Community Corner

Parents Talk Q&A: How to Explain Osama bin Laden's Death to Your Kids

With the recent killing of Osama bin Laden, all of the news stations and papers are talking about it. How does a parent talk to their kids about such a difficult topic?

This week it has been nearly unavoidable. Everywhere you go, someone, in some way, is talking about Osama bin Laden's death.

For adults this is a pretty simple topic to understand, but to children, especially those who don't remember September 11 very well – if at all – this can be confusing.

So how does a parent explain to their kids why people are celebrating something that is usually a sad and somber occasion?

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One mother, who writes for the , asked herself this question recently when talking with her 16-year-old daughter.

So how do we tell our kids that the Big Bad Wolf is dead, but there are more wolves out there? And how to we explain the idea that those wolves feel very, very justified to do the work they do, and are considered heroes in some other countries?

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And do we celebrate the death of someone whom we may consider evil, while at the same time trying to understand and teach different cultures and different ideas about what’s fair, what’s not, who’s in Heaven ... and whether maybe America had some kind of retaliation coming?

Obviously, this is not a fun discussion for a parent to have, especially when kids might not understand the years and years of politics involved.

So how would you broach this topic with your kids, or how have you done so already?


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