The news breaking this week of the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden maybe a success story for the American military, but how exactly are you supposed to handle explaining this situation to your children when they ask you?
They've always been taught that killing is wrong, or they've heard lots of different things on the playground, so they're probably confused. The first thing you may want to do is ask them what exactly it is that they've heard at school or from friends or older siblings. In doing this, you will be able to correct any wrong information that's been relayed to them.
They may want to know why it was ok that he was killed by the government. It goes without saying that you'll want to keep them away from the gruesome details, and of course explain to your children that these events are happening elsewhere and that they are safe. You can approach further explanation of this situation depending on your own opinions but in general you may want to relay to them something about the fact that he hurt a lot of people and that the world is a much safer place without him.
I believe it is appropriate in these situations to remember that ugliness occurs in life and hope is a choice we make to get past it.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how kids got through other much more terrible experiences in life, but my thinking is that is a similar way.
I just posted something on my Tumblr account that is helping me cope myself. I hope it helps someone that I'm sharing. It is also appropriate for today being Cinco de Mayo as the song is sung in Spanish.
http://katsvoice.tumblr.com/post/5218091787/here-are-the-lyrics-from-song-i-would-not