this plan.
I'm wondering if this idea was a good one?
Also, my son was convinced that terrorists will invade his school. We talked about it and I think he knows more now what the real situation is. Well, as much as anyone knows.
I'm of the opinion that kids need facts...and that although they may not be able to accurately work through them alone, with some guidance from mom and dad they can understand...again, as much as anyone can understand this tragedy.
It seems in an effort to "ease the children's minds" at his school, they had done a "terrorist drill". As far as I can tell all this served to do was scare the children. Perhaps the 5th grade students picked up on it, but I'm afraid the smaller ones are more frightened now than they were to begin with.
For those of you not in the know, (as I was not) what a "terroist" drill consists of :
A systematic plan on what to do if terrorists invade your school. Pretty much what I gather is that the kids were worried about these "bad people" coming to their school and killing them so the administration decided to prove they could keep them safe. They have this message they will announce over the PA system if they are alerted that there are strangers in the building. "the PTA meeting is at 5 oclock" means that they are on the "watch" and that someone who doesn't belong is in the school. "The PTA meeting is at 3 o'clock" means all is well, not to worry about it. "The PTA meeting has been cancelled" means there is a terrorist attack. In the case of a terrorist attack, my son's class is to hide in the batroom and turn off the lights.
I went along with him as this seemed to enthrall him that he was part of this "plan", but I'm wondering if I'm the only one to see the flaws in this plan.
I'm wondering if this idea was a good one?
Also, my son was convinced that terrorists will invade his school. We talked about it and I think he knows more now what the real situation is. Well, as much as anyone knows.
I'm of the opinion that kids need facts...and that although they may not be able to accurately work through them alone, with some guidance from mom and dad they can understand...again, as much as anyone can understand this tragedy.
dancinvixen
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2000
- Posts
- 595
I agree SS. The point is not to scare the children, but to keep them from being scared. I am happy with my daughter's school. They didn't do any drills, and left it up to the teacher to decide how to tell the children. Kindergarteners knew that some bad men did something really bad, the first graders knew what happened to the buildings < my daughter wanted to watch the CNN reports and find out more, she also asked about helping people, I am so proud of her>
Dillinger
Guerrilla Ontologist
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2000
- Posts
- 26,152
In the elementary schools the teachers were told not to talk about it yesterday - the high school students were told, however.
Teachers actually rode home on the buses yesterday with the children - in case some of them didn't have parent's at home to meet them (we are close enough to NYC that a good number do work in the city)... I can only imagine how it must feel to those children who didn't have family to meet them... those who didn't have anyone to meet them were taken back to the school to wait... with councelors and psychologists...
Teachers actually rode home on the buses yesterday with the children - in case some of them didn't have parent's at home to meet them (we are close enough to NYC that a good number do work in the city)... I can only imagine how it must feel to those children who didn't have family to meet them... those who didn't have anyone to meet them were taken back to the school to wait... with councelors and psychologists...
Gilly Bean
Princess Spanky Pants
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2001
- Posts
- 7,173
My daughter just started Kindergarten a few weeks back. Last week, they did thier first fire drill. Yesterday, when I picked her up at school, she told me they had another fire drill yesterday. She didn't know anything about the attack, and I honestly had no idea what to tell her, so as far as I know, she knows very little about it. She watched some of the news with me, and asked me what was happening, and I told her simply that some bad people did someting bad that hurt some people. She just accepted tht with a childs innocence, and didn't ask any questions, or say anything else about it.
G
Guest
Guest
All you guys are immediately effected and in the US.
Theere has been similiar reaction over here in the UK. My 12 yr old son, at a boarding school, telephoned everyone he could to discuss what has happened. Our hearts are with you.
Theere has been similiar reaction over here in the UK. My 12 yr old son, at a boarding school, telephoned everyone he could to discuss what has happened. Our hearts are with you.
Silverlily
Kitty Mama - East Coast
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2000
- Posts
- 13,101
My girls are eight and nine. Their teachers not only told them about the attack, but advised us to
a. lock ours doors (hellooooo, we live between Balt. and DC, duh)
b. lock our windows (see above)
c. stay away from thw windows and don't answer the door or phone
I drew the line at c. I explained to them there are people in the world who do not like Americans and that those people have been there longer than they've been alive. Sometimes people act out their hatred and sometimes people get hurt. It is sad, but it happens. I explained to them the attacks on the Pentagon and the WTC were commited to scare us, to make us be afraid.
I then told them we will not ever live in fear. We live in the most powerful nation in the world and while no one is perfect, we are as safe as we can be. We have always taught the girls to be aware and alert. We then went to the grocery store; it was grocery store day and that wasn't going to change. We played outside, just like we always do. We did everything we would normally do.
I did point out to them the F-16s and let them see the pictures of the aircraft carriers off of Washington. I wanted them to see that despite the fact the other guy got the first punch, we are still able to defend outselves and defend ourselves well.
a. lock ours doors (hellooooo, we live between Balt. and DC, duh)
b. lock our windows (see above)
c. stay away from thw windows and don't answer the door or phone
I drew the line at c. I explained to them there are people in the world who do not like Americans and that those people have been there longer than they've been alive. Sometimes people act out their hatred and sometimes people get hurt. It is sad, but it happens. I explained to them the attacks on the Pentagon and the WTC were commited to scare us, to make us be afraid.
I then told them we will not ever live in fear. We live in the most powerful nation in the world and while no one is perfect, we are as safe as we can be. We have always taught the girls to be aware and alert. We then went to the grocery store; it was grocery store day and that wasn't going to change. We played outside, just like we always do. We did everything we would normally do.
I did point out to them the F-16s and let them see the pictures of the aircraft carriers off of Washington. I wanted them to see that despite the fact the other guy got the first punch, we are still able to defend outselves and defend ourselves well.
Last edited:
I've been thinking this over. I don't like this advice on second though. Of course I was crying. Is it normal to turn off the TV and "play with small children"? Is that what our grandparents' did when JFK was shot? Hell no. I'm glad my son knows I have a heart. I hope I didn't scare him with my natural reaction, but I think I would have had to have been pretty cold-hearted to not cry, turn off the TV, and go play.
Our kids happened to have a half day on the 11th, and being in Florida I thought it was best to let him go through the day. However, I certainly would have picked him up at 9 am had I known that they not only told the kids, but herded them into the auditorium. Apparently in case of emergency they want everyone to be together in one nice easy target. That's about as good of a plan as the "PTA meeting." In case of attack at the school...
1) bend over. . . 2) kiss your ass good-bye. . .this isn't very reassuring.
Our kids happened to have a half day on the 11th, and being in Florida I thought it was best to let him go through the day. However, I certainly would have picked him up at 9 am had I known that they not only told the kids, but herded them into the auditorium. Apparently in case of emergency they want everyone to be together in one nice easy target. That's about as good of a plan as the "PTA meeting." In case of attack at the school...
1) bend over. . . 2) kiss your ass good-bye. . .this isn't very reassuring.
Silverlily
Kitty Mama - East Coast
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2000
- Posts
- 13,101
I think kids bounce back better than we do sometimes. I kept mine home today, because neither of them slept very well last night. Obviously I was concerned they might suffering due to recent events. When I asked them why they didn't sleep last night, they told me they had both had nightmares. Immediately I went into my "this is what CNN said to do" mode and "calmly" asked what the dreams were about. Turns out they were both freaked out by an episode of Angela Anaconda involving a dummy that comes to life or something like that.
Similar threads
