What Amy said I so agree with. We each should be an askable parent." And that goes for all areas of life. I read the newspaper article to my young children -- a 10 year old and two 11 year olds. They saw the tears stream down my face. When my 17 year old was five years old he and I would have discussions about what to do if such-and-such happened. It is different for every child but we must equip our children to have a godly response to evil and horrific events our world faces. They will inevitably face tragedy sometime in their lives. We would be amiss if we do not equip them. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (from Romans 8:1), and we need to teach them how to respond rather than react; how to love rather than accuse. God will give every parent who seeks Him the wisdom to know how to do this with his or her own children.

Children should be made aware of all these things starting right from an early age! Good one, thanks for sharing this.

nice post ...informative and at the same time useful... really we need to talk to our children regarding these useful topics....

I talked to my 6 year old grandchild about it and I'm so glad I did because it was the topic of conversation among her & her friends at school the foloowing week. If anyone thinks that any child can be sheltered from news in this day & age they are fooling themselves. TV, radio, inmternet....your child may not have access but you can be sure others do. I'd rather be the one discuss it with her than someone else. She, too, was concerned about whether the children are in heaven & so i had the opportunity to have that conversation with her. As far as assuring her of safety, I can't do that in today's world but I can let her know that if she is a child of God she can rest assured that God is with her wherever she is & whatever happens. That's all any of us can be sure of.

Great post. I completely agree. We need to help our kids understand and be able to talk about things.

I hear what you're saying, but I disagree that this is a conversation appropriate for a 6 year/old who wouldn't have heard about this otherwise. Of course this world is broken, and they are running up against that every day with their own sin, kids being mean on the playground, and their parents' sin. (not to mention the other kids in this world whose lives are an example of brokenness). I think talking about our broken world in non-violent terms is more age-appropriate than planting ideas of violent things that happen in our world. I would have been scared to death and probably had some anxiety about it i would have heard those things when I was six. I haven't told my six year-old because i know it would scare her. I agree with the above commenter who said that at this age it is more important to establish a sense of safety Of course there is no way to avoid them bumping up against violence in our world, but I think maintaining a close relationship with my kids will create a safe space where they can bring concerns to us and we can process them as a family. At this age I really don't feel like I should be introducing her to the idea of an adult murdering kids. If she were a few years older I can see how it would be more appropriate, but not my child, not now. I just don't get why parents are telling their kids about this incident... Where do you draw the line? Which crimes should you tell them about? Only the ones involving kids? Should you start watching the news as a family to show them how broken the world is? I'm not being sarcastic, I truly just don't get the line of reasoning. I don't want my children to be sheltered suburban kids, I want to expose them to brokenness, poverty, sickness, death... But not this kind of violence, not now.

I was six when Kennedy was assassinated, and my dad tried to explain to me what was happening, but it was beyond me at that age. I agree that parents should listen to their children's questions to see how much they understand. Parents don't need to try to cover every detail if that would just confuse the child.

I appreciate this article. As others have pointed out, we are the experts on our own children, and we must ultimately decide how much to tell them. I must respectfully disagree with one commenter above, though, who apparently thinks it's ok to tell a 6 year old (the age of the author's child) that they are not safe in school, ostensibly to inject some spiritual truth into their life. To this I would say: Not at 6. Children need to feel safe at 6, and I think yanking that out from under them is cruel. Older children do need to understand that there are no guarantees, and that our life is in God's hands. That He is our protector and avenger. Absolutely. I, personally, would not tell a 6 year old about this event UNLESS I was convinced that he/she would hear about it. We have the control as parents to turn off the radio and the news. I can't imagine my children as kindergartners needing to know about this. Just my opinion! Amy

Many parents expect their children to ask them the standard, "Am I safe at my school?" question. In my house, my children never ask that when they hear about these things, and I'm always bracing and ready. Last week was no different, except that this time, my children are in Christian, not public, schools. My oldest daughter did ask what happened later in the evening, and we told her in terms she would understand what had happened. I could tell that she was disturbed and wanted to talk about it, but being her mother, I also knew she needed time to form her questions and think around the subject before she asked for my input. Sunday after church, my husband looked at me and said, "A. ask your Mom what you asked me a few minutes ago." She took a deep breath, swallowed hard and with every bit of compassion she is capable of at this age asked, "Mom, what happens to the little kids who died? Will they go to Heaven, even if they never knew about Him?" I don't think I have to tell you that my heart sank to the bottom of grief once more thinking about those precious little souls and their eternity, but it also soared with pride and hope. Here was MY child asking one of the most spiritually mature questions I had heard concerning this matter, and I attribute it to her schooling environment in large part. I'm not saying that public school children are disadvantaged, but I do believe that our decision to immerse our children in a school that is relentless in its approach to teach the Word and worship at all costs has had a very positive outcome in our family. As a mom of three different age groups (12, 10 and 4) I've had a challenging time addressing this issue with all of them and not letting the little ones hear more than they should. My 10-year-old knows that a great tragedy has happened, but I'm not sure my 4-year-old does. I still think she's too young to understand more than one simple truth: Jesus loves you and He will protect you. Plain and simple. I think at age and comprehension level, it would be too traumatic to even breach the subject of this tragedy with her. I don't know if this helps anyone. I do hope that we are able to renew our walks with Christ daily, and teach our children about the importance of His sacrifice, especially in these times.

I agree with Melissa T’s comment above, where she highlights the erroneous statement made by the author to her son: “But you are safe at your school.” The lack of validity in this statement is the very reason why we must talk to our loved ones about Newtown and similar tragedies. Though we long to, we cannot assure our loved ones of their physical safety. Tragedies can strike anytime and anywhere. However, we can gently—and in age-appropriate terms—assert (1) the broken, sinful world in which we live, (2) the goodness and omnipresence of God who sent his Son to die as an atoning sacrifice for that sin, and (3) the promise of life eternal with Him for those who have entrusted Him with their faith. I’m not advocating you incite insecurity by emphasizing the reality that this can happen in their school (or workplace, shopping center, church…). I do, though, believe this must be seized as a “teachable moment” so if tragedy does happen to them, they are prepared with the truths of Scripture. The questions and searching sparked by this tragedy may be the very thing that catalyzes their choice to put their faith in God.