Gun Violence and Children
How to Talk Reassuringly to Children About the Deadly Double Mass Shooting in Ohio and Texas
It’s hard to know what to say to children about two deadly mass shootings hundreds of miles apart that occur.
In the wake of the double shootings that occurred in Texas and Ohio, parents can feel like they are at a loss as to how to explain things to their children. These events were hard enough for adults to cope with. Before we’d even been fully able to process the first shooting in El Paso, less than 15 hours later we found ourselves mourning yet another senseless act of gun violence. hundreds of miles apart. Before all was said and done, 31 one people had died with dozens more injured.
There’s no single correct way to address violence with children. The way parents approach this discussion or if they do so at all, depends on the child’s age and individual factors such as their temperament. While there are some suggestions and guidelines based on cognitive development and intellectual ability, parents have to decide how much to tell them based on what they know about their child.
