I would be remiss not to mention that my thoughts and prayers are with the families involved in the Boston Marathon terrorism attack. I’m sick for the families who lost loved ones. I can’t get 8-year-old Martin Richard out of my mind. Maybe because I have an almost 8-year-old. I know the pure-hearted nature and unguarded enthusiasm of kids this age, and I’m heartbroken that yet another family must move forward without their child as a result of a deranged terrorist.
I tried to protect my kids from seeing too much of the news this week, but my five-year-old still wanted to know what happened as images and sounds of people screaming, sirens blaring and bloody spectators and runners being wheeled off to emergency vehicles raced across television screens. I told him simply that there was an explosion and many people were hurt. Honestly, I was relieved he didn’t ask anymore.
My husband and I had to talk to our kids about what a school lockdown was a couple of
months ago. In the aftermath of the Newtown, CT, school shooting, our school has created a lockdown procedure and must practice it like any other emergency drill. The discussion seemed harder for us than our kids as we grappled with how to discuss their safety without scaring them. We reassured our kids that they are safe and these are just precautions just as if a tornado were to happen.
Despite our best intentions to amp up security and thwart evil, violence continues to unravel, thread out and snake through our society. But I find some tactics questionable. This week a large, regional furniture retailer in our area decided to start allowing people who have concealed weapons permits to carry their guns in its stores. If this is supposed to make me feel safer as a consumer, I think they missed the mark.
I feel less safe taking my children to a place that pays homage to gun owners even if they can legally carry. Doesn’t such a policy make it easier to overlook the ones who may not have a permit or easier for the lunatic who still managed to crawl through the legal hoops? To me, it sends the wrong message and it tells me that this store is following their corporate motto of selling cheap a little too closely. In my mind, they’re too cheap to ramp up their own security so they’re putting the onus on the consumer. One word: scary.
No matter where you stand on the issue of guns, I know we can all agree that finding healthy ways to talk through these issues with our kids is paramount. I hope these links help you.
Article recommended by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/04/talk-children-marathon-bombs
AACAP also has additional resources on their website. http://www.aacap.org/
Here’s another informative article I found online about how to talk to kids about violence: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-violence.shtml
photo courtesy: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by Franky242
