When/How Should You Tell Your Children About Chaotic World Events?

Welcome to "Moms Talk." Every Wednesday at noon, Westford mother Sally Rosenthal gives her take on an issue affecting mothers.

Sally, , encourages you to chime in and start a debate.

This week, the topic is: When/how should you tell your children about chaotic world events such as the deadly protests in Egypt and Libya?

Here's Sally's take:

"This is a question with which I currently struggle. I have 5-year-old twins and an 18-month-old. My youngest is still too little to understand, but I think my five year olds are old enough not to live in a bubble. But how much should I share with them?

In the past, I’ve framed potentially frightening information with stories of others helping. For example, when the earthquake hit Haiti, we talked about how some people were hurt and lost their homes, so other people were collecting food and money and clothing to help the people of Haiti. We talked about ways we could help, and contributed to a collection at their school.

With the current protests in Egypt and other countries, we talked about how people there were protesting to try to make their country better, and related it to what they have learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. But I haven’t discussed the violence with them, or explained any of the politics. 

I know they day is coming when I’ll need to discuss world events in more detail with my kids, including some of the not-so-nice aspects. Who knows, perhaps I’m already late and should be providing my five-year-olds with a more realistic picture of the world."