Moms Talk: Disasters and Children

It's almost impossible to avoid coverage of the earthquake and subsequent disasters affecting northeast Japan.

Even young children are likely to be exposed to news coverage of the horrific events that began wreaking havoc on Japan with a 8.9-magnitude earthquake last Friday.

Youth likely have questions about earthquakes. And tsunamis. And nuclear meltdowns.

Some of those questions are likely being answered in school. Some are not.

How have you dealt with your children when it comes to catastrophes—natural and man-made—over the years?

From the San Francisco earthquake of 1989 to 9/11 and from the Challenger explosion to the ongoing destruction in Japan, how have you gone about talking to your kids about these horrific events?

Or did you deem your child too young to be thinking about such horrific happenings? If so, what's an appropriate age for a child to be made aware of such events?

Either way, GloucesterTownship.Patch.com wants to hear from you. Join us today at 1 p.m., or any time you can sneak in a comment or two, for a conversation on this topic. Maybe you can take the discussion in another direction or offer insights that others will find helpful.

Editor's Note: Moms Talk is a new feature on GloucesterTownship.Patch.com that is part of a new initiative on our Patch sites to reach out to moms and families.

GloucesterTownship.Patch.com invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in Gloucester Township.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions, utilizing the comment box below.

Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community will have a new resource for questions about local neighborhood schools, the best pediatricians, 24-hour pharmacies and the thousands of other issues that arise while raising children.

Moms Talk will also be the place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic.

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today—and every Wednesday!—at 1 p.m. Can't make it for the 1-2 p.m. chat? Then drop a line for our Moms Council and readers to consider.