Little Ears Hear

Who doesn't remember 9-11? It is the single most defining moment in my adult life. I can think of no other more horrific sight as watching those innocent people leap to their deaths to escape the burning inferno of the World Trade Center. My husband and I had just returned home from a beach vacation. We had listened to the radio coverage while driving home and then rushed into our house to turn on the Television. I remember both of us watching the live coverage and trying to digest what we were seeing and hearing. In the hours that followed we checked in on family, talked to neighbors and prayed. We finally turned off the TV and tried to sleep.
I had class the next day. Fear and uncertainty seemed to be the rule of the day. You could see it in the anxious faces of all my co-workers and the parents who brought me their children. We had all seen something that we would never forget. We were obligated to go about our day but our hearts and prayers were with the victims and families of those that had perished.
After greeting my class and settling them into their day we gathered for snack. An extraordinary thing happened. The children began chatting with each other about the terrorist attacks. One of the children described seeing the planes crash into the towers and all the black smoke. He mispronounced the word terrorist so he began referring to them as the bad guys. Another boy talked about all the people that were painted white and were running from the fire and smoke. That made two other children start crying and one of the girls said she was afraid of planes and her daddy worked at the airport. I was stunned. Obviously these 3 and 4 year olds had been allowed to watch the live coverage of the devastation. I can't imagine how disturbing these images would be for a young child to digest. I asked the class to raise their hands had they watched the news about the plane crash and fires in New York. The entire class raised their hands.
Snack was forgotten. We gathered on the floor and I took out a large white poster board. Underlined in red I titled it. Your child's thoughts on 9-11. I asked each child to tell me what they remember seeing on television and to describe how it made them feel. They took turns and one by one they told me what they remember seeing and hearing. Justin remembered seeing the people painted white that were running and he said they were ghosts of the dead people. That made him scared. Sarah is afraid of airplanes now and her Daddy works for the airline. She wanted him to come home. It made her feel scared. Preston didn't like the fire because it burned people and makes them scream. That scared him. On and on. One by one they told me what they had seen and how those images impressed upon them the horriffic memories they will carry for a long while. I taped the poster to our front door with a request for all parents to turn off their TVs.
There is a time and place for children to learn of war, injustice and human suffering. Bad things do happen and often times our world is a dangerous place. Our job as parents is to protect our children from images and sound that even we adults struggle to comprehend. So when would be the proper time to explain these harsh realities to our children? I can't say for sure but I am certain of one thing. 4 years old is way too young.
Remember Little Ears Hear: Little Eyes See.
Questions or comments? Please feel free to "Ask Ms. Donna"