- Take into consideration the child's age. Parents may want to give a brief explanation to children age 6 and younger who bring the subject up or ask questions. Parents may want to initiate the discussion with older children and teens, but Stuke advises parents to think about what they want to say ahead of time.
- Parents should be honest about what happened.
- Parents may want to ask children what they've heard about the tragedy and how they feel about it.
- A tragedy might present a good opportunity to promote human values, and parents may want to talk about their beliefs. Let children know it isn't OK to target people because of their sexual orientation, gender, religion or race.
- It's important for parents to reassure children, especially younger ones, they are safe and talk about measures law enforcement or schools take to ensure they are safe.
- Parents should avoid giving too much information. Sometimes parents want to give children they whole story, but children don't need to know every detail about the tragedy. Parents should listen to the questions their children are asking and answer them.
- Parents need to look for signs of stress to determine whether the child may need therapy. Stress signs include having trouble sleeping, appetite changes, trouble with attention or concentration or increase in irritability or mood swings.
- Point out the goodness of the people who help during the tragedy such as blood donors and volunteers. Ask your child if he or she would like to volunteer to help others
- Monitor your child's use of social media.
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