Manchester attack: How do you explain terrorism to a child?

 

If you're struggling to explain the Manchester attack to your children, here are a few things to do to help them understand.

 

• 1. Don't try to turn off the news when there is bad news.

  • ​Sadly, in the technological world in which we live, adults are no longer in control of how children access information. News comes at us 24 hours a day from dedicated news channels, radio, the internet, and newspaper headlines. Even if you manage to shield your children from all of that, things that happen in the news will be talked about in the school playground or lunch hall. Better that your child is armed with the real facts than hearing exaggerated, second or third-hand versions. Information is better than misinformation.

• 2. Even if your child doesn't mention bad news, don't assume they are not troubled by it.

  • They may be worrying quietly inside.

  • Explain simply what has happened, taking care not to use sensationalised words that tend to be used by the national press.

• 3. First News covers good and bad news in the paper and on our daily online news channel, First News Live!

  • Use our content, made especially for children, as a platform to talk to children about the news.

  • It is always created to explain what has happened but to offer reassurance, too.

• 4. Remind them that there is much more good news than bad news happening.

  • And that there are many more good people than bad people.

• 5. Reassure them that they are safe.

  • Even though events like the one yesterday in Manchester are scary, they are incredibly rare - which is why they are in the news.

  • The likelihood of being caught up in an event like this is so, so small, you can't even do the sum to calculate the risk.

• 6. Remind children that the best way to stay safe is to take care in their own daily lives.

  • Children are more likely to have an accident in their own home than when they are out and about.

• 7. Hold them a little bit closer and for a little bit longer.

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You can click here to read how we discussed this with our pupils during form time.

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The terrible events in Paris last year highlight the very unsettled world in which we live. Deaths, explosions and violence are seen on 24-hour television, web and newspapers and children are often totally exposed to this media, often with no explanation. Some of our pupils may have visited Paris, played on a Tunisian beach or flown on a plane out of Sharm el-Sheikh. We don’t know what effect hearing about these events has on children, but we need to be sensitive to their needs, questions, concerns and fears.

There is a paucity of information on the internet offering advice about helping children and young people understand terrorist events. Much of the information comes from America and dates from September 11th 2001 or offers support after a school shooting. We've reviewed the available material and listed below are the most appropriate resources we have found.

Websites we've reviewed and found to include useful information include:

Parent's Guide to Talking to Their Children about War (City of New York)

Tips for Parents on Media Coverage (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, USA)

Talking to Children about Terrorism and War (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

Books to help children explore world issues

After the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, author Sita Brahmachari wrote in the Guardian about why it’s more important than ever to write stories for children that explore our differences and common humanity. The article includes a diverse list of contemporary authors whose books have helped children and young people understand and empathise with some of the most complicated situations faced in the world today.

Books to breed tolerance (Guardian) (12th January 2015)​