Are your children aware of the news?

[Phoebe]

I am unsure if I want my children to be told about the shootings in CT. We have not had the news on at all this weekend. My kids are 11 and younger. My oldest is particularly sensitive to things and my 6 year old has regular dreams about someone chasing her. I cannot control what they hear at school. My husband thinks if they ask about it we will talk about it.

[Michele]

Mine aren't aware as far as I know. But at 6, 4, and 2 they are probably too young. Though the 6y is the same age as the kids killed, I don't know what purpose telling him would serve. I don't want him to worry about it happening at his school and there is pretty much nothing he could do in a similar situation.

[migirl]

My kids don't know and I don't plan to tell them. They are 7, 4, and 2 and I can't see what good could come from telling them about it.

[Sheherezade]

Mine are 16 and 13. They know, we've debated the why of it all and I'm worried for them. But really, by their teen years it's hard to protect them from the news.

[rainbabies]

My children do not know. They're 7,8, and 9. My oldest will obsess about it. My middle will cry about it and have nightmares and my youngest...she would be sad for a minute then carry on. If they hear about it at school, then we will discuss it.
So terribly sad. And heartbreaking. Tears and goosebumps have been constant for me.

[MrsK]

The preschool sent home a letter saying that they were going to discuss it at school "in an age appropriate way". I don't know what that means for a mixed class of 3, 4, and 5yo. K1 starts preschool in 2 wks so I'm hoping that the discussion will be done by then.

[Deebs]

I wasn't going to tell my DD. I found out last night that our community has several familial ties to Sandy Creek, including a staff member who works there, child who attends, and first responder all being related to people here. Because of that (and the fact that ours schools are wearing green and white in support), I told my DD with my DH. She was a little nervous this morning, but was able to verbalized that she knows school is a safe place and that it is filled with helpers if anything were to happen, and many more helpers would come quickly.

[SuzySunshine]

I am not telling my children either, ages almost 5 and 3. I would hope that if their school decided they needed to discuss it they would do so by having more drills and making sure the kids know what to do without telling them that 20 poor children were killed. As a parent I think that is my place to decide what my children hear about this and since we have received no notification that its going to be discussed I have no reason to believe they will discuss it. Today is their last day before break and their Christmas program so I'm actually glad they will have very little time in the classroom.
\

[PrincessFiona]

I told Aidan(9) and Zoe (6) because I wanted them to hear it from me and not a kid at school/teacher. Obviously, I was careful about how I did it.

[Chrisada]

What Cheri said and my kids are the same age. Why on earth would a Pre-school discuss this with children??

[diggitydot]

We've talked with our kids about it, but they're all older -- 17, almost-13, and 10.

[peggyfromwastate]

Kris-- wondering how you broached the subject?

I'm bracing myself for questions tonight. My 11 year olds and the teen knew about it in real time practically, but I've had them not discuss it in front of the 8 and 4 year olds. Pretty sure the 8 year old will hear about it at school.

I should have discussed it at least on some level. But I'm totally completely just... Shocked still. I have a friend at the preK whose parents live 20 min from there and she was just visiting a friend from sandy hook in August. We were just talking about the ideallic communities of Connecticut last Tuesday.

Anyway, ds8 gets freaked out over earthquake drills and lockdown drills at school. This is going to really be hard for him to Grasp. I wanted to see how far they take it at school then do damage control later I guess.

Words like massacre and school shooting are now commonly discussed? 6 and 7 year olds? Purposefully targeted?

Honestly I had no good explanation for the 11 year olds. Just that there is pure evil out there in the world, and that the shooter was obviously mentally ill, and that this kind of horrific scene is rare. And they should feel safe. But... I don't feel safe. I feel like instructing then in how to play dead, and listen for gunshots and hide.

[PrincessFiona]

We got an email from the district that they will be talking about this with the kids today. Not sure about other districts.

I seriously dont want my kids to hear from teachers or other kids.

[PrincessFiona]

Peggy,

Aidan heard the bigger kids talking. I told Aidan and Zoe that it was true it had happened, that it was far away, and that they are safe at their school. Zoe was fine at that. Aidan had a lot of big questions. I answered honestly but continued to reassure. He was not anxious at all.

[PrincessFiona]

As an fyi... this was not comfortable for me to do. My fear is just what they will hear this week. We have teenagers in the house who can't stop talking about how horrible it is. I've gotten them to censor themselves but Aidan already had heard something. Who knows what kids at school will be telling each other this week and what they will hear. I basically told them this could never happen to them because the schools here are safe. Then I pointed to all of the safety measures. I know that I misrepresented but don't care...just want them to feel safe.

Kris