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Family Events...
Crucial life lessons
amid today’s headlines
By Marybeth Hicks
From this week’s news about Osama bin Laden to the daily headlines
about crime, abuse, suffering and tragedies, it’s hard to help kids
understand the events of our world without scaring them. How can I talk
to my children about the news of the day without making them anxious,
but also not leave them ignorant of the real world? How much
information is enough, and how much is too much? Post answers on our
Family Events Facebook Page.
On Sunday evening as my husband, son and I drove home from an
out-of-state family funeral, our college sophomore called to
breathlessly urge us to turn on the radio news.
“They got bin Laden!”
Sure enough, we quickly learned along with the rest of the world that
the man who embodied evil and hatred, and who displayed his disdain for
humanity by plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks, had been captured and
killed by an elite team of American fighters.
It seems this week’s news has caused all of us to revisit the events of
9/11 in a way that differs significantly from merely marking the
anniversaries since 2001. For every year that we’ve honored the men,
women and children who died on that day without also achieving the
justice due to bin Laden has left us feeling hollow. Or maybe “cheated”
is a better word.
Other than the extraordinary sense of citizenship and national pride
that I felt back in 2001, the most compelling memories I have of 9/11
and the period immediately following the attacks are those of
motherhood.
At the time, my children were 11, 9, 7 and 3 years old — impressionable
ages, to be sure. They were home from school on September 11 owing to a
teacher in-service, so unfortunately, they saw some of the events of
that day unfold in real time on television, including the horrible
moment that the second plane crashed into the South Tower and the
collapse of that building a short time later.
My maternal instincts kicked in quickly on that September morning. When
the South Tower fell, I realized, “I cannot let my children see these
events as they are happening.” I knew I couldn’t really protect them in
what had obviously become a much more dangerous world, but I could try
to shield them from the anxiety and uncertainty that would be stirred
if we continued to watch the news that day.
Instead, I took them to church. I wanted to teach them that their faith
had a purpose, and that prayer was the most useful and powerful thing
we could do for the victims of the attacks, the first responders
attempting to rescue them, and all of their families and loved ones.
That fateful day forced all of America’s parents to deal with life’s
most difficult questions, and to put into context for our children some
things even we parents don’t always understand. The presence of evil in
the world, the suffering of innocents, the injustice of hatred, the
inexplicable selflessness and courage in the face of tragedy — all of
these things became dinner-table conversation in my kitchen and in
homes all across our nation. In short, 9/11 became the ultimate
“teachable moment.”
In the ten years that have passed, while our military and intelligence
personnel have searched for the evildoer, America’s children have grown
up. And thanks to the valiant efforts of untold and unknown heroes who
have prevented further attacks, millions of American children have been
born into a world that feels safe again, if not always secure.
As I write this e-letter, government officials in Washington, DC are
deciding whether to release photos of the slain Osama bin Laden in
order to prove that our military did, in fact, kill the terrorist
leader. It’s reported the most convincing photo is also the most
gruesome.
It’s a decision that has far-reaching implications, both in the US and
abroad. But for parents of young children, it will again be crucial to
safeguard children’s innocence and optimism while teaching them about
the virtues and values that caused an enemy of freedom to be brought to
justice.
Ironically, bin Laden’s despicable life offers us the opportunity to
teach our children that the virtuous quest for justice is a worthy
endeavor, and that when America is doing what’s right, God does,
indeed, bless our great country.
Thanks for reading and sharing Family Events!
Take good care until next week,
Marybeth
Read this article, along with this week’s question and last week’s
answers at Family Events
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