Moms Talk: Discussing September 11 With Your Children

Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council.

This week's question: How do you explain 9/11 -- both what happened and how it felt -- to a child who was born afterward?

Jill Korsok:

I watched part of a Smithsonian Channel special about that day with my 16-year-old son. Of course he was too young to understand what was happening that day, but he's very familiar with the images, the locations of the attacks and the significance of what happened.

Today was probably the first time we had an in-depth discussion. Our conversation and his questions and observations were mostly situational: how did the people caught in the billowing smoke on the ground avoid suffocation; why weren't people able to get out of the towers more quickly; did anyone live when Flight 93 crashed.

He was also interested in the way the protection of the government (President, Vice President, Speaker of the House) was maintained by separating those individuals so that if they were harmed, the government could continue to operate.

It was hard to convey the deep sadness I felt watching the events of that day unfold again because to him it really is just history. I hope as he grows older he will continue to learn how that day changed the country.

Mary Jo Stack:

My son and daughter were in kindergarten and first grade on Sept. 11, 2001. Obviously, not too much detail was relayed to them for a while.

I believe you give only information a child needs at the time. So for those born after 2001, age and the maturity of the child come into play.

The truth is crucial when telling what happened. I believe telling children exactly how you felt is the only way to explain that day to them.