How to Talk to Children About Gun Safety & Gun Violence
Talking to your kids about about gun safety and gun violence starts with patience…
If you don’t follow the news, who can blame you the way things have been going lately. But I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the most recent mass-shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. It’s been coined as the second-deadliest shooting at a U.S. public school, where 17 students and teachers were killed.
Now let’s stop for a moment. We are talking about a MASS-SHOOTING in a HIGH SCHOOL! Long gone are the days when kids worries about things like who made the hottest club, or their favorite sports team or who won the class presidential race. Now we have to worry about things far more chilling. More importantly, we have to add mass-shootings to the list of “The Talks” we have to have with our kids. A talk that could very well scar them and how they view school, for the rest of their young lives. While we know this is no easy feat, it’s a conversation that must be had, and there’s no time like the present to discuss gun safety and gun violence.
Any act of violence breaks my heart, especially gun violence, but to think the youngest victim who fell victim to the Parkland shooting, was just 14 years old tears my soul. No parent should ever have to bear the burden of burying a child. Which led me to wonder. How do I talk to my kids about such a horrific act? Is it possible to prepare them for the unthinkable, without stealing their innocence and creating mass-hysteria? Well to be honest, there is no easy way to tell. But as Whitney M. Young, Jr. would say, “it’s better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.”
As you know, there is no perfect or convenient time to talk to your child about gun violence and gun safety and I’ll admit I had to give myself a pep-talk before having this talk with my kids. Luckily. I had the opportunity to chat with Iesha Sekou, CEO & Founder of Street Corner Resources, a non-profit organization that works with at-risk-youth to change the narrative as it relates to gun and gang violence amongst youth in Harlem, NY. She dropped some serious jewels.
When is the best time to talk kids about gun violence and gun safety?
Iesha: It’s crucial that parents find a time that will not be interrupted by the phone ringing, the TV glaring or side conversations. First and foremost, go somewhere quite so that you have their undivided attention (and they have yours) and there are less opportunities to be distracted.
This is obviously a difficult conversation at any age, but how do you start the conversation, especially with younger children?
Iesha: Begin to ask open-ended questions, you get more. Start with questions like: “Do you know anything about guns or gun violence” “Has anyone said anything to you about guns?” “What do you think about guns?”
“Have you ever been to a house where you saw a gun?”
Originally published at mommymixup.com on March 7, 2018.
