Helping Kids Cope With Disaster Fears

As a journalist and intelligent woman, I get my news from several outlets. CNN, Huffington Post, The New York Times, Reuters … and "Live! With Regis and Kelly."

What? Doesn’t everyone?

Anyway, during my daily news download, Kelly and the Reg were talking about the disaster in Japan and the threat of a nuclear catastrophe. Kelly mentioned that people of our generation—kids of the '60s and '70s—were terrified of the threat of nuclear war. But today’s kids hardly know what a nuclear disaster is.

Funny, isn’t it?

These are kids who have grown up with threats of terrorism, with images of 9/11 only a hazy recollection.

Are they afraid? Or with the barrage of images from TV, the Internet and video games are they numb?

Apparently, they still are capable of feeling fear. Watching the earthquake and tsunami coverage last weekend, my 17-year-old son said, somewhat incredulously,  “Wow! That could happen here!”

Yes, we live in earthquake country. Far enough from the coast, but still in no way out of harm’s way.

Over the last few days, he and his 13-year-old brother have wondered about their safety. Could it happen here? What would we do if it happened? What other things could happen?

As a mom, I could tell them of the millions of things I fear could happen to them every single time they are out of my sight. But I don’t. Those fears are the musings of a psychotic mind—a condition most parents share.

But I can talk to them, turn this terrible tragedy into one of those “teaching moments.” Together, we can put together an earthquake kit. (The last time I put one together, the youngest was still in diapers.) We can set up a plan to contact family members out of state if in-state communication lines are down. We will agree not to rely on cell phones, texting or the Internet. I will introduce them to a battery-powered transistor radio.

It might help them feel a little more ease about things over which they have no control.

And it will help me feel a bit safer, too.

If you’d like more information on how to talk to kids about tragedy, check out this PBS Kids link, here.

Do you have any tips for talking with your kids about the tragedy in Japan?