There have always been two kinds of children: Those who are excited about returning to school and their friends, and kids who dread the end of summer and the drudgery of work and routine. Regardless of which camp yours fall into, they may be expressing anxiety about the possibility of shootings.
Parents may be at a loss about how to talk with their kids and answer their questions. When we were in school, we dealt with unpleasant situations; unfair or mean teachers, difficulty grasping the work, bullying, general dislike of going to school. Those of us who started school in the early ’60s remember drills in which we hid under our desks in the event of a nuclear attack. But it never happened. It remained a concept, not our reality.
According to Education Week, there have been 8 schools shootings this year leading to injury or death. While the chance of this happening in your children’s schools is extremely low, statistically, you may be unsure how to talk with your kids about this frightening prospect. You don’t want to ignore their concerns. At the same time, you don’t want to escalate their fears, either. It’s doubly hard to know what to say when, every morning, you pray they will come home safely.
Here are 11 tips for talking to your children about school shootings: