How Do You Talk About Traumatic Events With Your Little Ones?

Over the winter there was a horrible school shooting, before that a shooting at a movie theater. Now there were bombs at the Boston Marathon. And on our daily morning and evening news there are numerous stories about killings and shootings and hit and runs and...... 

We try to shield our children as best we can because we know that they really don't need to hear and see all of the violence in the format the news media projects it. But you know that there are other adults out there that don't see the little ears and little eyes and they talk about events and watch news stories where children can hear. 

At different ages children are able to handle different aspects of trauma. I received an article in my email that I wanted to share because it's perfect. It talks about the different developmental levels of children and what they understand and can handle regarding trauma in their lives.

Here is a link to the article I mentioned. It is an excellent article, well worth reading.

Talking to Your Child About Traumatic Events