SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - There’s nothing like the innocence of a child. But currently we’re in a time where they are seeing some troubling things.
The Israel-Hamas War maybe thousands of miles away but some parents like Nancy Graham are having to talk to her young children like eight-year-old Holland about it.
“We watch a lot of news on TV, and they’ll see what’s happening and they have a lot of questions,” Graham said.
When asked about she asks her mother, Holland said, “Maybe like some of the rubles like everywhere and just buildings kind of burned. And how people don’t look normal really.”
“The first thing that we try to reassure them is that it’s really far away from here and that physical distance can keep them safe from the things that they’re seeing that sometimes seem scary,” Graham said.
And some are getting ready to have those complicated conversations.
“I think like as parents it’s our job to give them a sense of this is a safe place in our home, to ask big questions, to develop your world view and to, ultimately, have compassion on the people that you meet in life,” Danielle McGown, a parent of a toddler, said.
Doctor Willough Jenkins is a child psychiatrist with Rayd’s Children’s Hospital and UCSD.
“If your child is of age where they’re going to school, they’re going to be hearing about this conflict. And it’s very important that you talk to them about it,” Jenkins said.
She told ABC 10News it’s difficult to have the perfect script for the conversations with their kids about what’s going on with the war.
Depending on their age, a good place to start she says is just laying out who’s involved in the war.
“There’s been a lot of violence and aggression, and this has been in the news a lot. What can I tell you more about? What questions do you have? It’s very important to be honest and not to mislead but at the same time we don’t want to instill fear,” Jenkins said.
For some Graham, focusing on empathy is a big thing she tries to do with her kids.
“That we need to care that people in our world are hurting and that’s an important thing,” Graham said.
Doctor Jenkins also said if you don’t know the answer to a question your child has, it’s okay to say I don’t know.
She said we’re not all experts on this so it’s important to say to your child, I’ll look into this with you or if I find out more, I’ll let you.
