When Scary Things Happen

Today the news is filled with the incidents in Las Vegas, what can I tell my young child?

Listen and talk with your child. When upsetting public events occur, children often pick up information about them at school, on TV or the Web, or from adult conversations. Children may feel scared, worried, upset, or confused by what they hear.

• Find out what he or she has heard or understand by asking: Did you hear anything about…? This is especially important in the case of public events that don’t affect your child directly but still may seem scary.
• Respect your child’s attempts to make sense of what happened. You want your child to feel comfortable talking with you about confusing things.
• Answer questions honestly but briefly. Use simple words.
• Not all children want to talk. That’s OK. Sometimes it feels best just to sit close to each other or do something special together.

More resources: http://pbskids.org/arthur/health/resilience/