Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Paris bombings

I collected GrandDaughter1 and her friend from school yesterday and took them to gym class. In the car I listened to them discussing what they'd thought about during the two minute silence 'for the people who were killed.'

Friend said she wondered why her granddad had died before she could meet him. GrandDaughter1 said she'd thought about a man being killed and then a woman being killed and then a baby dying because there was no-one to feed him.

I suppose it's good that the school should deal with topical tragedies but I wonder if the children should be given time to dwell on it. These girls are only five years old and while they both seemed to be coping with their thoughts I don't think that would necessarily be true of all children especially the more imaginative or anxious ones. And I wonder how much they'd actually understood about the whole very complex situation. As an adult I struggle to get my thoughts around it.

Maybe I'm just naive or over-protective but I'd like to shield them a little longer. 

6 comments:

Leslie: said...

I agree with you, Liz. I believe children should be allowed to be children longer than they seem to be nowadays. They grow up fast enough but even before they get to school, they play with technology and social media. Unnecessary, in my mind.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

No , I don't think the whole two-minute silence thing is suitable for the younger classes . Nor , of course , is the "Lah, Lah-Lah , Lah-Lah" approach helpful either.
What we must do is reinforce the need for tolerance , love and appreciation of EVERYONE , whoever they are . And answer any questions that they have calmly , truthfully and without sensationalism .

Rose said...

I don't think young children need to hear this either. As you say, as an adult I've had a lot of trouble myself dealing with the Paris incident and feelings of sadness. I like the last commenter's ideas--the best thing we can do for children is to teach them to love everyone.

Liz Hinds said...

If only we all encouraged that tolerance and love, sonata. I think I am fortunate in having like-minded blog-readers but I am well aware that not all share that attitude. I think all four of us have grandchildren and I know we will be doing our best!

Jenny Woolf said...

I'm pretty shocked to hear this, actually. At five, there's no way anyone can process this information without getting extremely upset. If they don't process it, (as I sincerely hope they don't) what's the point of talking about it?

Liz Hinds said...

I'm glad I'm not alone in this, Jenny.