Eyes on Parenting: How parents can talk to their kids about the Orlando shooting
Jun 14, 2016, 4:59 AM | Updated: 1:45 pm
The Orlando shooting can be tough for parents to discuss with their kids.
“I think it’s important for parents to directly have the conversation with their children,” said Christina Jimenez, licensed family therapist with Doorways in Phoenix. “First and foremost just allowing them to make sense of the situation and organizing the information.”
Parents just have to be more cognizant and aware of their child’s behavior if they notice the tragedy begin to affect the child’s life.
“Kids can have vicarious trauma, and it doesn’t have to be ‘I see it happening,’” she said. “It can be ‘I can see it on TV.’”
Parents can also struggle sometimes with explaining why something like this happened.
“I think you are real with them,” she said. “And you say ‘you know, I don’t know,’ if you really don’t know.
“But what I do know is, I don’t like it, and this is how I feel about it,” she said.
